.. zephyr:board:: imx8mp_evk

Overview

i.MX8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board is based on NXP i.MX8M Plus applications processor, composed of a quad Cortex®-A53 cluster and a single Cortex®-M7 core. Zephyr OS is ported to run on the Cortex®-A53 core.

Board features:
- RAM: 2GB LPDDR4
- Storage:
  - SanDisk 16GB eMMC5.1
  - Micron 32MB QSPI NOR
  - microSD Socket
- Wireless:
  - WiFi: 2.4/5GHz IEEE 802.11b/g/n
  - Bluetooth: v4.1
- USB:
  - OTG - 2x type C
- Ethernet
- PCI-E M.2
- Connectors:
  - 40-Pin Dual Row Header
- LEDs:
  - 1x Power status LED
  - 1x UART LED
- Debug
  - JTAG 20-pin connector
  - MicroUSB for UART debug, two COM ports for A53 and M4

More information about the board can be found at the NXP website_.

Supported Features

.. zephyr:board-supported-hw::

Devices

System Clock

This board configuration uses a system clock frequency of 8 MHz.

The M7 Core is configured to run at a 800 MHz clock speed.

Serial Port

This board configuration uses a single serial communication channel with the CPU's UART4.

Programming and Debugging (A53)

.. zephyr:board-supported-runners::

There are multiple methods to program and debug Zephyr on the A53 core:

Option 1. Boot Zephyr by Using JLink Runner

The default runner for the board is JLink, connect the EVK board's JTAG connector to the host computer using a J-Link debugger, power up the board and stop the board at U-Boot command line.

Then use "west flash" or "west debug" command to load the zephyr.bin image from the host computer and start the Zephyr application on A53 core0.

Flash and Run

Here is an example for the :zephyr:code-sample:hello_world application.

.. zephyr-app-commands:: :zephyr-app: samples/hello_world :host-os: unix :board: imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/a53 :goals: flash

Then the following log could be found on UART4 console:

.. code-block:: console

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v4.1.0-3063-g38519ca2c028 ***
Hello World! imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/a53

Debug

Here is an example for the :zephyr:code-sample:hello_world application.

.. zephyr-app-commands:: :zephyr-app: samples/hello_world :host-os: unix :board: imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/a53 :goals: debug

Option 2. Boot Zephyr by Using U-Boot Command

U-Boot "cpu" command is used to load and kick Zephyr to Cortex-A secondary Core, Currently it is supported in : Real-Time Edge U-Boot_ (use the branch "uboot_vxxxx.xx-y.y.y, xxxx.xx is uboot version and y.y.y is Real-Time Edge Software version, for example "uboot_v2023.04-2.9.0" branch is U-Boot v2023.04 used in Real-Time Edge Software release v2.9.0), and pre-build images and user guide can be found at Real-Time Edge Software_.

.. _Real-Time Edge U-Boot: https://github.com/nxp-real-time-edge-sw/real-time-edge-uboot .. _Real-Time Edge Software: https://www.nxp.com/rtedge

Step 1: Download Zephyr Image into DDR Memory

Firstly need to download Zephyr binary image into DDR memory, it can use tftp:

.. code-block:: console

tftp 0xc0000000 zephyr.bin

Or copy the Zephyr image zephyr.bin SD card and plug the card into the board, for example if copy to the FAT partition of the SD card, use the following U-Boot command to load the image into DDR memory (assuming the SD card is dev 1, fat partition ID is 1, they could be changed based on actual setup):

.. code-block:: console

fatload mmc 1:1 0xc0000000 zephyr.bin;

Step 2: Boot Zephyr

Then use the following command to boot Zephyr on the core0:

.. code-block:: console

dcache off; icache flush; go 0xc0000000;

Or use "cpu" command to boot from secondary Core, for example Core1:

.. code-block:: console

dcache flush; icache flush; cpu 1 release 0xc0000000

Option 3. Boot Zephyr by Using Remoteproc under Linux

When running Linux on the A53 cores, it can use the remoteproc framework to load and boot Zephyr, refer to Real-Time Edge user guide for more details. Pre-build images and user guide can be found at Real-Time Edge Software_.

