How to build and flash a bootable image for Cortex-M4 on i.MX 7ULP

3 minute read

The i.MX 7ULP processor aims on reduced power consumption (Ultra Low Power) and for this reason its architecture is a bit different than the other i.MX processors. To guarantee less power consumption, the Cortex-M4 works as the primary core and is responsible for controlling the Cortex-A7 power rails, being able to suspend A7 in run time. With this in mind, to boot an image on A7 all needed power rails must be enabled on the M4 side.

This tutorial shows how to build and flash a demo image for the M4 core in the QSPI flash with all needed configuration that allows booting along with the A7 core.

NOTE: The REL_SDK_ULP1_B0_2.4.0_RFP package provides a prebuilt image ready to be flashed to the chip (power_mode_switch.img). If the reader chooses to use this image, copy power_mode_switch.img to the boot partition of the SD card and jump to the last section (Flashing the image).

Setting up the machine

NOTE: This shows the procedure on a Linux environment. For Windows OS, please see the Getting Started documentation on the SDK package.

  • Install cmake on the host machine:
$ sudo apt-get install cmake
  • Download the armgcc toolchain from here and export the location as ARMGCC_DIR:
$ export ARMGCC_DIR=<your_path_to_arm_gcc>/gcc-arm-none-eabi-5_4-2016q2/

NOTE: The ARMGCC_DIR variable needs to be exported on the terminal used for compilation.

Downloading the SDK

Download the MCUXpresso SDK following these steps:

  • Click on “Select Development Board”;

  • Select EVK-MCIMX7ULP under “Select a Device, Board, or Kit” and click on “Build MCUXpresso SDK” on the right;

  • Select “Host OS” as Linux and “Toolchain/IDE” as GCC ARM Embedded;

  • Add “FreeRTOS” and all the wanted Middleware and hit “Request Build”;

  • Wait for the SDK to build and download the package.

Building the image

All demos and code examples available on the SDK package are located in the directory <<SDK_dir>>/boards/evkmcimx7ulp/. This tutorial shows how to build and flash the power_mode_switch demo which includes all needed configuration on M4 to boot the A7 core but the same procedure works for any example on the SDK.

  • To build the demo, enter the armgcc folder under the demo directory and make sure that the ARMGCC_DIR variable is set correctly.
$ cd <SDK_dir>/boards/evkmcimx7ulp/demo_apps/power_mode_switch/armgcc
$ export ARMGCC_DIR=<your_path_to_arm_gcc>/gcc-arm-none-eabi-5_4-2016q2/
  • Run the build_release.sh script to build the code.
$ ./build_release.sh

This generates the M4 binary (sdk20-app.bin) under the release folder. To make this binary bootable, the imgutil utility is used to add all needed header to the image.

  • Copy sdk20-app.bin to the evkmcimx7ulp folder under the imgutil tool:
$ cp sdk20-app.bin <SDK_dir>/tools/imgutil/evkmcimx7ulp
  • Run the mkimg.sh script to generate the bootable image appending the linker type used to build the binary. The linker points to the memory region where the M4 image runs and it can be whether ram or flash depending on what is defined on the CMakeLists.txt file. In this case the image was built for ram:
$ ./mkimg.sh ram

This generates the bootable image sdk20-app.img. Copy this image to the boot partition of the SD Card.

Flashing the image in the QSPI flash

  • Open two serial consoles, one at /dev/ttyUSB0 for A7 to boot Linux and other at /dev/ttyUSB1 for M4 to boot the SDK image.

  • On the A7 console, stop U-Boot and enter the following commands to load the M4 binary to RAM and flash it in the QSPI memory:

=> sf probe
=> sf erase 0x0 0x30000
=> fatload mmc 0:1 0x62000000 sdk20-app.img
=> sf write 0x62000000 0x0 0x30000

NOTE: If the reader is using the prebuilt image (power_mode_switch.img), replace the fatload command above accordingly.

  • Reset the board to boot both cores. The M4 core loads the image from QSPI memory with the needed configuration to boot A7 and A7 fully boots Linux.