user-guide.md

ARM Trusted Firmware User Guide
===============================

Contents :

1.  Introduction
2.  Using the Software
3.  Firmware Design
4.  References


1.  Introduction
----------------

The ARM Trusted Firmware implements a subset of the Trusted Board Boot
Requirements (TBBR) Platform Design Document (PDD) [1] for ARM reference
platforms. The TBB sequence starts when the platform is powered on and runs up
to the stage where it hands-off control to firmware running in the normal
world in DRAM. This is the cold boot path.

The ARM Trusted Firmware also implements the Power State Coordination Interface
([PSCI]) PDD [2] as a runtime service. PSCI is the interface from normal world
software to firmware implementing power management use-cases (for example,
secondary CPU boot, hotplug and idle). Normal world software can access ARM
Trusted Firmware runtime services via the ARM SMC (Secure Monitor Call)
instruction. The SMC instruction must be used as mandated by the [SMC Calling
Convention PDD][SMCCC] [3].


2.  Using the Software
----------------------

### Host machine requirements

The minimum recommended machine specification is an Intel Core2Duo clocking at
2.6GHz or above, and 12GB RAM. For best performance, use a machine with Intel
Core i7 (SandyBridge) and 16GB of RAM.


### Tools

The following tools are required to use the ARM Trusted Firmware:

*   Ubuntu desktop OS. The software has been tested on Ubuntu 12.04.02 (64-bit).
    The following packages are also needed:

*   `ia32-libs` package.

*   `make` and `uuid-dev` packages for building UEFI.

*   `bc` and `ncurses-dev` packages for building Linux.

*   Baremetal GNU GCC tools. Verified packages can be downloaded from [Linaro]
    [Linaro Toolchain]. The rest of this document assumes that the
    `gcc-linaro-aarch64-none-elf-4.8-2013.09-01_linux.tar.xz` tools are used.

        wget http://releases.linaro.org/13.09/components/toolchain/binaries/gcc-linaro-aarch64-none-elf-4.8-2013.09-01_linux.tar.xz
        tar -xf gcc-linaro-aarch64-none-elf-4.8-2013.09-01_linux.tar.xz

*   The Device Tree Compiler (DTC) included with Linux kernel 3.12-rc4 is used
    to build the Flattened Device Tree (FDT) source files (`.dts` files)
    provided with this release.

*   (Optional) For debugging, ARM [Development Studio 5 (DS-5)][DS-5] v5.16.


### Building the Trusted Firmware

To build the software for the Base FVPs, follow these steps:

1.  Clone the ARM Trusted Firmware repository from Github:

        git clone https://github.com/ARM-software/arm-trusted-firmware.git

2.  Change to the trusted firmware directory:

        cd arm-trusted-firmware

3.  Set the compiler path and build:

        CROSS_COMPILE=<path/to>/aarch64-none-elf- make

    By default this produces a release version of the build. To produce a debug
    version instead, refer to the "Debugging options" section below.

    The build creates ELF and raw binary files in the current directory. It
    generates the following boot loader binary files from the ELF files:

    *   `bl1.bin`
    *   `bl2.bin`
    *   `bl31.bin`

4.  Copy the above 3 boot loader binary files to the directory where the FVPs
    are launched from. Symbolic links of the same names may be created instead.

5.  (Optional) To clean the build directory use

        make distclean


#### Debugging options

To compile a debug version and make the build more verbose use

    CROSS_COMPILE=<path/to>/aarch64-none-elf- make DEBUG=1 V=1

AArch64 GCC uses DWARF version 4 debugging symbols by default. Some tools (for
example DS-5) might not support this and may need an older version of DWARF
symbols to be emitted by GCC. This can be achieved by using the
`-gdwarf-<version>` flag, with the version being set to 2 or 3. Setting the
version to 2 is recommended for DS-5 versions older than 5.16.

When debugging logic problems it might also be useful to disable all compiler
optimizations by using `-O0`.

NOTE: Using `-O0` could cause output images to be larger and base addresses
might need to be recalculated (see the later memory layout section).

Extra debug options can be passed to the build system by setting `CFLAGS`:

    CFLAGS='-O0 -gdwarf-2' CROSS_COMPILE=<path/to>/aarch64-none-elf- make DEBUG=1 V=1


### Obtaining the normal world software

#### Obtaining UEFI

Download an archive of the [EDK2 (EFI Development Kit 2) source code][EDK2]
supporting the Base FVPs. EDK2 is an open source implementation of the UEFI
specification:

    wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/edk2/files/ARM/aarch64-uefi-rev14582.tgz/download -O aarch64-uefi-rev14582.tgz
    tar -xf aarch64-uefi-rev14582.tgz

To build the software for the Base FVPs, follow these steps:

