High-Level Synthesis with the Vitis HLS Tool

This is an update to the deprecated course C-based Design: High-Level Synthesis with the Vivado HLx Tool.

Receive a thorough introduction to the AMD Xilinx Vitis™ High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tool. This course covers synthesis strategies, features, improving throughput, area, interface creation, latency, testbench coding, and coding tips. The course focuses on the Zynq UltraScale+™ MPSoC architecture.

The focus of this course is on:

  • Converting C/C++ designs into RTL implementations
  • Learning the Vitis HLS tool flow
  • Creating I/O interfaces for designs by using the Vitis HLS tool
  • Applying different optimization techniques
  • Improving throughput, area, latency, and logic by using different HLS pragmas/directives
  • Exporting IP that can be used with the Vivado IP catalog
  • Downloading for in-circuit validation

See Course Outline

2-Day Instructor-led CoursePrice USDTraining Credits
Hosted Online - $299/day$5986
In-Person Registration - $399/day$7988
Printed Course Book (A PDF book is included in the course fee)$1001
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Scheduled Classes

View our Full Calendar for class date status.
(Confirmed, Closed, Full)

Training Duration:

2 Days

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Who should attend:

Software and hardware engineers looking to utilize high-level synthesis.

Skills Gained

After completing this comprehensive training, you will know how to:

  • Enhance productivity using the Vitis HLS tool
  • Describe the high-level synthesis flow
  • Use the Vitis HLS tool for a first project
  • Identify the importance of the test bench
  • Use directives to improve performance and area and select RTL interfaces
  • Identify common coding pitfalls as well as methods for improving code for RTL/hardware
  • Perform system-level integration of IP generated by the Vitis HLS tool

Course Outline

Day 1Day 2
Introduction to High-Level Synthesis
Overview of high-level synthesis (HLS), the Vitis HLS tool flow, and the verification advantage. {Lecture}

Vitis HLS Tool Flow
Explores the basics of high-level synthesis and the Vitis HLS tool. {Lecture, Demo, Lab}

Design Exploration with Directives
Explores different optimization techniques that can improve the design performance. {Lecture}

Vitis HLS Tool Command Line Interface
Describes the Vitis HLS tool flow in command prompt mode. {Lecture, Lab}

Introduction to Vitis HLS Design Methodology
Introduces the methodology guidelines covered in this course and the HLS Design Methodology steps. {Lecture}

Introduction to I/O Interfaces
Explains interfaces such as the block-level and port-level protocols abstracted by the Vitis HLS tool from the C design. {Lecture}

Block-Level Protocols
Explains the different types of block-level protocols abstracted by the Vitis HLS tool. {Lecture, Lab}

Port-Level I/O Protocols
Describes the port-level interface protocols abstracted by the Vitis HLS tool from the C design. {Lecture, Demo, Lab}

AXI Adapter Interface Protocols
Explains the different AXI interfaces (such as AXI4-Master, AXI4-Lite (Slave), and AXI4-Stream) supported by the Vitis HLS tool. {Lecture, Demo}

Port-Level I/O Protocols: Memory Interfaces
Describes the memory interface port-level protocols (such as block RAM and FIFO) abstracted by the Vitis HLS tool from the C design. {Lecture, Lab}

Pipeline for Performance: PIPELINE
Describes the PIPELINE directive for improving the throughput of a design. {Lecture, Lab}
Pipeline for Performance: DATAFLOW
Describes the DATAFLOW directive for improving the throughput of a design by pipelining the functions to execute as soon as possible. {Lecture, Lab}

Optimizing for Throughput
Identify the performance limitations caused by arrays in your design. You will also explore optimization techniques to handle arrays for improving performance. {Lecture, Demo, Lab}

Optimizing for Latency: Default Behavior
Describes the default behavior of the Vitis HLS tool on latency and throughput. {Lecture}

Optimizing for Latency: Reducing Latency
Describes how to optimize the C design to improve latency. {Lecture}

Optimizing for Area and Logic
Describes different methods for improving resource utilization and explains how some of the directives have impact on the area utilization. {Lecture, Lab}

Migrating to the Vitis HLS Tool
Reviews key considerations when moving from the Vivado HLS tool to the Vitis HLS tool. {Lecture}

HLS Design Flow – System Integration
Describes the traditional RTL flow versus the Vitis HLS tool design flow. {Lecture, Lab}

Vitis HLS Tool C++ Libraries: Arbitrary Precision
Describes Vitis HLS tool support for the C/C++ languages as well as arbitrary precision data types. {Lecture, Lab}

Hardware Modeling
Describes hardware modeling with streaming data types and shift register implementation using the ap_shift_reg class. {Lecture}

Using Pointers in the Vitis HLS Tool
Explains the use of pointers in the design and workarounds for some of the limitations. {Lecture}

Please note: The instructor may change the content order to provide a better learning experience.

Prerequisites:

  • C, C++, or System C knowledge
  • High-level synthesis for software engineers OR high-level synthesis for hardware engineers

RELATED COURSES:

Updated 7-14-2023
©2023 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Xilinx, Inc. is now part of AMD. Xilinx, the Xilinx logo, AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, Alveo, Artix, Kintex, Kria, Spartan, Versal, Vitis, Virtex, Vivado, Zynq, and other designated brands included herein are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.