History log of /rk3399_ARM-atf/docs/design/firmware-design.rst (Results 1 – 25 of 105)
Revision Date Author Comments
# ee87353c 28-Oct-2025 Mark Dykes <mark.dykes@arm.com>

Merge "refactor(docs): deduplicate PSCI documentation" into integration


# b5f120b5 13-Oct-2025 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

refactor(docs): deduplicate PSCI documentation

It is already described in the porting guide and context management
sections so it's largely redundant. It also hasn't been updated for a
while despite

refactor(docs): deduplicate PSCI documentation

It is already described in the porting guide and context management
sections so it's largely redundant. It also hasn't been updated for a
while despite lots going on around PSCI so it's clearly not read often.
The only part that isn't is that for describing a new secure dispatcher,
which belongs in the porting guide.

Change-Id: Icdc53e19565f0785bc8a112e5eb49df1b365c66c
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# 8e94c578 01-Oct-2025 Manish V Badarkhe <manish.badarkhe@arm.com>

Merge changes from topic "ahmed-azeem/introduce-rdaspen" into integration

* changes:
feat(dsu): enable PMU registers access at EL1
feat(rdaspen): add DSU to the device tree
feat(rdaspen): add

Merge changes from topic "ahmed-azeem/introduce-rdaspen" into integration

* changes:
feat(dsu): enable PMU registers access at EL1
feat(rdaspen): add DSU to the device tree
feat(rdaspen): add DSU support
docs(rdaspen): introduce rdaspen docs
feat(rdaspen): enable tbb on rd-aspen platform
feat(gicv3): add GIC-720AE model id
feat(rdaspen): add BL31 for RD-Aspen platform
feat(rdaspen): introduce Arm RD-Aspen platform

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# 1f866fc9 18-Sep-2025 Amr Mohamed <amr.mohamed@arm.com>

feat(dsu): enable PMU registers access at EL1

- Disable trapping of write accesses to DSU cluster PMU registers
at EL3 and EL2.
- Clear the SPME bit in CLUSTERPMMDCR_EL3 to prohibit PMU event
co

feat(dsu): enable PMU registers access at EL1

- Disable trapping of write accesses to DSU cluster PMU registers
at EL3 and EL2.
- Clear the SPME bit in CLUSTERPMMDCR_EL3 to prohibit PMU event
counting in the secure state.

Change-Id: If3eb6e997330ae86f45760e0e862c003861f3d66
Signed-off-by: Amr Mohamed <amr.mohamed@arm.com>

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# aabab09e 01-Sep-2025 Manish Pandey <manish.pandey2@arm.com>

Merge changes Id38d6f1b,I5fcfe8dd,I7f3b50e5 into integration

* changes:
fix(cpus): inform the compiler that struct cpu_ops is aligned
refactor(el3-runtime): move the initialisation of the cpu_op

Merge changes Id38d6f1b,I5fcfe8dd,I7f3b50e5 into integration

* changes:
fix(cpus): inform the compiler that struct cpu_ops is aligned
refactor(el3-runtime): move the initialisation of the cpu_ops_ptr to C
fix(aarch32): make get_cpu_ops_ptr() PCS compliant

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# 022fcb48 14-Aug-2025 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

refactor(el3-runtime): move the initialisation of the cpu_ops_ptr to C

The difference between AArch32 and AArch64 is insignificant and the
usage is identical. The only thing that required the use of

refactor(el3-runtime): move the initialisation of the cpu_ops_ptr to C

The difference between AArch32 and AArch64 is insignificant and the
usage is identical. The only thing that required the use of assembly was
that the get_cpu_ops_ptr() function was not PCS compliant and needed a
wrapper to do that instead. That has now been fixed so move this to C so
it's more readable and more optimise-able by the compiler.

Change-Id: I5fcfe8ddb122dd35d58adc6d44a7484c5c595815
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# f8901e38 23-Jun-2025 Manish Pandey <manish.pandey2@arm.com>

Merge "feat(dsu): support power control and autonomous powerdown config" into integration


# d52ff2b3 07-May-2025 Arvind Ram Prakash <arvind.ramprakash@arm.com>

feat(dsu): support power control and autonomous powerdown config

This patch allows platforms to enable certain DSU settings
to ensure memory retention and control over
cache power requests. We also

feat(dsu): support power control and autonomous powerdown config

This patch allows platforms to enable certain DSU settings
to ensure memory retention and control over
cache power requests. We also move the driver out of css
into drivers/arm. Platforms can configure the
CLUSTERPWRCTLR and CLUSTERPWRDN registers [1] to improve
power efficiency.

These registers enable finer-grained control of
DSU power state transitions, including
powerdown and retention.

IMP_CLUSTERPWRCTLR_EL1 provides:
- Functional retention: Allows configuration of the
duration of inactivity before the DSU uses
CLUSTERPACTIVE to request functional retention.