1.  Change into the unpacked EDK2 source directory

        cd uefi

2.  Copy build config templates to local workspace

        export EDK_TOOLS_PATH=$(pwd)/BaseTools
        . edksetup.sh $(pwd)/BaseTools/

3.  Rebuild EDK2 host tools

        make -C "$EDK_TOOLS_PATH" clean
        make -C "$EDK_TOOLS_PATH"

4.  Build the software

        AARCH64GCC_TOOLS_PATH=<full-path-to-aarch64-gcc>/bin/      \
        build -v -d3 -a AARCH64 -t ARMGCC                          \
        -p ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-FVP-AArch64.dsc

    The EDK2 binary for use with the ARM Trusted Firmware can then be found
    here:

        Build/ArmVExpress-FVP-AArch64/DEBUG_ARMGCC/FV/FVP_AARCH64_EFI.fd

This will build EDK2 for the default settings as used by the FVPs.

To boot Linux using a VirtioBlock file-system, the command line passed from EDK2
to the Linux kernel must be modified as described in the "Obtaining a
File-system" section below.

If legacy GICv2 locations are used, the EDK2 platform description must be
updated. This is required as EDK2 does not support probing for the GIC location.
To do this, open the `ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-FVP-AArch64.dsc`
file for editing and make the modifications as below. Rebuild EDK2 after doing a
`clean`.

    gArmTokenSpaceGuid.PcdGicDistributorBase|0x2C001000
    gArmTokenSpaceGuid.PcdGicInterruptInterfaceBase|0x2C002000

The EDK2 binary `FVP_AARCH64_EFI.fd` should be loaded into FVP FLASH0 via model
parameters as described in the "Running the Software" section below.

#### Obtaining a Linux kernel

The software has been verified using Linux kernel version 3.12-rc4. Patches
have been applied to the kernel in order to enable CPU hotplug.

Preparing a Linux kernel for use on the FVPs with hotplug support can
be done as follows (GICv2 support only):

1.  Clone Linux:

        git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git

    The CPU hotplug features are not yet included in the mainline kernel. To use
    these, add the patches from Mark Rutland's kernel, based on Linux 3.12-rc4:

        cd linux
        git remote add -f --tags markr git://linux-arm.org/linux-mr.git
        git checkout -b hotplug arm64-cpu-hotplug-20131023

2.  Build with the Linaro GCC tools.

        # in linux/
        make mrproper
        make ARCH=arm64 defconfig

        # Enable Hotplug
        make ARCH=arm64 menuconfig
        #   Kernel Features ---> [*] Support for hot-pluggable CPUs

        CROSS_COMPILE=/path/to/aarch64-none-elf- make -j6 ARCH=arm64

3.  Copy the Linux image `arch/arm64/boot/Image` to the working directory from
    where the FVP is launched. A symbolic link may also be created instead.

#### Obtaining the Flattened Device Trees

Depending on the FVP configuration and Linux configuration used, different
FDT files are required. FDTs for the Base FVP can be found in the Trusted
Firmware source directory under `fdts`.

*   `fvp-base-gicv2-psci.dtb`

    (Default) For use with both AEMv8 and Cortex-A57-A53 Base FVPs with
    default memory map configuration.

*   `fvp-base-gicv2legacy-psci.dtb`

    For use with both AEMv8 and Cortex-A57-A53 Base FVPs with legacy GICv2
    memory map configuration.

*   `fvp-base-gicv3-psci.dtb`

    For use with AEMv8 Base FVP with default memory map configuration and
    Linux GICv3 support.

Copy the chosen FDT blob as `fdt.dtb` to the directory from which the FVP
is launched. A symbolic link may also be created instead.

#### Obtaining a File-system

To prepare a Linaro LAMP based Open Embedded file-system, the following
instructions can be used as a guide. The file-system can be provided to Linux
via VirtioBlock or as a RAM-disk. Both methods are described below.

##### Prepare VirtioBlock

To prepare a VirtioBlock file-system, do the following:

1.  Download and unpack the disk image.

    NOTE: The unpacked disk image grows to 2 GiB in size.

        wget http://releases.linaro.org/13.09/openembedded/aarch64/vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img.gz
        gunzip vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img.gz

2.  Make sure the Linux kernel has Virtio support enabled using
    `make ARCH=arm64 menuconfig`.

        Device Drivers  ---> Virtio drivers  ---> <*> Platform bus driver for memory mapped virtio devices
        Device Drivers  ---> [*] Block devices  --->  <*> Virtio block driver
        File systems    ---> <*> The Extended 4 (ext4) filesystem

    If some of these configurations are missing, enable them, save the kernel
    configuration, then rebuild the kernel image using the instructions provided
    in the section "Obtaining a Linux kernel".

