How to Leverage AMD’s Versal™ Hard IP for Optimal Performance

What Is AMD Versal™ Used For?

AMD’s Versal™ ASoC family is designed to deliver industry leading performance per watt by leveraging a heterogeneous compute architecture with significant hard IP integration. This approach shifts computationally intensive and common functions from the flexible but less power-efficient programmable logic (PL) to dedicated, optimized hardware blocks.

Here’s how to leverage AMD Versal™ hard IP for optimal performance per watt:

Prioritize Hard IP Integration:

Versal™ devices integrate a wide range of hardened building blocks that handle core processing tasks more efficiently than programmable logic alone. Key examples include:

• AI Engines (AIEs): High-performance VLIW/SIMD vector processors ideal for machine learning inference and digital signal processing (DSP). They offer significant area and power advantages over PL-based implementations.
• Processing System (PS): Embedded Arm application and real-time CPU cores for scalar processing, control, and general-purpose computing.
• Network-on-Chip (NoC): A hard IP interconnect fabric that efficiently routes data between various compute units, memory, and I/Os, reducing latency and programmable logic utilization (up to 60%).
• Hard DSP Blocks (DSP58): Optimized for DSP operations, including native support for AI/ML data types (INT8), wireless processing, and floating-point operations. They can achieve over 1 GHz performance.
• High-Speed Serial Transceivers (GTM/GTY): For high-bandwidth data movement (e.g., PCIe Gen6, CXL 3.1).
• Memory Controllers: Dedicated hard IP for DDR/LPDDR memory interfaces.
• Hard Image/Video Processing IP: New in Versal™ Gen 2 devices, accelerating image signal processing (ISP) and video codec unit (VCU) functions (e.g., HEVC & AVC 4K60 4:4:4, 12-bit encode & decode).
• Hard IP Blocks for Signal Processing (RF Series): Dedicated blocks for FFT/iFFT, Channelizers, and LDPC Decoders, offering significant power reductions (up to 80%) compared to soft logic. Versal™ RFSoC devices extend this capability by integrating high-speed ADCs and DACs, making them ideal for wireless infrastructure, radar, and advanced signal processing systems.

Incorporating hard IP early in the design process sets the foundation for greater efficiency. By leaning on these integrated cores to handle standard functions, you can reserve programmable logic for the features that set your system apart.

Optimize Data Movement with the NoC:

The Versal™ NoC is a critical component maximizing performance per watt. It provides high-speed, low-latency data transfer between hard IPs, programmable logic, and memory. The designer can implement Quality of Service (QoS) settings within the NoC to prioritize critical data transfers and ensure efficient bandwidth allocation. For example, use isochronous QoS for real-time video streams to guarantee timely delivery. Offloading connectivity infrastructure to the NoC reduces programmable logic utilization, freeing up resources for more complex, differentiating logic.

Efficient Software Development and Tools:

The Vitis Unified Software Platform enables the creation of performance-optimized system designs (including high-performance DSP with AI Engine technology) using AMD Versal™ ASoCs. This tool is a software-centric approach to developing both hardware and software. It includes compilers, simulators, IP, and libraries that reduce development time and help achieve high performance.

In a previous blog post, we presented the Vivado Design Suite and its many features for hardware developers. Vivado provides a streamlined design flow, including RTL optimization, configuring of clocking resources, and a Power Design Manager (PDM) tool for power estimation, dynamic power management, and identifying areas for power reduction.

Implement Power Management Strategies:

AMD Versal™ devices support dynamic power management, including power domains, power islands, and power states. Implementing these features to control and optimize power consumption based on application needs can drive more efficient instantiations of Versal™ ASoC devices. Thermal management is also an important consideration and Versal™’s innovative packaging (e.g., lidless packaging) along with proper PCB design guidelines addressing thermal challenges can improve performance and reliability.

By strategically leveraging these hard IPs and employing the recommended design practices and tools, you can unlock the full potential of AMD Versal™ ASoCs and achieve optimal performance per watt for your applications.

New Wave Design has decades of experience implementing FPGA-based processing solutions, including vast recent experience putting down Versal™ and Ultrascale-based devices, much of which has been implemented through the Vivado Design Suite.

Contact us today to learn more about innovative Versal™-based solutions, such as our V6065 3U VPX Versal® Premium ASoC FPGA Optical I/O Module with XMC Site—capable of implementing high speed serial interface IP cores, such as TSN, sFPDP, IEEE 1394, ARINC 818, and many more.