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+# v002.1 Architecture Explainer
+
+This page is a public, reader-friendly map of the v002.1 ramp. It
+explains how the bitstream build path, launcher contract, trace return
+path, and architecture decisions fit together while the evidence is
+still being gathered. The release-line performance number remains a
+**20 tok/s target**, not a measured result.
+
+## Ramp Scope
+
+v002.1 extends the active KV260 LLM line with the G sparsity ramp and
+later speculative-decoding work. The current public evidence points to
+pre-flight build material, software contracts, trace plumbing, and
+architecture defaults. It does not yet establish a completed hardware
+run, closed timing, or a measured throughput result.
+
+The useful mental model is:
+
+1. The RTL repository defines how a KV260 top-level bitstream should be
+   built.
+2. The launcher repository defines the data-only software boundary that
+   will drive that hardware path.
+3. The lab repository defines how trace records are returned, replayed,
+   and analyzed.
+4. The architecture decision note fixes the first set of v002.1
+   datapath defaults so later RTL, tests, launcher code, and synthesis
+   reports use the same names.
+
+## Bitstream Build Path
+
+The bitstream path starts in the active RTL repository, not in this docs
+repository. Lane G currently has a KV260 bitstream pre-flight PR:
+[pccxai/pccx-FPGA-NPU-LLM-kv260#82][rtl-82]. That PR adds two pieces:
+
+- `hw/vivado/system_bd.tcl`, a Vivado block-design scaffold around
+  `npu_core_wrapper` and `NPU_top`.
+- `docs/runbooks/v002.1-bitstream-build.md`, a separate-terminal runbook
+  for clean setup, block-design preparation, full top-level synthesis,
+  full top-level implementation, bitstream writing, SD staging, and
+  KV260 smoke capture.
+
+The public claim boundary is important: PR #82 says the evidence state
+is pre-flight, that Vivado and board commands were not run in that PR,
+and that the full top-level run still needs its own timing report before
+any deploy wording is justified. This docs page therefore treats PR #82
+as the source of the build procedure and scaffold, not as bitstream,
+timing, or board-run evidence.
+
+## Launcher Contract
+
+The launcher-side contract is tracked in
+[pccxai/pccx-llm-launcher#70][launcher-70]. It references the RTL
+bitstream runbook PR and adds typed Python readiness scaffold interfaces
+for:
+
+- KV260 connection configuration.
+- Read-only NPU status.
+- Gemma weight-preparation handoff.
+- AXI command and status shapes.
+- Result streaming.
+
+The same PR documents the data-only boundary for the planned KV260
+launcher path and verifies the type shapes, width guards, environment
+value non-disclosure, and public claim guards. It explicitly does not
+implement board access, target command execution, model download or
+weight loading, MMIO, bitstream loading, provider calls, or a live
+runtime stream. In this ramp, the launcher contract says what the
+future hardware path must exchange; it is not evidence that the hardware
+path has executed.
+
+## Trace Return Path
+
+The trace return path is being staged in `pccx-lab` so hardware and file
+replay evidence can use the same analysis surface.
+
+[pccxai/pccx-lab#162][lab-162] adds a serial TTY trace source on the
+same `TraceStream` iterator contract as file replay. It defines a
+`SerialTtyTraceConfig`, a `KVFPGA_TTY` path default, and newline JSON
+framing between trace begin/end markers. Its hardware boundary says no
+board command was executed and TTY-opening tests skip when the device
+path is absent.
+
+[pccxai/pccx-lab#163][lab-163] layers v2 framing on top of that path:
+begin/end sequence markers, newline JSON payload CRC validation, bad-CRC
+frame skipping with local logging, sequence-gap reporting, and
+deprecated v1 framing compatibility.
+
+[pccxai/pccx-lab#165][lab-165] wires the trace pipeline into end-to-end
+file replay and analysis coverage. It adds v2 replay fixtures,
+missing-sequence gap coverage, a CLI `--input` path, and workflow
+documentation. This is the current public reference for how traces come
+back into the lab tooling, but it is still trace-pipeline evidence
+rather than a published KV260 throughput or timing result.
+
+## Architecture Decisions
+
+[pccxai/pccx-FPGA-NPU-LLM-kv260#80][rtl-80] is the architecture
+decision note for the first v002.1 datapath defaults. It is docs-only
+and does not touch RTL, but it gives follow-on implementation work a
+shared vocabulary.
+
+The three decisions are:
+
+- **Activation quantization policy**: use `e_max` / BFP power-of-two
+  activation scale as the v002.1 default, leaving symmetric INT8 and
+  driver-computed constant-cache scale as reviewed modes.
+- **K-split / drain limit**: make drain cadence parameterized, with a
+  v002.1 default of `1024`.
+- **DSP accounting baseline**: report the architecture baseline as
+  `GEMM 1024 + GEMV 64 + alpha`, so implementation extras are visible
+  without changing the denominator.
+
+The five parameter handles are:
+
+| Parameter | Default | Public interpretation |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `ACT_SCALE_POLICY` | `ACT_SCALE_EMAX_BFP` | Default activation scale policy for the preprocess path. |
+| `K_DRAIN_LIMIT` | `1024` | Default drain cadence until wider reviewed settings have matching RTL and tests. |
+| `DSP_BASELINE_GEMM` | `1024` | GEMM compute-core DSP baseline from the 32 x 32 PE grid. |
+| `DSP_BASELINE_GEMV` | `64` | GEMV compute-core DSP baseline from four 16-DSP vector lanes. |
+| `DSP_BASELINE_ALPHA` | `0` | Implementation extras reported separately from the GEMM/GEMV baseline. |
+
+These decisions intentionally narrow v002.1 bring-up. They do not
+assert quantization quality, timing closure, resource utilization, or
+throughput.
+
+## Gates Still Open
+
+The remaining public gates are:
+
+- Full top-level Vivado execution from the PR #82 runbook.
+- Timing and utilization reports from that full top-level run.
+- Bitstream write, SD staging, and KV260 smoke capture evidence.
+- Launcher implementation beyond the data-only contract in PR #70.
+- Hardware trace capture through the serial/framed path described by
+  PRs #162, #163, and #165.
+- End-to-end lab analysis of captured evidence.
+- Any measured throughput statement; only the **20 tok/s target** is
+  public at this point.
+
+Until those gates land, this docs site should use scoped wording such as
+"pre-flight", "contract", "trace pipeline", "target", and "pending
+evidence".
+
+[rtl-80]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-FPGA-NPU-LLM-kv260/pull/80
+[rtl-82]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-FPGA-NPU-LLM-kv260/pull/82
+[launcher-70]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-llm-launcher/pull/70
+[lab-162]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-lab/pull/162
+[lab-163]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-lab/pull/163
+[lab-165]: https://github.com/pccxai/pccx-lab/pull/165