3.  Change the Kernel command line to include `root=/dev/vda2`. This can either
    be done in the EDK2 boot menu or in the platform file. Editing the platform
    file and rebuilding EDK2 will make the change persist. To do this:

    1.  In EDK, edit the following file:

            ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-FVP-AArch64.dsc

    2.  Add `root=/dev/vda2` to:

            gArmPlatformTokenSpaceGuid.PcdDefaultBootArgument|"<Other default options>"

    3.  Remove the entry:

            gArmPlatformTokenSpaceGuid.PcdDefaultBootInitrdPath|""

    4.  Rebuild EDK2 (see "Obtaining UEFI" section above).

4.  The file-system image file should be provided to the model environment by
    passing it the correct command line option. In the Base FVP the following
    option should be provided in addition to the ones described in the
    "Running the software" section below.

    NOTE: A symbolic link to this file cannot be used with the FVP; the path
    to the real file must be provided.

        -C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path="<path/to/>vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"

5.  Ensure that the FVP doesn't output any error messages. If the following
    error message is displayed:

        ERROR: BlockDevice: Failed to open "vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"!

    then make sure the path to the file-system image in the model parameter is
    correct and that read permission is correctly set on the file-system image
    file.

##### Prepare RAM-disk

NOTE: The RAM-disk option does not currently work with the Linux kernel version
described above; use the VirtioBlock method instead. For further information
please see the "Known issues" section in the [Change Log].

To Prepare a RAM-disk file-system, do the following:

1.  Download the file-system image:

        wget http://releases.linaro.org/13.09/openembedded/aarch64/linaro-image-lamp-genericarmv8-20130912-487.rootfs.tar.gz

2.  Modify the Linaro image:

        # Prepare for use as RAM-disk. Normally use MMC, NFS or VirtioBlock.
        # Be careful, otherwise you could damage your host file-system.
        mkdir tmp; cd tmp
        sudo sh -c "zcat ../linaro-image-lamp-genericarmv8-20130912-487.rootfs.tar.gz | cpio -id"
        sudo ln -s sbin/init .
        sudo ln -s S35mountall.sh etc/rcS.d/S03mountall.sh
        sudo sh -c "echo 'devtmpfs /dev devtmpfs mode=0755,nosuid 0 0' >> etc/fstab"
        sudo sh -c "find . | cpio --quiet -H newc -o | gzip -3 -n > ../filesystem.cpio.gz"
        cd ..

3.  Copy the resultant `filesystem.cpio.gz` to the directory where the FVP is
    launched from. A symbolic link may also be created instead.


### Running the software

This release of the ARM Trusted Firmware has been tested on the following ARM
FVPs (64-bit versions only).

*   `FVP_Base_AEMv8A-AEMv8A` (Version 5.1 build 8)
*   `FVP_Base_Cortex-A57x4-A53x4` (Version 5.1 build 8)

Please refer to the FVP documentation for a detailed description of the model
parameter options. A brief description of the important ones that affect the
ARM Trusted Firmware and normal world software behavior is provided below.

#### Running on the AEMv8 Base FVP

The following `FVP_Base_AEMv8A-AEMv8A` parameters should be used to boot Linux
with 8 CPUs using the ARM Trusted Firmware.

NOTE: Using `cache_state_modelled=1` makes booting very slow. The software will
still work (and run much faster) without this option but this will hide any
cache maintenance defects in the software.

NOTE: Using the `-C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path` parameter is not necessary
if a Linux RAM-disk file-system is used (see the "Obtaining a File-system"
section above).

    FVP_Base_AEMv8A-AEMv8A                              \
    -C pctl.startup=0.0.0.0                             \
    -C bp.secure_memory=0                               \
    -C cluster0.NUM_CORES=4                             \
    -C cluster1.NUM_CORES=4                             \
    -C cache_state_modelled=1                           \
    -C bp.pl011_uart0.untimed_fifos=1                   \
    -C bp.secureflashloader.fname=<path to bl1.bin>     \
    -C bp.flashloader0.fname=<path to UEFI binary>      \
    -C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path="<path/to/>vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"

#### Running on the Cortex-A57-A53 Base FVP

The following `FVP_Base_Cortex-A57x4-A53x4` model parameters should be used to
boot Linux with 8 CPUs using the ARM Trusted Firmware.

NOTE: Using `cache_state_modelled=1` makes booting very slow. The software will
still work (and run much faster) without this option but this will hide any
cache maintenance defects in the software.

NOTE: Using the `-C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path` parameter is not necessary
if a Linux RAM-disk file-system is used (see the "Obtaining a File-system"
section above).

