Getting Started with Alveo FPGA acceleration ¶

Description ¶

Compute servers in COSMOS, and cloud computing nodes in ORBIT Sandbox 9 are equipped with Alveo U200 accelerator cards (with Virtex Ultra Scale+ XCU200-2FSGD2104E FPGA). These cards can be used to accelerate compute-intensive applications such as d machine learning, and video processing. They are connected to the Intel Xeon host CPU over PCI Express® (PCIe) Gen3x16 bus.

This tutorial demonstrates how to run an accelerated FPGA kernel on the above platform. Vitis unified software platform 2019.2 is used for developing and deploying the application.

Prerequisites ¶

In order to access the test bed, create a reservation and have it approved by the reservation service. Access to the resources is granted after the reservation is confirmed. Please follow the process shown on the COSMOS work flow page to get started.

Resources required ¶

1 COSMOS compute server or 1 node in ORBIT SB9.

Tutorial Setup ¶

Follow the steps below to gain access to the sandbox 1 console and set up nodes with appropriate images.

1. If you don't have one already, sign up for a ​COSMOS account
2. Create a resource reservation on sandbox 1
3. Login into sandbox 1 console (console.sb1.cosmos-lab.org) with two SSH sessions.
4. Make sure all the nodes and devices used in the experiment are turned off:

   omf tell -a offh -t srv3-lg1,srv4-lg1,rfdev3-1,rfdev3-2,rfdev3-5,rfdev3-6  
   

5. The image sivers_sb1_cosmos.ndz is [baseline_uhd.ndz] with Sivers control software installed. Load sivers_sb1_cosmos.ndz on srv3,srv4.

   omf load -i sivers_sb1_cosmos.ndz -t srv3-lg1,srv4-lg1
   

6. Turn all the required resources on and check the status

   omf tell -a on -t srv3-lg1,srv4-lg1,rfdev3-1,rfdev3-2,rfdev3-5,rfdev3-6
   

   omf stat -t system:topo:allres
   

7. ssh to the nodes, use option -Y for using GUI.

Experiment Execution ¶

Prepare the node

• Load alveo_runtime.ndz on a reserved server/node. This image comes with Vitis 2019.2, XRT(Xilinx Run Time) and Alveo U200 XDMA deployment shell installed.

  prasanthi@console:~$ omf load -i alveo-runtime.ndz -t node1-6
  

• Once the node is successfully imaged, turn it on

  prasanthi@console:~$ omf tell -a on -t node1-6
  

• After giving it some time to power up and boot, ssh to the node

  prasanthi@console:~$ ssh root@node1-6
  

Validate Card and check shell installation

• The reserved resource (node in SB9, orbit) has Alveo U200 card attached over PCIe bus. Check if the card is successfully installed and if its firmware matches with the shell installed on the host. Run lspci command as shown below. If the card is successfully installed, two physical functions should be found per card, one for management and one for user.

  root@node1-6:~# sudo lspci -vd 10ee:
  d8:00.0 Processing accelerators: Xilinx Corporation Device d000
          Subsystem: Xilinx Corporation Device 000e
          Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 200, NUMA node 1
          Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32M]
          Memory at f2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
          Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
          Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
          Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
          Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
          Capabilities: [1c0] #19
          Capabilities: [400] Access Control Services
          Kernel driver in use: xclmgmt
          Kernel modules: xclmgmt
  
  

• The above output shows only the management function. In that case, the firmware on the FPGA needs to be updated as follows. xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2 is the deployment shell installed on the alveo_runtime.ndz image.

  root@node1-6:~# sudo /opt/xilinx/xrt/bin/xbmgmt flash --update --shell xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2
           Status: shell needs updating
           Current shell: xilinx_u200_GOLDEN_5
           Shell to be flashed: xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2
  Are you sure you wish to proceed? [y/n]: y
  
  Updating SC firmware on card[0000:d8:00.0]
  INFO: found 4 sections
  .....................................
  INFO: Loading new firmware on SC
  
  Updating shell on card[0000:d8:00.0]
  INFO: ***Found 700 ELA Records
  Idcode byte[0] ff
  Idcode byte[1] 20
  Idcode byte[2] bb
  Idcode byte[3] 21
  Idcode byte[4] 10
  Enabled bitstream guard. Bitstream will not be loaded until flashing is finished.
  Erasing flash...................................
  Programming flash...................................
  Cleared bitstream guard. Bitstream now active.
  Successfully flashed Card[0000:d8:00.0]
  
  1 Card(s) flashed successfully.
  Cold reboot machine to load the new image on card(s).
  
  

• Power cycle the node using omf offh and on commands. Once the node is on, ssh to the node.
• Run lspci command to verify the updated firmware. The output now shows both the management and user functions.