Use this configuration to run basic Zephyr applications and kernel tests, for example, with the :zephyr:code-sample:synchronization sample:

.. zephyr-app-commands:: :zephyr-app: samples/synchronization :host-os: unix :board: imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/a53 :goals: build

This will build an image with the synchronization sample app, boot it and display the following console output:

.. code-block:: console

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v4.1.0-3063-g38519ca2c028 ***
thread_a: Hello World from cpu 0 on mimx8mp_evk!
thread_b: Hello World from cpu 0 on mimx8mp_evk!
thread_a: Hello World from cpu 0 on mimx8mp_evk!
thread_b: Hello World from cpu 0 on mimx8mp_evk!
thread_a: Hello World from cpu 0 on mimx8mp_evk!

CAN bus (FlexCAN) (A53)

The FlexCAN controller is a CAN 2.0B controller that supports both standard and extended frames. The FlexCAN controller has two independent FlexCAN modules, FlexCAN1 and FlexCAN2. By default, FlexCAN1 is enabled in the device tree. To enable FlexCAN2, you need to add the following overlay to the device tree: :zephyr_file:boards/nxp/imx8mp_evk/dts/flexcan2.overlay.

For example, building the :zephyr:code-sample:hello_world sample with the CAN shell and CAN statistics enabled, and using the FlexCAN1 controller, you can use the following configuration:

.. zephyr-app-commands:: :zephyr-app: samples/hello_world :board: imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/a53 :gen-args: -DCONFIG_SHELL=y -DCONFIG_CAN=y -DCONFIG_CAN_SHELL=y -DCONFIG_STATS=y -DCONFIG_CAN_STATS=y :goals: build

Programming and Debugging (M7)

The MIMX8MP EVK board doesn't have QSPI flash for the M7, and it needs to be started by the A53 core. The A53 core is responsible to load the M7 binary application into the RAM, put the M7 in reset, set the M7 Program Counter and Stack Pointer, and get the M7 out of reset. The A53 can perform these steps at bootloader level or after the Linux system has booted.

The M7 can use up to 3 different RAMs (currently, only two configurations are supported: ITCM and DDR). These are the memory mapping for A53 and M7:

For more information about memory mapping see the i.MX 8M Applications Processor Reference Manual_ (section 2.1 to 2.3)

At compilation time you have to choose which RAM will be used. This configuration is done based on board name (imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/m7 for ITCM and imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/m7/ddr for DDR).

There are two methods to load M7 Core images: U-Boot command and Linux remoteproc.

Load and Run M7 Zephyr Image from U-Boot

Load and run Zephyr on M7 from A53 using u-boot by copying the compiled zephyr.bin to the first FAT partition of the SD card and plug the SD card into the board. Power it up and stop the u-boot execution at prompt.

Load the M7 binary onto the desired memory and start its execution using:

ITCM

.. code-block:: console

fatload mmc 0:1 0x48000000 zephyr.bin cp.b 0x48000000 0x7e0000 20000 bootaux 0x7e0000

DDR

.. code-block:: console

fatload mmc 0:1 0x80000000 zephyr.bin dcache flush bootaux 0x80000000

Load and Run M7 Zephyr Image by using Linux remoteproc

Prepare device tree:

The device tree must include CM7 dts node with compatible string "fsl,imx8mn-cm7", and also need to reserve M4 DDR memory if using DDR code and sys address, and also need to put "m4_reserved" in the list of memory-region property of the cm7 node.

.. code-block:: console

reserved-memory { #address-cells = <2>; #size-cells = <2>; ranges;

        m7_reserved: m4@80000000 {
              no-map;
              reg = <0 0x80000000 0 0x1000000>;
        };
        ...

