Visualize Ethos-U NPU performance with ExecuTorch on Arm FVPs
Introduction
Overview
Understand the ExecuTorch workflow
Set up your ExecuTorch environment
Set up the Corstone-320 Fixed Virtual Platform
Deploy and run Mobilenet V2 on the Corstone-320 FVP
Enable GUI and deploy a model on Corstone-320 FVP
Evaluate Ethos-U Performance
Next Steps
Visualize Ethos-U NPU performance with ExecuTorch on Arm FVPs
Get started with the Corstone-320 FVP
In this section, you’ll install and configure the Corstone-320 FVP to simulate an Arm-based embedded system. This lets you run ExecuTorch-compiled models in a virtual environment without any hardware required.
Install the Corstone-320 FVP
Before you begin, make sure you’ve completed the steps in the previous section to install ExecuTorch.
Run the setup script provided in the ExecuTorch examples directory:
cd $HOME/executorch/examples/arm
./setup.sh --i-agree-to-the-contained-eula
The --i-agree-to-the-contained-eula flag is required to run the script. It indicates your acceptance of Arm’s licensing terms for using the FVP.
This installs the FVP and extracts all necessary components. It also prints a command to configure your shell environment.
Add the FVP to your system PATH
Run the following command to update your environment:
source $HOME/executorch/examples/arm/ethos-u-scratch/setup_path.sh
This ensures the FVP binaries are available in your terminal session.
Verify your setup
Run a quick test to check that the FVP is working:
./examples/arm/run.sh --target=ethos-u85-256
This executes a built-in example on the Ethos-U85 configuration of the Corstone-320 platform.
On macOS, make sure Docker is running. FVPs execute inside a Docker container on macOS systems.
If you see example output from the platform, the setup is complete.
Next steps
You’re now ready to deploy and run your own TinyML model using ExecuTorch on the Corstone-320 FVP.