Lab Workbook Use Vivado to build an Embedded System
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Use Vivado to build an Embedded System
Introduction
This lab guides you through the process of using Vivado to create a simple ARM Cortex-A9 based
processor design targeting the ZedBoard development board. You will use Vivado to create the hardware
system and SDK (Software Development Kit) to create an example application to verify the hardware
functionality.
Objectives
After completing this lab, you will be able to:
• Create a Vivado project for a Zynq system
• Use the IP Integrator to create a hardware system
• Use SDK to create a standard memory test project
• Run the test application on the board
Procedure
This lab is separated into steps that consist of general overview statements that provide information on
the detailed instructions that follow. Follow these detailed instructions to progress through the lab.
This lab comprises 5 primary steps: You will create a top-level project using Vivado, create the processor
system using the Vivado IP Integrator, generate the top-level HDL and export the design to SDK, create a
Memory Test application in SDK, and finally, test in hardware.
Design Description
The purpose of the lab exercises is to walk you through a complete hardware and software processor
system design. Each lab will build upon the previous lab. The following diagram represents the completed
design (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Completed Design
In this lab, you will use IP Integrator to create a processing system based design consisting of the
following (Figure 2):
• ARM Cortex A9 core (PS)
• UART for serial communication
• DDR3 controller for external DDR3_SDRAM memory
