Xilinx Software Development Kit Overview

SDK is available as a separate installation package in the 12.1 release, which does not require installation of Xilinx® ISE® Design Suite or the Xilinx Embedded Design Kit. The separate installation of SDK includes all features required to develop and debug software applications on Xilinx embedded processors, including GNU-based compiler toolchain, GNU debugger (GDB), drivers for Xilinx IPs, libraries for networking and file handling, POSIX compliant kernel library, and a rich IDE for C/C++ development and debugging. By not requiring the installation of ISE and EDK, the separate installation package significantly reduces the amount of installation space (by 90%) required for software development.

While SDK 12.1 retains a look and feel familiar to existing users, it builds on the latest Eclipse 3.5.1 and CDT 6.0.1 releases and adds new functionality, including simplified flows for creating your initial C application.

Conceptual
Changes

A software platform (a collection of libraries and drivers that form the lowest layer of your application stack) is now referred to as a board support package (BSP), but a distinction is made between a BSP used within SDK to create applications and a BSP created for a third-party operating system such as WindRiver VxWorks for use outside of SDK.

File > New provides access to creation of hardware platform, BSP and applications.

Getting Started

Getting started is now easier than before. In Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS), create a design and export your hardware design to SDK. In SDK, you can launch the Xilinx C Project wizard, select a sample project, and create a new board support package in the same flow.

In the Project Explorer, double-click the hardware platform XML file to view a list of IP used and their data sheets. Double-click on the board support package MSS file to view information about the BSP, drivers and documentation. Then, run or debug your application as in earlier releases

C/C++ Application Wizard

The Xilinx C/C++ Project wizard offers a simplified flow, prompting for the hardware platform specification file and automatically generating a board support package (BSP) before creating a sample application.

Bootloader sample application creation is one of the supported sample applications and is no longer created during Flash programming for a cleaner flow.

Updated Linker Script Dialog

The Linker Script Generation dialog box has been updated with basic and advanced modes, featuring:
- Improved layout with section sizes with human readable values
- Errors during generation shown and correctable in the IDE rather than the console
- Linker script can be applied to active or all build configurations
- Adding code sections does not replicate names
- The dialog box can now be invoked standalone (decoupled from SDK)
- You can now create linker scripts without an application

Unified BSP Generation and Configuration

Improved Profiling View

New Hardware Platform and BSP Views

The new Hardware Platform view displays IP used in the design with version information and datasheet hyperlink (double-click on the XML file, or right-click the name and select Open).

The new Board Support Package view displays information about the BSP and drivers, including a link to documentation (double-click on the MSS file, or right-click the name and select Open).

Terminal Support

Device Programming

Device programming updates include FPGA programming progress. The JTAG Settings dialog box supports specification of ChipScope™ plug-ins to enable the user of third-party cables.

Debug Improvements

Ease of Use Changes

SDK ease of use improvements include automatic completion of project names, context sensitivity of menus, simplified software repository dialog with support for rescan, scrolling SDK console logging actions taken by the IDE, and more.

Other Changes

SDK 12.1 also includes the following changes:
- Project Explorer and C/C++ Project views display hardware platform, board support package and application projects at the same level of hierarchy
- Xilinx functionality is now found in the Xilinx Tools menu, rather than separate Tools and Hardware Design menus
- Command line launch uses the new xsdk command
- The hardware differences view is obsolete

Updated
Cygwin Version

Updated
JRE Version

Integration with Xilinx System Generator