    FVP_Base_Cortex-A57x4-A53x4                         \
    -C pctl.startup=0.0.0.0                             \
    -C bp.secure_memory=0                               \
    -C cache_state_modelled=1                           \
    -C bp.pl011_uart0.untimed_fifos=1                   \
    -C bp.secureflashloader.fname=<path to bl1.bin>     \
    -C bp.flashloader0.fname=<path to UEFI binary>      \
    -C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path="<path/to/>vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"

### Configuring the GICv2 memory map

The Base FVP models support GICv2 with the default model parameters at the
following addresses.

    GICv2 Distributor Interface     0x2f000000
    GICv2 CPU Interface             0x2c000000
    GICv2 Virtual CPU Interface     0x2c010000
    GICv2 Hypervisor Interface      0x2c02f000

The models can be configured to support GICv2 at addresses corresponding to the
legacy (Versatile Express) memory map as follows.

    GICv2 Distributor Interface     0x2c001000
    GICv2 CPU Interface             0x2c002000
    GICv2 Virtual CPU Interface     0x2c004000
    GICv2 Hypervisor Interface      0x2c006000

The choice of memory map is reflected in the build field (bits[15:12]) in the
`SYS_ID` register (Offset `0x0`) in the Versatile Express System registers
memory map (`0x1c010000`).

*   `SYS_ID.Build[15:12]`

    `0x1` corresponds to the presence of the default GICv2 memory map. This is
    the default value.

*   `SYS_ID.Build[15:12]`

    `0x0` corresponds to the presence of the Legacy VE GICv2 memory map. This
    value can be configured as described in the next section.

NOTE: If the legacy VE GICv2 memory map is used, then the corresponding FDT and
UEFI images should be used.

#### Configuring AEMv8 Base FVP for legacy VE memory map

The following parameters configure the GICv2 memory map in legacy VE mode:

NOTE: Using the `-C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path` parameter is not necessary
if a Linux RAM-disk file-system is used (see the "Obtaining a File-system"
section above).

    FVP_Base_AEMv8A-AEMv8A                              \
    -C cluster0.gic.GICD-offset=0x1000                  \
    -C cluster0.gic.GICC-offset=0x2000                  \
    -C cluster0.gic.GICH-offset=0x4000                  \
    -C cluster0.gic.GICH-other-CPU-offset=0x5000        \
    -C cluster0.gic.GICV-offset=0x6000                  \
    -C cluster0.gic.PERIPH-size=0x8000                  \
    -C cluster1.gic.GICD-offset=0x1000                  \
    -C cluster1.gic.GICC-offset=0x2000                  \
    -C cluster1.gic.GICH-offset=0x4000                  \
    -C cluster1.gic.GICH-other-CPU-offset=0x5000        \
    -C cluster1.gic.GICV-offset=0x6000                  \
    -C cluster1.gic.PERIPH-size=0x8000                  \
    -C gic_distributor.GICD-alias=0x2c001000            \
    -C bp.variant=0x0                                   \
    -C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path="<path/to/>vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"

The last parameter sets the build variant field of the `SYS_ID` register to
`0x0`. This allows the ARM Trusted Firmware to detect the legacy VE memory map
while configuring the GIC.

#### Configuring Cortex-A57-A53 Base FVP for legacy VE memory map

Configuration of the GICv2 as per the legacy VE memory map is controlled by
the following parameter. In this case, separate configuration of the `SYS_ID`
register is not required.

NOTE: Using the `-C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path` parameter is not necessary
if a Linux RAM-disk file-system is used (see the "Obtaining a File-system"
section above).

    FVP_Base_Cortex-A57x4-A53x4                         \
    -C legacy_gicv2_map=1                               \
    -C bp.virtioblockdevice.image_path="<path/to/>vexpress64-openembedded_lamp-armv8_20130927-7.img"

3.  Firmware Design
-------------------

The cold boot path starts when the platform is physically turned on. One of
the CPUs released from reset is chosen as the primary CPU, and the remaining
CPUs are considered secondary CPUs. The primary CPU is chosen through
platform-specific means. The cold boot path is mainly executed by the primary
CPU, other than essential CPU initialization executed by all CPUs. The
secondary CPUs are kept in a safe platform-specific state until the primary
CPU has performed enough initialization to boot them.

The cold boot path in this implementation of the ARM Trusted Firmware is divided
into three stages (in order of execution):

*   Boot Loader stage 1 (BL1)
*   Boot Loader stage 2 (BL2)
*   Boot Loader stage 3 (BL3-1). The '1' distinguishes this from other 3rd level
    boot loader stages.

The ARM Fixed Virtual Platforms (FVPs) provide trusted ROM, trusted SRAM and
trusted DRAM regions. Each boot loader stage uses one or more of these
memories for its code and data.


### BL1

This stage begins execution from the platform's reset vector in trusted ROM at
EL3. BL1 code starts at `0x00000000` (trusted ROM) in the FVP memory map. The
BL1 data section is placed at the start of trusted SRAM, `0x04000000`. The
functionality implemented by this stage is as follows.

