Zephyr-Alif (Work in Progress)

This repository contains an exemplary CMSIS solution file that can be used to build two Zephyr basic examples on Alif development boards. It can be easily adapted to other boards or examples. It uses Zephyr's west build system to create the executable file for an application and the Arm CMSIS Debugger to flash download and run the image on the target hardware.

Quick start

1. Make sure that your host OS is up-to-date.
2. Install the following dependencies using your favorite package manager:
   • Cmake (min. version 3.20.5)
   • Python (versions 3.10 - 3.13, see warning below)
3. Clone this repository onto your machine.
4. Install Zephyr on your machine (refer to Linux and macOS/Windows).
5. Work with the example

Warning

Do not install Python 3.14 or above as the Python package windows-curses is not yet available!

Zephyr installation

This chapter contains installation instructions for Linux and macOS and Windows).

Linux and macOS

• In your home directory, create a sdk-alif directory and change into it:

  mkdir sdk-alif
  cd sdk-alif

• Create a new virtual environment:

  python3 -m venv .venv

• Activate the virtual environment:

  source .venv/bin/activate

  Once activated, your shell will be prefixed with (.venv). The virtual environment can be deactivated at any time by running deactivate.

• Install west:

  pip install west

• Get the Zephyr source code using the Alif SDK:

  west init -m https://github.com/alifsemi/sdk-alif.git --mr v2.0.0
  west update

• Install Python dependencies using west packages:

  west packages pip --install

• Set the ZEPHYR_BASE environment variable to the /sdk-alif/zephyr folder:

  Linux

  (echo; echo 'export ZEPHYR_BASE="/home/.../sdk-alif/zephyr"') >> ~/.bashrc
  source ~/.bashrc

  macOS

  (echo; echo 'export ZEPHYR_BASE="/usr/.../sdk-alif/zephyr"') >> ~/.zshrc
  source ~/.zshrc

• In your .bashrc or .zshrc, source the vritual environment:

  source /Users/user/sdk-alif/.venv/bin/activate

Make sure to fully quit VS Code, not just close the window. Otherwise, the changes won’t be applied.

Windows

• Open a cmd.exe terminal window as a regular user.

• Create a sdk-alif directory and change into it:

  mkdir sdk-alif
  cd sdk-alif

• Create a new virtual environment:

  python -m venv .venv

• Activate the virtual environment:

  .venv\Scripts\activate.bat

  Once activated your shell will be prefixed with (.venv). The virtual environment can be deactivated at any time by running deactivate.

• Install west:

  pip install west

• Get the Zephyr source code using the Alif SDK:

  west init -m https://github.com/alifsemi/sdk-alif.git --mr v2.0.0
  west update

• Install Python dependencies using west packages.

  west packages pip --install

• Open the Environment Variables and

  • Set the ZEPHYR_BASE environment variable to C:\...\sdk-alif\zephyr in

  • Set the Windows path to the virtual environment, for example C:\...\sdk-alif\.venv\Scripts. Make sure that this path is used first.

• Restart the VS Code.

CMSIS Solution Extension version 1.64.0 or higher

The CMSIS Solution Extension version 1.64 provides a Settings dialog that configures the Zephyr environment under Cmsis-csolution: Environment Variables. The file settings.json stores these settings and can be user or workspace specific.

Example settings.json file

    "cmsis-csolution.environmentVariables": {
        "PATH": "C:\\...\\sdk-alif\\.venv\\Scripts",
        "VIRTUAL_ENV": "C:\\...\\sdk-alif\\.venv",
        "ZEPHYR_BASE": "C:\\...\\sdk-alif\\zephyr"
    },

SETOOLS

Before flashing this example on the AppKit E7 board it is required to program the ATOC of the device using the Alif SETOOLS. This process only has to be done once for each single- or dual-core project.

Refer to the section Usage in the overview page of the Alif Semiconductor Ensemble DFP/BSP for information on how to setup these tools.

In VS Code use the menu command "Terminal - Run Tasks" and execute:

• "Alif: Install M55_HE and M55_HP debug stubs (dual core configuration)"

Examples Description

Example name	Description
IPM_ARM_MHUv2	This example demonstrates the dual-core debugging and inter-core communication between two Cortex-M55 cores using Arm's Message Handling Unit v2 (MHUv2) . Also, it showcases the use of Zephyr's Inter-Processor Mailbox (IPM) API to exchange messages and trigger interrupts between cores. More details in Alif-Zephyr-SDK/ipm_arm_mhuv2.
LPI2C	LPI2C (Low Power Inter-Integrated Circuit) is a low-power version of the standard I2C bus controller. This example uses two threads to emulate an I2C master and slave communicating through the LPI2C driver. All data transfers occur internally via hardware loopback. More details in Alif-Zephyr-SDK/lpi2c.

Work with the example

1. Open the cloned repository's folder in VS Code.
2. In the CMSIS view, click on ..., use Select Active Solution from workspace, and choose an option.
3. Press the Manage Solution Settings button. In the dialog, select the target board and application.
4. Press the Build solution button to build the example.
5. Start the CMSIS Debugger:

• Start the M55_HE CMSIS_DAP@pyOCD (launch) debug session first, followed by M55_HP CMSIS_DAP@pyOCD (attach).

• After starting the second debug session, the program will halt at cpu_idle.S. This occurs because the second core still remains in its idle loop until a valid entry point s reached. To resolve this, add the following command under the M55_HP CMSIS_DAP@pyOCD (attach) section in the launch.json file:

  "initCommands": [
     "monitor reset halt",
     "tbreak main"
  ]

• And remember to set updateConfiguration: to manual in order to prevent your settings from being overwritten.