Introducing the Versal Power Tool

Editor's Note: This content is contributed by Jerry Wong, Senior Manager for  Processing Platforms at Xilinx

One of main reasons that our customers choose Xilinx is because of performance-per-watt advantage. Key applications for power include aerospace & defense, industrial scientific & measurement, automotive, and enclosed environmental installations.

It is important to measure power to evaluate your designs and to make sure you stay within your power budget during your development. Checking often can prevent wasted development effort. The good news is that power measurement is now much easier than before!

Versal Power Tool

The Versal® power tool runs from the system controller independently from Versal devices, so it is compatible with any design running on the Versal devices. Also, there is no need to integrate any measurement code with your Versal design for it to work.

With the board evaluation and management (BEAM) tool, the Versal power tool is just a few clicks away. 

1) Select "Run Demos & Designs" 

2) Click “Run” under Versal Power Tool box

Running from Python, several versions are provided including one-shot (pictured), continuous, and continuous graphical. Each can be run by selecting the cell containing the Python code and clicking “Run”. The output power total is shown below.

More Python snippets are available on the part 4 section on the Xilinx Wiki. These snippets include

• 1ms measurement to mimic a scope
• 48-hour measurement to log for experimentation
• custom reports
• custom graphics

Using Python means no extra tools to install and no compile times. The example is extensible with Python library support, and you can incorporate it with your own example by running the Versal power tool library directly. See the instruction here.

Learn More

Do you want to monitor and modify different power domain and power island states of the Versal devices? Check out the typical power states demo and try it for yourself!

These are additional links that can help your evaluation:

• Wiki for Versal Power Tool
• Versal AI Core series VCK190 evaluation kit, getting started guide for the VCK190
• Versal Prime series VMK180 evaluation kit, getting started guide for the VMK180

Before you go, watch this short video to see how easy it is to use the Versal power tool.