#### Determination of boot path

Whenever a CPU is released from reset, BL1 needs to distinguish between a warm
boot and a cold boot. This is done using a platform-specific mechanism. The
ARM FVPs implement a simple power controller at `0x1c100000`. The `PSYS`
register (`0x10`) is used to distinguish between a cold and warm boot. This
information is contained in the `PSYS.WK[25:24]` field. Additionally, a
per-CPU mailbox is maintained in trusted DRAM (`0x00600000`), to which BL1
writes an entrypoint. Each CPU jumps to this entrypoint upon warm boot. During
cold boot, BL1 places the secondary CPUs in a safe platform-specific state while
the primary CPU executes the remaining cold boot path as described in the
following sections.

#### Architectural initialization

BL1 performs minimal architectural initialization as follows.

*   Exception vectors

    BL1 sets up simple exception vectors for both synchronous and asynchronous
    exceptions. The default behavior upon receiving an exception is to set a
    status code. In the case of the FVP this code is written to the Versatile
    Express System LED register in the following format:

        SYS_LED[0]   - Security state (Secure=0/Non-Secure=1)
        SYS_LED[2:1] - Exception Level (EL3=0x3, EL2=0x2, EL1=0x1, EL0=0x0)
        SYS_LED[7:3] - Exception Class (Sync/Async & origin). The values for
                       each exception class are:

        0x0 : Synchronous exception from Current EL with SP_EL0
        0x1 : IRQ exception from Current EL with SP_EL0
        0x2 : FIQ exception from Current EL with SP_EL0
        0x3 : System Error exception from Current EL with SP_EL0
        0x4 : Synchronous exception from Current EL with SP_ELx
        0x5 : IRQ exception from Current EL with SP_ELx
        0x6 : FIQ exception from Current EL with SP_ELx
        0x7 : System Error exception from Current EL with SP_ELx
        0x8 : Synchronous exception from Lower EL using aarch64
        0x9 : IRQ exception from Lower EL using aarch64
        0xa : FIQ exception from Lower EL using aarch64
        0xb : System Error exception from Lower EL using aarch64
        0xc : Synchronous exception from Lower EL using aarch32
        0xd : IRQ exception from Lower EL using aarch32
        0xe : FIQ exception from Lower EL using aarch32
        0xf : System Error exception from Lower EL using aarch32

    A write to the LED register reflects in the System LEDs (S6LED0..7) in the
    CLCD window of the FVP. This behavior is because this boot loader stage
    does not expect to receive any exceptions other than the SMC exception.
    For the latter, BL1 installs a simple stub. The stub expects to receive
    only a single type of SMC (determined by its function ID in the general
    purpose register `X0`). This SMC is raised by BL2 to make BL1 pass control
    to BL3-1 (loaded by BL2) at EL3. Any other SMC leads to an assertion
    failure.

*   MMU setup

    BL1 sets up EL3 memory translation by creating page tables to cover the
    first 4GB of physical address space. This covers all the memories and
    peripherals needed by BL1.

*   Control register setup
    -   `SCTLR_EL3`. Instruction cache is enabled by setting the `SCTLR_EL3.I`
        bit. Alignment and stack alignment checking is enabled by setting the
        `SCTLR_EL3.A` and `SCTLR_EL3.SA` bits. Exception endianness is set to
        little-endian by clearing the `SCTLR_EL3.EE` bit.

    -   `CPUECTLR`. When the FVP includes a model of a specific ARM processor
        implementation (for example A57 or A53), then intra-cluster coherency is
        enabled by setting the `CPUECTLR.SMPEN` bit. The AEMv8 Base FVP is
        inherently coherent so does not implement `CPUECTLR`.

    -   `SCR`. Use of the HVC instruction from EL1 is enabled by setting the
        `SCR.HCE` bit. FIQ exceptions are configured to be taken in EL3 by
        setting the `SCR.FIQ` bit. The register width of the next lower
        exception level is set to AArch64 by setting the `SCR.RW` bit.

    -   `CPTR_EL3`. Accesses to the `CPACR` from EL1 or EL2, or the `CPTR_EL2`
        from EL2 are configured to not trap to EL3 by clearing the
        `CPTR_EL3.TCPAC` bit. Instructions that access the registers associated
        with Floating Point and Advanced SIMD execution are configured to not
        trap to EL3 by clearing the `CPTR_EL3.TFP` bit.

    -   `CNTFRQ_EL0`. The `CNTFRQ_EL0` register is programmed with the base
        frequency of the system counter, which is retrieved from the first entry
        in the frequency modes table.

    -   Generic Timer. The system level implementation of the generic timer is
        enabled through the memory mapped interface.

