AMD Xilinx Vivado Design Suite installation

This page provides step-by-step guidance to install AMD Xilinx Vivado Design Suite, the program used to create hardware design running on AMD Xilinx FPGAs, and by extension used to program the FPGA of imperix devices. To learn more on FPGA development on imperix devices, please refer to the getting started guide.

Vivado is installed via the AMD Unified Installer, which also provides:

• Vitis HLS (formerly Vivado HLS): High-level synthesis tool which allows creating FPGA algorithms using C/C++ code.
• Model Composer: Add-on for MATLAB & Simulink which includes Model Composer and System Generator. This tool is not free and requires a license.

For more information about Vitis HLS and Model Composer, please refer to the dedicated introductions to Xilinx Vitis HLS and Xilinx Model Composer.

Is AMD Xilinx Vivado free?

Imperix made sure to only use Xilinx devices (the Zynq-7000 and Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC mentioned above) that are compatible with the no-cost version of Vivado: the Vivado ML Standard Edition.

How to download Vivado Design Suite

1. An account is required to download and install the Xilinx Vivado Design Suite. Create a free account at https://www.amd.com/en/registration/create-account.html.
2. Navigate to the Xilinx download page.
3. Choose a version and select the Windows Self Extracting Web Installer version of the AMD Unified Installer.
4. Enter your login credentials.
5. Fill up the verification form and click Download.

How to install Vivado Design Suite

1. Once downloaded, launch the executable.
2. Enter your login credentials and select Download and Install Now.

3. Select Vivado.

4. For the free of charge version, select Vivado ML Standard.

5. Select the items to install. Other options can be installed later on via the Xilinx “Add Design Tools or Devices” app. The required items are:
   • Vivado (all imperix devices)
   • Zynq-7000 support (B-Box RCP 3.0, B-Board PRO, Programmable Inverter (TPI))
   • Zynq UltraScale+ MPSOC (B-Box 4)

5. Accept the license agreements.

5. Choose an installation directory. We recommend keeping the default one.

5. And finally click on Install.
6. The installation of Vivado might take some time.

Going further

The Getting started page provides a step-by-step introduction to FPGA programming on imperix controllers, explaining how to create the Vivado project template, generate a bitstream and load it onto an imperix controller.