Embedded development on AMD FPGAs, SoCs and adaptive SoCs, including Zynq, Zynq UltraScale+, and Versal series devices, has entered a new era with the AMD Embedded Development Framework (EDF). EDF introduces a Yocto‑driven workflow, moving away from the legacy PetaLinux approach. This shift aligns with modern embedded Linux practices, enabling reproducible, maintainable, and industry-standard builds.
What Yocto Is
The Yocto Project is an open-source framework for building custom embedded Linux distributions. Rather than using prebuilt Linux images, Yocto lets developers create a fully tailored operating system for their specific hardware. At its core, Yocto provides a set of recipes, layers, and build tools that automate the process of generating kernels, root filesystems, and application packages. (yoctoproject.org)
Yocto’s key strengths include:
- Customizability: Developers can define exactly which components, libraries, and tools are included.
- Reproducibility: Builds can be version-controlled and recreated reliably across different machines and over time.
- Upstream support: Yocto is widely adopted in industry, with a large community that maintains updates, patches, and security fixes.
By standardizing on Yocto, EDF ensures that embedded Linux development is maintainable, scalable, and compatible with modern embedded workflows.
What the AMD Embedded Development Framework (EDF) Is
At its core, the AMD Embedded Development Framework is an open-source platform for building embedded Linux systems on AMD SoCs. EDF provides a modular solution stack combining hardware reference designs, Board Support Packages (BSPs), boot firmware, and prebuilt Linux images. By building directly on Yocto, EDF gives engineers a flexible, reproducible workflow for both evaluation and production systems.
EDF allows developers to customize kernel configurations, tailor root filesystems, and maintain reproducible builds. It integrates smoothly with AMD hardware tools like Vivado and Vitis, providing a complete environment from hardware design to embedded software deployment.
Learn more about the AMD EDF here.
Why Yocto Matters in AMD Embedded Development Framework
Using Yocto as the underlying build system gives EDF several advantages over proprietary workflows:
- Industry alignment: Yocto is widely used in embedded Linux, ensuring compatibility with tools and long-term support.
- Maintainability: Recipes, layers, and BitBake builds allow reproducible, version-controlled workflows.
- Flexibility: Developers can generate Linux images optimized for footprint, performance, and security.
This foundation allows EDF to move beyond PetaLinux wrappers while giving developers full control over their Linux stack.
The Shift Away from PetaLinux
For years, PetaLinux Tools dominated embedded Linux development on AMD (Xilinx-based) systems, providing kernel configuration, BSP management, and SDK generation in a unified workflow. EDF replaces this with a Yocto-driven workflow, offering more flexibility, maintainability, and alignment with modern practices.
Reasons for the transition include:
- PetaLinux was a vendor-specific Yocto wrapper with limited flexibility
- Yocto provides upstream support, reproducibility, and broader ecosystem compatibility
- EDF ensures long-term maintainability and modern embedded Linux development practices
Learn about Petalinux
Migration Checklist: PetaLinux to the AMD Embedded Development Framework / Yocto
For teams moving existing projects, AMD recommends the following approach:
- Inventory your PetaLinux project
- List custom layers, kernel patches, and application packages
- Identify hardware configurations and peripheral dependencies
- Install EDF and Yocto layers
- Download the EDF BSP and reference designs for your target SoC
- Configure Yocto and BitBake for your build environment
- Port custom layers and packages
- Translate PetaLinux overlays into Yocto layers
- Resolve dependencies and validate compatibility with EDF BSPs
- Configure the kernel and root filesystem
- Map PetaLinux kernel options to Yocto configurations
- Include only required packages to optimize footprint and security
- Build and validate images
- Run BitBake to generate reproducible Linux images
- Test on target hardware, checking boot, drivers, and peripheral functionality
- Integrate with hardware and software flows
- Combine EDF images with Vivado or Vitis hardware platforms
- Validate system-level integration for embedded applications and accelerators
Conclusion
The AMD Embedded Development Framework represents the future of embedded Linux on AMD adaptive SoCs. By building on Yocto, EDF delivers a flexible, reproducible, and industry-aligned workflow that replaces legacy PetaLinux tools. Developers gain maintainable Linux stacks, long-term support, and a clear path from evaluation to production. Using the migration checklist, teams can transition existing projects efficiently, leveraging EDF and Yocto for modern, sustainable embedded development.
