Get Started with Intel® Time Coordinated Computing Tools (Intel® TCC Tools) 2021.3 for Slim Bootloader

Get Started

  • 2021.3
  • 10/29/2021
  • Public
Contents

Step 6: Complete the Target System Setup

To complete the target system setup, you will enable the cache allocation capabilities of Intel® TCC Tools. You will run the
cache configurator
 tool to reserve a portion of the L2 and L3 cache. A reserved portion of cache is called
software static random-access memory (software SRAM)
.
Software SRAM enables the cache allocation library to provide low-latency memory buffers to your real-time applications. At the same time, a part of the cache will be removed from general use, potentially reducing the performance of non-real-time applications.
This step reserves the recommended amount of cache for running the cache allocation sample.
To complete target system setup:
  1. Confirm that the host is still connected to the target via SSH.
  2. In the SSH session
    , go to the following directory:
    cd /usr/share/tcc_tools/scripts/setup_ssram/
  3. Run the following command to add the
    tcc_buffer
     driver on the target system. This script adds the
    tcc_buffer
     driver to auto load. The cache allocation library interfaces with the driver to provide low-latency buffers.
    ./control_tcc_driver.sh enable
  4. Run the following command to remove
    RTCM
     temporarily from the boot options.
    ./control_rtcm_sbl.sh disable
  5. Reboot the target system.
  6. On the host system
    , upload keys for the SBL bootloader from your SBL to
    $TCC_TOOLS_PATH/keys/sbl
     that you saved in Step 1: Configure SBL.
  7. On the host system
    , confirm that the host system and target system have a passwordless connection.
    1. Generate a key with an empty passphrase:
      ssh-keygen -t rsa
      Press
      Enter
       when when prompted by the system during
      Generating public/private rsa key pair
       step.
    2. Copy the key to the target system:
      ssh-copy-id <user>@<target>
      If you do not have
      ssh-copy-id
       on your host system, use the command
      cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh <user>@<target> 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'
    3. Verify that a password is not required anymore, for example:
      ssh <user>@<target> ls
  8. On the host system
    , go to the
    tools
     directory:
    cd ${TCC_TOOLS_PATH}
  9. Run the
    cache configurator
     tool to reserve a portion of the L2 and L3 cache:
    1. Open the target connection settings file. This command example uses the nano text editor, but you can use any text editor.
      nano ./host_scripts/target_connection_settings.sh
    2. Modify the following fields (see an example below):
      Field Name
      Description
      HOSTNAME
      Replace
      hostname
       with the IP address or host name of the target system.
      USER
      Replace
      user
       with
      root
      .
      SSH_EXTRA
      Add any additional SSH command-line options.
      This file contains the hostname and username to connect to the target board through SSH.
      Target connection settings file example:
      HOSTNAME='hostname'
USER='user'
SSH_EXTRA=''
    3. Save and close the file.
    4. Run the cache configurator tool.
      ./tcc_cache_configurator.py --environment demo/environment/sample_environment_sbl.json
    5. In the cache configurator tool, enter
      P
      .
    6. Select preset number 4.
    7. Extra steps for
      Intel® Xeon® W-11000E Series Processors MR1
       release only:
      1. Enter
        C
         to continue configuration
      2. Enter
        A
         to add cache allocation
      3. Enter
        C
         for choosing cache level
      4. Enter
        2
         for choosing L2 cache level
      5. Enter
        3
         for choosing CPU core 3
      6. Enter
        262144
         buffer size
    8. Enter
      Y
       to proceed with the selected configuration.
    9. Enter
      Y
       to apply the configuration and go to the reboot screen.
    10. After the target system reboots, enter
      Y
       to confirm.
  10. Connect to the target via SSH. Replace
    <target>
     with the IP address or host name of the target system.
    ssh root@<target>
  11. In the SSH session
    , go to the following directory:
    cd /usr/share/tcc_tools/scripts/setup_ssram/
  12. Run the following command to add
    RTCM
     to the boot options and set it to the first boot priority on the target system. Real-time configuration manager (RTCM) is an application that makes it possible to use software SRAM technology on non-virtualized systems.
    ./control_rtcm_sbl.sh enable
  13. Run the following command to reboot the target system.
    reboot
Now the system is configured. The software SRAM buffers can be allocated with the cache allocation library.

Product and Performance Information

1

Performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex.