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Introduction & Update

UEFI Spring Plugfest – May 8-10, 2012

Andrew N. Sloss (ARM)

Updated 2011-06-01
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Agenda
• background
• terminology
• status
• sct
• eco-system
• hints and tips

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 .background

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Facts
• Processors shipped in 2012
– 7.9 Bu (4 Bu in 2009, 6 Bu in 2010)
• Processors shipped in total
– 30+ Bu
• Processor licenses
– 850+
• Semiconductor partners
– 290+
• Process technology
– 20nm – 250 nm
• Connected community members
– 950+
Connected Community 950+
 .terminology

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Terminology
Architecture Processor Micro- Processor Hard-Macro
“ARMv7A” Architecture Implementation
“Cortex-A15”
 .status

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Introducing UEFI on ARM
• Driving forces for UEFI on ARM
– Processor and system complexity increasing
– Support for existing OEMs that are developing ARM processor-based
solutions using UEFI
– Help standardize the boot procedure for ARM processor-based
platforms
– On-going ARM goal is to improve the hardware-software interface for
Operating Systems that target the ARM architecture
• Advantages to ARM partners and OEMs
– Write once per platform and saves costs in boot loader
development/engineering
– UEFI specification written down and peer reviewed
– Tested UEFI drivers available from 3rd party peripherals providers
– Provides an environment for manufacturing test

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Introducing UEFI on ARM
• UEFI ARM Binding Sub-Team (ABST) was formed in 2008
– Apple, ARM, HP & Microsoft are the current public members
– UEFI Specification focuses on ARMv4 to ARMv7A
– ABST is starting to work on virtualization and ARMv8 (Aarch64) bindings

• Specification 2.3.1 released - includes the ARM Bindings

– Specifies the state of the processor & system post UEFI initialization
– Defines the Runtime & Pre-Boot Services ABI (post boot services)

• Verification Tests
– Oct’11 SCT 2.3 have been updated to support ARM

• ARM-UEFI supported commercially

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Public Implementations
• Tianocore EDK2 project contains ARM platform support
• ARM Holdings now maintain the ARM packages
– Since February 2011
– With contributions from Apple, HP, Linaro, etc...
– ArmPkg - Architectural and standard ARM peripheral support
– ArmPlatformPkg - ARM standard development board support
– Plus some other ARM related packages
• Future ARM development board support provided by
Linaro
– Specifically by the Linaro ARM Landing Team
• Linaro can potentially support boards for other member
companies
– Would be supported by their Landing Team
ARM Platform Status - EDK2

• ARM Hardware Platforms

– BeagleBoardPkg (OMAP3530 SoC – Cortex A8)
– ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg (ARM Versatile Express Board)
• Cortex A9x4
• ARM Fast Model Support
– ArmPlatformPkg/ArmRealViewEbPkg (ARM RealView Emulation
Board)
• Cortex A8 & Cortex A9x2)
– ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg
• Cortex A9 MPCore and A15 MPCore
ARM Platform Status - Other
• Other ARM-based Platforms exist outside of the
EDK2 repository
• ARM Development Platforms
– ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg
• Cortex A5
• Cortex A15x2 (Limited Hardware Availability)
– ArmPlatformPkg/ArmTuscanPkg
• Cortex A9x2
• PCI Bus with SATA and USB 2.0 controllers
• Other Platforms
– SamsungPlatformPkg/OrigenBoardPkg
• Based on Cortex A9x2
 .sct

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ARM UEFI SCT Implementation
• Initial port was completed in August 2010
• ARM Holdings own ARM UEFI SCT implementation
– Initially only available as a patch from UTWG documents area
– Now integrated with main SCT package and available in UEFI
member documents area
• http://www.uefi.org/kws/documents/UEFI_SCT_for_Winter_Plugfest_2012.zip
NOTE: Replace this URL with new one if UTWG releases another version of SCT before taipei plugfest.

• Builds in both Windows and Linux environments

– Primary toolchain is ARM CC (formerly RVCT)
– ARM GCC also supported
• ARM SCT binary is tested on Beagleboard and ARM
Versatile Express Platforms
• Can extend SCT build framework to write platform specific
unit test cases
 .eco-system

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Growing Eco-system

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 .hints & tips

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Hints & Tips (1)
• When writing a UEFI driver ensure you are not making the
assumption you are running on a ARM Platform !
– Risks are that your driver could not work on another platform
even if it is a ARM-based platform (e.g.: different memory map
or architectural controllers)
– Benefit is you can reuse and test your driver on a wider range of
devices

– Hint 1: UEFI Specification provides methods to access

architectural components
– Hint 2: Avoid making your UEFI driver dependent on EDK2
Libraries
Hints & Tips (2) – Use cases
• Architectural Timer: On ARMv7, it exists at least two
different timers ( ... and actually many exist!)
– ARM SP804 DualTimer: Memory mapped controller
– ARM Architectural Timer (used in the latest ARM Application
Processors)
– The solution is ...
use UEFI Boot Services (see section 6 of the UEFI Spec)

• Cache Management: difficult for engineers working on

ARM architecture (compare to other architectures)
– The solution is ...
stick with the UEFI Specification and use the Boot Services function
AllocatePages() (see section 6 of the UEFI Spec)
Getting started
• Recommend obtaining a Cortex A8 development
board
– Available from http://beagleboard.org
• Recommend getting a copy of “Beyond the BIOS”
– Available from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-BIOS-Implementing-
Extensible-Interface/dp/0974364908
• UEFI Learning Center
– http://www.uefi.org/learning_center/
• Intel UEFI Information
– http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/about-uefi/

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Getting started
• Source tree can be found on SourceForge
– EDK2 Source Tree
• http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tianocore/index.php?title
=EDK2
– BeagleBoard UEFI wiki
• https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tianocore/index.php?title
=BeagleBoardPkg
– Samsung Platform wiki
• http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tianocore/index.php?title
=SamsungPlatformPkg
• Linaro (Boot Architecture)
– https://wiki.linaro.org/OfficeofCTO/BootArchitecture
• Linaro (ARM Landing Team)
– http://www.linaro.org/members/arm/ve_12.03#tab3
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 .summary

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Summary
• UEFI brings a neutral boot loader capable of booting both
open-source and non-open source Operating Systems
• BSD-like license allows for security and specialized code to
be hidden and not released
• UEFI is a framework that grows and shrinks depending
upon requirements
• Specification written down and peer-reviewed
• Lots of validated software already written for the PC
industry e.g. PCI probing
• Ability to support a 3rd party peripheral eco-system
• Write-once, validate-once, support all OSes

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 Questions?

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Thanks for attending the
UEFI Spring Plugfest 2012

For more information on

the Unified EFI Forum and
UEFI Specifications, visit
http://www.uefi.org
presented by

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