How to build LVGL applications using STM32CubeIDE

Applicable for

STM32MP13x lines, STM32MP15x lines

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This article gives information about how to easily develop a LVGL application on STM32MP1 using STM32CubeIDE

1. Architecture overview

File:LVGL Conf.png

1.1. Component presentation

1.1.1. LVGL

File:Lvgl logo.jpg

https://lvgl.io/

LVGL (Light and Versatile Graphics Library) is an open-source embedded GUI library that is written in C (with C++ compatibility) and is released under the MIT license. It’s optimized for deployment on micro-controllers and bare metal (no OS) devices, but on this article, we will see how to develop LVGL applications for our STM32MP1 microprocessor that runs the OpenSTLinux linux distribution.

1.1.2. SDL2

File:SDL.png

https://www.libsdl.org/index.php

• SDL or Simple Direct Media Layer is a cross-platform development library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware . it allows to show windows, show images, play sounds, manage keyboards...

• SDL is written in C, works natively with C++, and there are bindings available for several other languages, including C# and Python.

• SDL 2.0 is distributed under the zlib license. This license allows you to use SDL freely in any software.

1.1.3. Wayland / Weston

https://wayland.freedesktop.org/architecture.html?_sm_au_=iVV4MHTR7sLqs9RQcLpsvK618Vf61

• Wayland is a protocol that allows a composer to communicate with multiple windows. It works only with systems using KMS (Kernel-based mode-setting), a kernel feature dependent on the graphics card driver used, hence the need to use a composer.
• A composer implementing the Wayland protocol (Mutter, Kwin, Enlightenment, Weston...) is necessary (otherwise Wayland alone does nothing, and it is always an X server that would be used).
• The composer is a window manager who uses a buffer in memory to manage each window and apply visual effects to it.
• Weston is the reference implementation of a graphical composer window manager for the Wayland display protocol, its existence is justified by the need to develop Wayland without depending on the ups and downs of the development of libraries and environments, by the need to be able to rigorously test Wayland without experiencing bugs independent of Wayland.

1.1.4. DRM / KMS

For more information about drm /kms, you can see the following article: DRM/KMS

Graphical user interface

Operating system

Kernel Mode Setting

Direct rendering manager (kernel module that gives direct hardware access to DRI clients, find more information on official DRI web site http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/DRM)

Software development kit (A programming package that enables a programmer to develop applications for a specific platform.)c

Graphics processing units