#### Platform initialization

BL1 enables issuing of snoop and DVM (Distributed Virtual Memory) requests from
the CCI-400 slave interface corresponding to the cluster that includes the
primary CPU. BL1 also initializes UART0 (PL011 console), which enables access to
the `printf` family of functions.

#### BL2 image load and execution

BL1 execution continues as follows:

1.  BL1 determines the amount of free trusted SRAM memory available by
    calculating the extent of its own data section, which also resides in
    trusted SRAM. BL1 loads a BL2 raw binary image through semi-hosting, at a
    platform-specific base address. The filename of the BL2 raw binary image on
    the host file system must be `bl2.bin`. If the BL2 image file is not present
    or if there is not enough free trusted SRAM the following error message
    is printed:

        "Failed to load boot loader stage 2 (BL2) firmware."

    If the load is successful, BL1 updates the limits of the remaining free
    trusted SRAM. It also populates information about the amount of trusted
    SRAM used by the BL2 image. The exact load location of the image is
    provided as a base address in the platform header. Further description of
    the memory layout can be found later in this document.

2.  BL1 prints the following string from the primary CPU to indicate successful
    execution of the BL1 stage:

        "Booting trusted firmware boot loader stage 1"

3.  BL1 passes control to the BL2 image at Secure EL1, starting from its load
    address.

4.  BL1 also passes information about the amount of trusted SRAM used and
    available for use. This information is populated at a platform-specific
    memory address.


### BL2

BL1 loads and passes control to BL2 at Secure EL1. BL2 is linked against and
loaded at a platform-specific base address (more information can found later
in this document). The functionality implemented by BL2 is as follows.

#### Architectural initialization

BL2 performs minimal architectural initialization required for subsequent
stages of the ARM Trusted Firmware and normal world software. It sets up
Secure EL1 memory translation by creating page tables to address the first 4GB
of the physical address space in a similar way to BL1. EL1 and EL0 are given
access to Floating Point & Advanced SIMD registers by clearing the `CPACR.FPEN`
bits.

#### Platform initialization

BL2 does not perform any platform initialization that affects subsequent
stages of the ARM Trusted Firmware or normal world software. It copies the
information regarding the trusted SRAM populated by BL1 using a
platform-specific mechanism. It also calculates the limits of DRAM (main memory)
to determine whether there is enough space to load the normal world software
images. A platform defined base address is used to specify the load address for
the BL3-1 image.

#### Normal world image load

BL2 loads a rich boot firmware image (UEFI). The image executes in the normal
world. BL2 relies on BL3-1 to pass control to the normal world software image it
loads. Hence, BL2 populates a platform-specific area of memory with the
entrypoint and Current Program Status Register (`CPSR`) of the normal world
software image. The entrypoint is the load address of the normal world software
image. The `CPSR` is determined as specified in Section 5.13 of the [PSCI PDD]
[PSCI]. This information is passed to BL3-1.

##### UEFI firmware load

By default, BL2 assumes the UEFI image is present at the base of NOR flash0
(`0x08000000`), and arranges for BL3-1 to pass control to that location. As
mentioned earlier, BL2 populates platform-specific memory with the entrypoint
and `CPSR` of the UEFI image.

#### BL3-1 image load and execution

BL2 execution continues as follows:

1.  BL2 loads the BL3-1 image into a platform-specific address in trusted SRAM.
    This is done using semi-hosting. The image is identified by the file
    `bl31.bin` on the host file-system. If there is not enough memory to load
    the image or the image is missing it leads to an assertion failure. If the
    BL3-1 image loads successfully, BL1 updates the amount of trusted SRAM used
    and available for use by BL3-1. This information is populated at a
    platform-specific memory address.

2.  BL2 passes control back to BL1 by raising an SMC, providing BL1 with the
    BL3-1 entrypoint. The exception is handled by the SMC exception handler
    installed by BL1.

3.  BL1 turns off the MMU and flushes the caches. It clears the
    `SCTLR_EL3.M/I/C` bits, flushes the data cache to the point of coherency
    and invalidates the TLBs.

4.  BL1 passes control to BL3-1 at the specified entrypoint at EL3.


### BL3-1

The image for this stage is loaded by BL2 and BL1 passes control to BL3-1 at
EL3. BL3-1 executes solely in trusted SRAM. BL3-1 is linked against and
loaded at a platform-specific base address (more information can found later
in this document). The functionality implemented by BL3-1 is as follows.

#### Architectural initialization

Currently, BL3-1 performs a similar architectural initialization to BL1 as
far as system register settings are concerned. Since BL1 code resides in ROM,
architectural initialization in BL3-1 allows override of any previous
initialization done by BL1. BL3-1 creates page tables to address the first
4GB of physical address space and initializes the MMU accordingly. It replaces
the exception vectors populated by BL1 with its own. BL3-1 exception vectors
signal error conditions in the same way as BL1 does if an unexpected
exception is raised. They implement more elaborate support for handling SMCs
since this is the only mechanism to access the runtime services implemented by
BL3-1 (PSCI for example). BL3-1 checks each SMC for validity as specified by
the [SMC calling convention PDD][SMCCC] before passing control to the required
SMC handler routine.

