How can I configure and access FPGA accelerators using the OPAE Intel FPGA Linux Device Driver? (intel OPAE FPGA Linux Device Driver Architecture User Guide)

Answer

manuals.plus

Mar 14, 2025 - 04:41 AM

To configure and access FPGA accelerators using the OPAE Intel FPGA Linux Device Driver, you can follow these steps:

1. Enumerate the FPGA device: The FPGA device will appear as a regular PCIe device from the OS's point of view. You can enumerate the FPGA device by accessing the sysfs hierarchy under /sys/class/fpga. Each FPGA device will have one FPGA Management Engine (FME) and one or more Ports (AFUs).

2. Acquire exclusive access to the FME: User-space applications can acquire exclusive access to the FME using the open() function on the FME device. This requires privileged user access (root).

3. Acquire exclusive access to an AFU: User-space applications can acquire exclusive access to an AFU attached to a Port by using the open() function on the Port device.

4. Configure the FPGA: The FPGA can be configured through partial reconfiguration of an Accelerator Function (AF) file. Before performing a partial reconfiguration, make sure the AF is compatible with the targeted Port. You can check compatibility by comparing the interface ID noted in the AF header against the interface ID exposed by the FME through sysfs.

5. Virtualize the FPGA: To enable accessing an accelerator from applications running in a virtual machine (VM), you can assign the AFU's port to a Virtual Function (VF) using the FPGA_FME_PORT_RELEASE and FPGA_FME_PORT_ASSIGN ioctls on the FME device. Once assigned, the AFU under the VF is accessible from applications in the VM using the same driver inside the VF.

6. Access FPGA features: Once you have acquired access to the FME or AFU, you can access various features and functionalities exposed by the FPGA device through sysfs files. These files provide information about the FPGA device, thermal management, power management, error reporting, performance reporting, and more.

It is important to refer to the Intel OPAE FPGA Linux Device Driver Architecture User Guide for detailed information and examples on how to configure and access FPGA accelerators using the OPAE Intel FPGA Linux Device Driver.