}

imx8mp-cm7 { compatible = "fsl,imx8mn-cm7"; rsc-da = <0x55000000>; clocks = <&clk IMX8MP_CLK_M7_DIV>, <&audio_blk_ctrl IMX8MP_CLK_AUDIO_BLK_CTRL_AUDPLL_ROOT>; clock-names = "core", "audio"; mbox-names = "tx", "rx", "rxdb"; mboxes = <&mu 0 1 &mu 1 1 &mu 3 1>; memory-region = <&vdevbuffer>, <&vdev0vring0>, <&vdev0vring1>, <&rsc_table>, <&m7_reserved>; status = "okay"; fsl,startup-delay-ms = <500>; };

Extra Zephyr Kernel configure item for DDR Image:

If use remotepoc to boot DDR board (imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/m7/ddr), also need to enable "CONFIG_ROMSTART_RELOCATION_ROM" in order to put romstart memory section into ITCM because M7 Core will get the first instruction from zero address of ITCM, but romstart relocation will make the storage size of zephyr.bin too large, so we don't enable it by default in board defconfig.

.. code-block:: console

diff --git a/boards/nxp/imx8mp_evk/imx8mp_evk_mimx8ml8_m7_ddr_defconfig b/boards/nxp/imx8mp_evk/imx8mp_evk_mimx8ml8_m7_ddr_defconfig index 17542cb4eec..8c30c5b6fa3 100644 --- a/boards/nxp/imx8mp_evk/imx8mp_evk_mimx8ml8_m7_ddr_defconfig +++ b/boards/nxp/imx8mp_evk/imx8mp_evk_mimx8ml8_m7_ddr_defconfig @@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ CONFIG_CONSOLE=y CONFIG_XIP=y CONFIG_CODE_DDR=y +CONFIG_ROMSTART_RELOCATION_ROM=y

Then use the following steps to boot Zephyr kernel:

In U-Boot command line execute prepare script:

.. code-block:: console

u-boot=> run prepare_mcore

Boot Linux kernel with specified dtb and then boot Zephyr by using remoteproc:

.. code-block:: console

root@imx8mp-lpddr4-evk:~~# echo zephyr.elf > /sys/devices/platform/imx8mp-cm7/remoteproc/remoteproc0/firmware root@imx8mp-lpddr4-evk:~~# echo start > /sys/devices/platform/imx8mp-cm7/remoteproc/remoteproc0/state [ 39.195651] remoteproc remoteproc0: powering up imx-rproc [ 39.203345] remoteproc remoteproc0: Booting fw image zephyr.elf, size 503992 [ 39.203388] remoteproc remoteproc0: No resource table in elf root@imx8mp-lpddr4-evk:~# [ 39.711380] remoteproc remoteproc0: remote processor imx-rproc is now up

root@imx8mp-lpddr4-evk:~#

Debugging

MIMX8MP EVK board can be debugged by connecting an external JLink JTAG debugger to the J24 debug connector and to the PC. Then the application can be debugged using the usual way.

Here is an example for the :zephyr:code-sample:hello_world application.

.. zephyr-app-commands:: :zephyr-app: samples/hello_world :board: imx8mp_evk/mimx8ml8/m7 :goals: debug

Open a serial terminal, step through the application in your debugger, and you should see the following message in the terminal:

.. code-block:: console

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.7.99-1310-g2801bf644a91 *** Hello World! imx8mp_evk

.. include:: ../../common/board-footer.rst.inc

.. _NXP website: https://www.nxp.com/design/development-boards/i-mx-evaluation-and-development-boards/evaluation-kit-for-the-i-mx-8m-plus-applications-processor:8MPLUSLPD4-EVK

.. _i.MX 8M Applications Processor Reference Manual: https://www.nxp.com/webapp/Download?colCode=IMX8MPRM