#### Platform initialization

BL3-1 performs detailed platform initialization, which enables normal world
software to function correctly. It also retrieves entrypoint information for
the normal world software image loaded by BL2 from the platform defined
memory address populated by BL2.

* GICv2 initialization:

    -   Enable group0 interrupts in the GIC CPU interface.
    -   Configure group0 interrupts to be asserted as FIQs.
    -   Disable the legacy interrupt bypass mechanism.
    -   Configure the priority mask register to allow interrupts of all
        priorities to be signaled to the CPU interface.
    -   Mark SGIs 8-15, the secure physical timer interrupt (#29) and the
        trusted watchdog interrupt (#56) as group0 (secure).
    -   Target the trusted watchdog interrupt to CPU0.
    -   Enable these group0 interrupts in the GIC distributor.
    -   Configure all other interrupts as group1 (non-secure).
    -   Enable signaling of group0 interrupts in the GIC distributor.

*   GICv3 initialization:

    If a GICv3 implementation is available in the platform, BL3-1 initializes
    the GICv3 in GICv2 emulation mode with settings as described for GICv2
    above.

*   Power management initialization:

    BL3-1 implements a state machine to track CPU and cluster state. The state
    can be one of `OFF`, `ON_PENDING`, `SUSPEND` or `ON`. All secondary CPUs are
    initially in the `OFF` state. The cluster that the primary CPU belongs to is
    `ON`; any other cluster is `OFF`. BL3-1 initializes the data structures that
    implement the state machine, including the locks that protect them. BL3-1
    accesses the state of a CPU or cluster immediately after reset and before
    the MMU is enabled in the warm boot path. It is not currently possible to
    use 'exclusive' based spinlocks, therefore BL3-1 uses locks based on
    Lamport's Bakery algorithm instead. BL3-1 allocates these locks in device
    memory. They are accessible irrespective of MMU state.

*   Runtime services initialization:

    The only runtime service implemented by BL3-1 is PSCI. The complete PSCI API
    is not yet implemented. The following functions are currently implemented:

    -   `PSCI_VERSION`
    -   `CPU_OFF`
    -   `CPU_ON`
    -   `AFFINITY_INFO`

    The `CPU_ON` and `CPU_OFF` functions implement the warm boot path in ARM
    Trusted Firmware. These are the only functions which have been tested.
    `AFFINITY_INFO` & `PSCI_VERSION` are present but completely untested in
    this release.

    Unsupported PSCI functions that can return, return the `NOT_SUPPORTED`
    (`-1`) error code. Other unsupported PSCI functions that don't return,
    signal an assertion failure.

    BL3-1 returns the error code `-1` if an SMC is raised for any other runtime
    service. This behavior is mandated by the [SMC calling convention PDD]
    [SMCCC].


### Normal world software execution

BL3-1 uses the entrypoint information provided by BL2 to jump to the normal
world software image at the highest available Exception Level (EL2 if
available, otherwise EL1).


### Memory layout on Base FVP ###

The current implementation of the image loader has some limitations. It is
designed to load images dynamically, at a load address chosen to minimize memory
fragmentation. The chosen image location can be either at the top or the bottom
of free memory. However, until this feature is fully functional, the code also
contains support for loading images at a link-time fixed address. The code that
dynamically calculates the load address is bypassed and the load address is
specified statically by the platform.

BL1 is always loaded at address `0x0`. BL2 and BL3-1 are loaded at specified
locations in Trusted SRAM. The lack of dynamic image loader support means these
load addresses must currently be adjusted as the code grows. The individual
images must be linked against their ultimate runtime locations.

BL2 is loaded near the top of the Trusted SRAM. BL3-1 is loaded between BL1
and BL2. As a general rule, the following constraints must always be enforced:

1.  `BL2_MAX_ADDR <= (<Top of Trusted SRAM>)`
2.  `BL31_BASE >= BL1_MAX_ADDR`
3.  `BL2_BASE >= BL31_MAX_ADDR`

Constraint 1 is enforced by BL2's linker script. If it is violated then the
linker will report an error while building BL2 to indicate that it doesn't
fit. For example:

    aarch64-none-elf-ld: address 0x40400c8 of bl2.elf section `.bss' is not
    within region `RAM'

This error means that the BL2 base address needs to be moved down. Be sure that
the new BL2 load address still obeys constraint 3.

Constraints 2 & 3 must currently be checked by hand. To ensure they are
enforced, first determine the maximum addresses used by BL1 and BL3-1. This can
be deduced from the link map files of the different images.

