Setting up the RFSoC 4x2 board

RFSoC 4x2 Overview

The RFSoC 4x2 is a ready-to-use development platform featuring AMD’s Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZU48DR. It combines high-speed analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processing system and programmable logic, making it ideal for software-defined radio, spectrum analysis, and advanced RF applications. The board includes 4 ADCs (5 GSPS), 2 DACs (9.85 GSPS), 8 GB DDR4 memory (split between PS and PL), and supports high-speed Ethernet via QSFP28. It is fully compatible with the PYNQ framework, enabling Python-based control and visualization through Jupyter notebooks.

Image source: Real Digital – RFSoC 4x2

It is ideal for students and research projects in wireless communications and has been used by the NYU Wireless lab extensively.

Setting up the hardware

Follow the instructions on the RFSoC-PYNQ getting started page. The instructions will show how to set-up the board.

The RFSoC itself has a lightweight processor, an ARM core, as part of the processing system (PS). The ARM core has been installed with a version of Linux, called petalinux, often used in embedded platforms. Among other linux applications, the ARM core can serve as a jupyter notebook client. You should be able to connect to the jupyter notebook client from a browser from the host PC at http://192.168.3.1/lab.

Enter the password xilinx. You are now accessing the ARM core on the PS.

Downloading the Board Files

Next, you will have to download and install the board files for the RFSoC4x2. [I need instructions here].