Getting Started

This is the front door to the course: the shortest path from “I just arrived” to “I ran something.” It sequences the setup and links into the detailed Support Material reference for the parts you need.

⚠️ Under migration (June 2026). The course tooling is being moved onto the waveflow package, one unit at a time. Sections 3–4 below are being filled in as that work lands; some demos may not run yet.

1. What you need

Most of the course can be done with free software only:

Vitis HLS and Vivado (AMD) — the core tools for designing, simulating, and synthesizing hardware. Free to install.
Python — for the demos, simulation, and analysis (via the waveflow package and this course’s hwdesign helpers).

You only need an FPGA board for the optional hardware-deployment sections. Everything else runs in simulation on your laptop.

2. Install the tools

Vitis & Vivado: follow Support ▸ Vitis and Vivado for download and installation (including the Windows walkthrough and which device to select).
FPGA board (optional): if you have one, see Support ▸ FPGA Boards for the PYNQ-Z2 / RFSoC 4x2 setup.

3. Get the code & set up Python

Two steps, in order:

Clone the repository — all the course material lives in one GitHub repo.
Install the Python packages — create a virtual environment, then install waveflow (the hardware modeling framework, from GitHub) and hwdesign (this course’s helpers, from your clone). That page ends with a snippet to verify the install.

Instructors and course assistants who need to modify course material or waveflow itself should follow Developer Setup instead — students do not need it.

4. Run your first demo

To be written (after the first unit is integrated onto waveflow). This will point you at one known-working demo to run end-to-end so you can confirm your setup.

Where to go next

Demos — worked examples used throughout the course.
Labs — hands-on assignments.
Support Material — the full reference for tools, boards, the repository, and the NYU remote server.