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[ARCHIVE][October 24, 2013] Building a Linux distribution for the UNISIM Virtex 5 FXT Simulator

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This is a deprecated content.
An up-to-date version of it is here

The UNISIM Virtex 5 FXT Simulator can easily run a minimalist Linux distribution for a Xilinx Virtex-5 FXT development board. We propose you to build a mini Linux distribution based on Busybox and including the MiBench version 1 benchmark suite.

1. What you get after the build ?

You get a mini Linux Distribution adapted for the UNISIM Virtex 5 FXT Simulator. The distribution is based on Busybox and the MiBench version 1 benchmark suite. At least four files are needed to boot Linux in the simulator:
  • A boot program (PPC440 startup):
    boot.elf
  • A Linux kernel:
    vmlinux
  • A device tree (a machine description for Linux):
    device-tree-16m.dtb
    device-tree-32m.dtb
    device-tree-64m.dtb
  • An initial RAM disk image (a root file system):
    initrd.img
    initrd_automotive_basicmath_large.img
    initrd_automotive_basicmath_small.img
    initrd_automotive_bitcount_large.img
    initrd_automotive_bitcount_small.img
    initrd_automotive_qsort_large.img
    initrd_automotive_qsort_small.img
    initrd_automotive_susan_large.img
    initrd_automotive_susan_small.img
    initrd_consumer_jpeg_large.img
    initrd_consumer_jpeg_small.img
    initrd_consumer_lame_large.img
    initrd_consumer_lame_small.img
    initrd_consumer_typeset_large.img
    initrd_consumer_typeset_small.img
    initrd_network_dijkstra_large.img
    initrd_network_dijkstra_small.img
    initrd_network_patricia_large.img
    initrd_network_patricia_small.img
    initrd_office_ghostscript_large.img
    initrd_office_ghostscript_small.img
    initrd_office_ispell_large.img
    initrd_office_ispell_small.img
    initrd_office_rsynth_large.img
    initrd_office_rsynth_small.img
    initrd_office_stringsearch_large.img
    initrd_office_stringsearch_small.img
    initrd_security_blowfish_large.img
    initrd_security_blowfish_small.img
    initrd_security_pgp.img
    initrd_security_rijndael_large.img
    initrd_security_rijndael_small.img
    initrd_security_sha_large.img
    initrd_security_sha_small.img
    initrd_telecomm_adpcm_large.img
    initrd_telecomm_adpcm_small.img
    initrd_telecomm_crc32_large.img
    initrd_telecomm_crc32_small.img
    initrd_telecomm_fft_large.img
    initrd_telecomm_fft_small.img
    initrd_telecomm_gsm_large.img
    initrd_telecomm_gsm_small.img

2. Requirements

  • A Linux host machine with the sudo rights
  • A GNU cross tool-chain: follow the instructions here
  • Binaries and data sets of the MiBench version 1 benchmark suite: download
  • make 3.82 (may not work with make 3.81)

3. Get the material

Download that tarball. It contains all the necessary material (scripts and source codes) to get a mini Linux distro for the UNISIM Virtex 5 FXT Simulator.

4. Uncompress the tarball

$ tar zxvf unisim-virtex5fxt-linux-distro-source-v3.tar.gz

5. Build the Linux distribution

Run the building script:
$ cd unisim-virtex5fxt-linux-distro-source-v3
$ ./build.sh all ${HOME}/mibench-v1-bin-powerpc-7450-linux-gnu-v3 ${HOME}/crosstool-source-v3/powerpc-440fp-linux-gnu

Adjust the arguments of the building script to your cross tool-chain and MiBench installations. Be patient...the process of building the Linux distribution is quite long.

6. Check your distro build/simulator build (optional regression test)

Run the checking script:
$ cd unisim-virtex5fxt-linux-distro-source-v3
$ ./check.sh ${HOME}/unisim-virtex5fxt-1.0beta10/virtex5fxt/bin/unisim-virtex5fxt-wfpu-1.0beta10 1234

Archive

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The web site has been migrated to a new server. Please note that contact mails have changed too. More to come…stay tuned!

Virtual Platforms

Highlights

Acknowledgments

Digiteo
We would like to thank Digiteo that supported us in making the UNISIM virtual platforms available to the community.

Exhibition

HiPEAC
We presented a poster at the poster sessions of the HiPEAC'12 conference, January 23-25, 2012, Paris, France. The HiPEAC conference provides a forum for experts in computer architecture, programming models, compilers, and operating systems for embedded and general-purpose systems. The conference aims at the dissemination of advanced scientific knowledge and the promotion of international contacts among scientists from academia and industry.

On-going evaluation

OPEES
A UNISIM virtual platform of a Xilinx Virtex-5 FXT is being evaluated by project partners in the context of OPEES (Open Platform for the Engineering of Embedded Systems), a European project that aims to ensure long-term availability of critical / embedded systems engineering technologies to secure industry competitiveness and development.