The BL1 link map file (`bl1.map`) gives these 2 values:

*   `FIRMWARE_RAM_COHERENT_START`
*   `FIRMWARE_RAM_COHERENT_SIZE`

The maximum address used by BL1 can then be easily determined:

    BL1_MAX_ADDR = FIRMWARE_RAM_COHERENT_START + FIRMWARE_RAM_COHERENT_SIZE

The BL3-1 link map file (`bl31.map`) gives the following value:

*   `BL31_DATA_STOP`. This is the the maximum address used by BL3-1.

The current implementation can result in wasted space because a simplified
`meminfo` structure represents the extents of free memory. For example, to load
BL2 at address `0x04020000`, the resulting memory layout should be as follows:

    ------------ 0x04040000
    |          |  <- Free space (1)
    |----------|
    |   BL2    |
    |----------| BL2_BASE (0x0402D000)
    |          |  <- Free space (2)
    |----------|
    |   BL1    |
    ------------ 0x04000000

In the current implementation, we need to specify whether BL2 is loaded at the
top or bottom of the free memory. BL2 is top-loaded so in the example above,
the free space (1) above BL2 is hidden, resulting in the following view of
memory:

    ------------ 0x04040000
    |          |
    |          |
    |   BL2    |
    |----------| BL2_BASE (0x0402D000)
    |          |  <- Free space (2)
    |----------|
    |   BL1    |
    ------------ 0x04000000

BL3-1 is bottom-loaded above BL1. For example, if BL3-1 is bottom-loaded at
`0x0400E000`, the memory layout should look like this:

    ------------ 0x04040000
    |          |
    |          |
    |   BL2    |
    |----------| BL2_BASE (0x0402D000)
    |          |  <- Free space (2)
    |          |
    |----------|
    |          |
    |   BL31   |
    |----------|  BL31_BASE (0x0400E000)
    |          |  <- Free space (3)
    |----------|
    |   BL1    |
    ------------ 0x04000000

But the free space (3) between BL1 and BL3-1 is wasted, resulting in the
following view:

    ------------ 0x04040000
    |          |
    |          |
    |   BL2    |
    |----------| BL2_BASE (0x0402D000)
    |          |  <- Free space (2)
    |          |
    |----------|
    |          |
    |          |
    |   BL31   | BL31_BASE (0x0400E000)
    |          |
    |----------|
    |   BL1    |
    ------------ 0x04000000


### Code Structure ###

Trusted Firmware code is logically divided between the three boot loader
stages mentioned in the previous sections. The code is also divided into the
following categories (present as directories in the source code):

*   **Architecture specific.** This could be AArch32 or AArch64.
*   **Platform specific.** Choice of architecture specific code depends upon
    the platform.
*   **Common code.** This is platform and architecture agnostic code.
*   **Library code.** This code comprises of functionality commonly used by all
    other code.
*   **Stage specific.** Code specific to a boot stage.
*   **Drivers.**

Each boot loader stage uses code from one or more of the above mentioned
categories. Based upon the above, the code layout looks like this:

    Directory    Used by BL1?    Used by BL2?    Used by BL3?
    bl1          Yes             No              No
    bl2          No              Yes             No
    bl31         No              No              Yes
    arch         Yes             Yes             Yes
    plat         Yes             Yes             Yes
    drivers      Yes             No              Yes
    common       Yes             Yes             Yes
    lib          Yes             Yes             Yes

All assembler files have the `.S` extension. The linker files for each boot
stage has the `.ld.S` extension. These are processed by GCC to create the
resultant `.ld` files used for linking.

FDTs provide a description of the hardware platform and is used by the Linux
kernel at boot time. These can be found in the `fdts` directory.


4.  References
--------------

1.  Trusted Board Boot Requirements CLIENT PDD (ARM DEN 0006B-5). Available
    under NDA through your ARM account representative.

2.  [Power State Coordination Interface PDD (ARM DEN 0022B.b)][PSCI].

3.  [SMC Calling Convention PDD (ARM DEN 0028A)][SMCCC].


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Copyright (c) 2013 ARM Ltd. All rights reserved._


[Change Log]: change-log.md

[Linaro Toolchain]: http://releases.linaro.org/13.09/components/toolchain/binaries/
[EDK2]:             http://sourceforge.net/projects/edk2/files/ARM/aarch64-uefi-rev14582.tgz/download
[DS-5]:             http://www.arm.com/products/tools/software-tools/ds-5/index.php
[PSCI]:             http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.den0022b/index.html "Power State Coordination Interface PDD (ARM DEN 0022B.b)"
[SMCCC]:            http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.den0028a/index.html "SMC Calling Convention PDD (ARM DEN 0028A)"