Zybo Z7 compatibility with zynq XC7Z030

[NN_SystemS]

Hi all,

I am kind of new to all of this, so any tips would be gladly appreciated. My team an I are working on a board with the zynq XC7Z030 (FBG484) on it and we would like to buy a couple of devboard to start programming before having the full PCB in our hands. The best would be to start working on the embedded Linux part (python) and also start developping some of the FPGA part. I was looking at the Zybo Z7 and since there is only the Zybo Z7-10 available (in stock), I was wondering if we might have some capatibility issues if we want to transpose the code developped on the Zybo to our own PCB platform or if the code should be compatible without any big problems?

Thanks alot!

Patrick

[zygot]

I believe that one glaring difference is that you will need a device license for the XC7Z030. Since this is a custom board, I suppose that the best way to do this is to buy a full license for the tools. You should check, but I'd expect that to cover the older ZYNQ devices. One issue is that recent versions of the tools are geared toward supporting the newer families and devices.  I'd expect that the major changes will be to the BSP since your board is likely to have different external hardware connected to the FPGA. It's unclear what kind of 'programming' you intend to do for your custom board that will port directly to a ZYBO.

Edited October 25, 2021 by zygot

[RCB]

Hey!

Zybo Z7010 is a popular device with very good support here in the forum. I started with Zybo Z7020 over 7010 predominantly because of additional capabilities that I would like to be available for future projects. I have not faced any problems with the board because Digilent has the board support tools for z7020 and the hw/embedded programming experience is similar to the 7010. 

For hardware design, specific builds target specific boards. It will be very apparent if you are juggling between different boards with Vivado tool. Internal code might be good for building on different devices but if the logic would be compatible for implementation across devices cannot be guaranteed. 

But Z7010 is a good board to start with. If the whole project is not entirely compatible with your future boards, it at least guides you through logical errors. 

[asmi]

2 hours ago, zygot said:

I believe that one glaring difference is that you will need a device license for the XC7Z030.

XC7Z030 is included in the free WebPack license.

Edited October 25, 2021 by asmi

[zygot]

3 hours ago, asmi said:

XC7Z030 is included in the free WebPack license.

@asmithanks for the correction.

[DerekM]

The obvious difference is in terms of programmable logic resources; the 7Z030 has about 4x as much as everything as the 7Z010. That might not be a problem if you are only trying to get up to speed on Zynq-7000 development.

But one thing to watch out for is that the 7Z030 has high-performance I/O pads, as well as GTX transceiver tiles; the 7Z010 has only high-rate I/O pads and no transceiver tiles. If you need this type of functionality then you will not be able to do a direct migration from 7Z010 to 7Z030. At best you could use a 7Z012S or 7Z015 to start out, but that only gets you (GTP) transceiver tiles, not HP I/O.

Here's a handy guide: https://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/selection-guides/zynq-7000-product-selection-guide.pdf

[asmi]

XC7Z030's fabric is based on Kintex-7 FPGA, while XC7Z020 and below are based on Artix, and Kintex fabric is significantly faster. So I guess if you get your design to work in 020 and below, it will guarantee that it will work in 030, but there is a whole bunch of projects which will only work in 030. In that sense, some Kintex-based devboard would be more adequate for prototyping, unless your design leans heavily on CPUs and so using Zynq is absolutely essential.

You can also do quite a bit in a simulation without ever having a board in your hands - using qemu for the Linux part (it's directly supported by Petalinux toolchain provided by Xilinx) and whatever HDL sim of your choice for FPGA part.

Edited October 26, 2021 by asmi

[venkateshj]

Hi All,

I need to work on zynq XC7Z030, and i have to establish a usb client server connection with a desktop.

I am new to this, and i need to get some hands-on with this board. 

Can anyone please share some sample codes to start with, like uart communication, gpio's accessing etc.