  root@node1-6:~# sudo lspci -vd 10ee:
  d8:00.0 Processing accelerators: Xilinx Corporation Device 5000
          Subsystem: Xilinx Corporation Device 000e
          Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, NUMA node 1
          Memory at 387ff2000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
          Memory at 387ff4000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=128K]
          Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
          Capabilities: [60] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=33 Masked-
          Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
          Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
          Capabilities: [1c0] #19
          Capabilities: [400] Access Control Services
          Capabilities: [410] #15
          Kernel driver in use: xclmgmt
          Kernel modules: xclmgmt
  
  d8:00.1 Processing accelerators: Xilinx Corporation Device 5001
          Subsystem: Xilinx Corporation Device 000e
          Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 220, NUMA node 1
          Memory at 387ff0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
          Memory at 387ff4020000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=64K]
          Memory at 387fe0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
          Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
          Capabilities: [60] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=33 Masked-
          Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
          Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
          Capabilities: [400] Access Control Services
          Capabilities: [410] #15
          Kernel driver in use: xocl
          Kernel modules: xocl
  

• Use the xbmgmt flash —scan command to view and validate the card's current firmware version, as well as display the installed card details

  root@node1-6:~# /opt/xilinx/xrt/bin/xbmgmt flash --scan
  Card [0000:d8:00.0]
      Card type:          u200
      Flash type:         SPI
      Flashable partition running on FPGA:
          xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2,[ID=0x000000005d1211e8],[SC=4.2.0]
      Flashable partitions installed in system:
          xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2,[ID=0x000000005d1211e8],[SC=4.2.0]
  

Note the shell version installed on the FPGA(Flashable partition running on FPGA) matches with that installed on the host(Flashable partitions installed in system).

• For more information on card start up, please refer ​https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/boards_and_kits/accelerator-cards/ug1301-getting-started-guide-alveo-accelerator-cards.pdf

Run an accelerated application

• Multiple examples, from a couple of Xilinx repositories have been cloned to the node image. A simple matrix multiplication application obtained from ​https://github.com/Xilinx/Vitis-Tutorials/blob/master/docs/Pathway3 is demonstrated in this tutorial. The xclbin files for software emulation, hardware emulation and hardware targets were built following instructions in the Vitis-Tutorials repository. Slightly modified host code (to display the output) was also built. Run the accelerated application on the Alveo U200 target using the following command

  root@node1-6:~/Vitis-Tutorials/docs/Pathway3/reference-files/run# ./host mmult.hw.xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2.xclbin
  Found Platform
  Platform Name: Xilinx
  INFO: Reading mmult.hw.xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2.xclbin
  Loading: 'mmult.hw.xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2.xclbin'
  
  INPUT MATRIX
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
  6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
  4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
  6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
  4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
  6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
  4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
  
  OUTPUT MATRIX
  250 310 230 290 270 330 220 280 230 290 250 310 230 290 270 330
  330 406 262 338 254 330 356 432 318 394 330 406 262 338 254 330
  250 322 294 366 298 370 312 384 286 358 250 322 294 366 298 370
  250 318 306 374 222 290 248 316 334 402 250 318 306 374 222 290
  290 374 298 382 366 450 344 428 382 466 290 374 298 382 366 450
  250 310 230 290 270 330 220 280 230 290 250 310 230 290 270 330
  330 406 262 338 254 330 356 432 318 394 330 406 262 338 254 330
  250 322 294 366 298 370 312 384 286 358 250 322 294 366 298 370
  250 318 306 374 222 290 248 316 334 402 250 318 306 374 222 290
  290 374 298 382 366 450 344 428 382 466 290 374 298 382 366 450
  250 310 230 290 270 330 220 280 230 290 250 310 230 290 270 330
  330 406 262 338 254 330 356 432 318 394 330 406 262 338 254 330
  250 322 294 366 298 370 312 384 286 358 250 322 294 366 298 370
  250 318 306 374 222 290 248 316 334 402 250 318 306 374 222 290
  290 374 298 382 366 450 344 428 382 466 290 374 298 382 366 450
  250 310 230 290 270 330 220 280 230 290 250 310 230 290 270 330
  TEST PASSED
  
  

• Host code uses OpenCL API calls to send both the input matrices, configure the kernel, start the task and read the output matrix back. Received result is then compared with a result obtained from host computation.

Analyze FPGA kernel performance

• Vitis platform provides options to generate various reports which help understand and analyze the accelerated application. Profile summary, timeline trace, waveform view are a few of them. Vitis analyzer can be used to view these reports.
• System estimate report is generated while building the hardware target xclbin file. It gives information on the resource usage, clock frequency, kernel latency estimate, etc.

  root@node1-6:~/Vitis-Tutorials/docs/Pathway3/reference-files/run# vitis_analyzer mmult.hw.xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2.xclbin.link_summary
  

• Waveform view - While generating the hardware emulation target, waveform view can be enabled by editing the xrt.ini file. This option displays kernel signals in a waveform view while running hardware emulation. Hardware emulation can be run as follows

  export XCL_EMULATION_MODE=hw_emu
  ./host mmult.hw_emu.xilinx_u200_xdma_201830_2.xclbin