- Cache power request: These bits are output on
CLUSTERPACTIVE[19:16] to indicate to the power controller
which cache portions must remain powered.

IMP_CLUSTERPWRDN_EL1 includes:
- Powerdown: Triggers full cluster powerdown, including
control logic.

- Memory retention: Requests memory retention mode,
keeping L3 RAM contents while powering off
the rest of the DSU.

The DSU-120 TRM [2] provides the full field definitions,
which are used as references in the `dsu_driver_data` structure.

References:
[1]: https://developer.arm.com/documentation/100453/latest/
[2]: https://developer.arm.com/documentation/102547/0201/?lang=en

Signed-off-by: Arvind Ram Prakash <arvind.ramprakash@arm.com>
Change-Id: I2eba808b8f2a27797782a333c65dd092b03208fe

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# e3108fad 10-Apr-2025 Manish V Badarkhe <manish.badarkhe@arm.com>

Merge changes from topic "lto-by-default" into integration

* changes:
fix(libc): make sure __init functions are garbage collected
fix(platforms): remove platform_core_pos_helper()


# 53644fa8 07-Apr-2025 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

fix(libc): make sure __init functions are garbage collected

RECLAIM_INIT_CODE is useful to remove code that is only necessary during
boot. However, these functions are generally called once and as s

fix(libc): make sure __init functions are garbage collected

RECLAIM_INIT_CODE is useful to remove code that is only necessary during
boot. However, these functions are generally called once and as such
prime candidates for inlining. When building with LTO, the compiler is
pretty good at inlining every single one, making this option pointless.

So tell the compiler to not inline these functions. This ensures they
are kept separate and they can be garbage collected later. This is
expected to cost a little bit of speed due to the extra branching.

Change-Id: Ie83a9ec8db03cb42139742fc6d728d12ce8549d3
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# a8a5d39d 24-Feb-2025 Manish V Badarkhe <manish.badarkhe@arm.com>

Merge changes from topic "bk/errata_speed" into integration

* changes:
refactor(cpus): declare runtime errata correctly
perf(cpus): make reset errata do fewer branches
perf(cpus): inline the i

Merge changes from topic "bk/errata_speed" into integration

* changes:
refactor(cpus): declare runtime errata correctly
perf(cpus): make reset errata do fewer branches
perf(cpus): inline the init_cpu_data_ptr function
perf(cpus): inline the reset function
perf(cpus): inline the cpu_get_rev_var call
perf(cpus): inline cpu_rev_var checks
refactor(cpus): register DSU errata with the errata framework's wrappers
refactor(cpus): convert checker functions to standard helpers
refactor(cpus): convert the Cortex-A65 to use the errata framework
fix(cpus): declare reset errata correctly

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# 89dba82d 22-Jan-2025 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

perf(cpus): make reset errata do fewer branches

Errata application is painful for performance. For a start, it's done
when the core has just come out of reset, which means branch predictors
and cach

perf(cpus): make reset errata do fewer branches

Errata application is painful for performance. For a start, it's done
when the core has just come out of reset, which means branch predictors
and caches will be empty so a branch to a workaround function must be
fetched from memory and that round trip is very slow. Then it also runs
with the I-cache off, which means that the loop to iterate over the
workarounds must also be fetched from memory on each iteration.

We can remove both branches. First, we can simply apply every erratum
directly instead of defining a workaround function and jumping to it.
Currently, no errata that need to be applied at both reset and runtime,
with the same workaround function, exist. If the need arose in future,
this should be achievable with a reset + runtime wrapper combo.

Then, we can construct a function that applies each erratum linearly
instead of looping over the list. If this function is part of the reset
function, then the only "far" branches at reset will be for the checker
functions. Importantly, this mitigates the slowdown even when an erratum
is disabled.

The result is ~50% speedup on N1SDP and ~20% on AArch64 Juno on wakeup
from PSCI calls that end in powerdown. This is roughly back to the
baseline of v2.9, before the errata framework regressed on performance
(or a little better). It is important to note that there are other
slowdowns since then that remain unknown.

Change-Id: Ie4d5288a331b11fd648e5c4a0b652b74160b07b9
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# 0d020822 19-Nov-2024 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

perf(cpus): inline the reset function

Similar to the cpu_rev_var and cpu_ger_rev_var functions, inline the
call_reset_handler handler. This way we skip the costly branch at no
extra cost as this is

perf(cpus): inline the reset function

Similar to the cpu_rev_var and cpu_ger_rev_var functions, inline the
call_reset_handler handler. This way we skip the costly branch at no
extra cost as this is the only place where this is called.

While we're at it, drop the options for CPU_NO_RESET_FUNC. The only cpus
that need that are virtual cpus which can spare the tiny bit of
performance lost. The rest are real cores which can save on the check
for zero.

Now is a good time to put the assert for a missing cpu in the
get_cpu_ops_ptr function so that it's a bit better encapsulated.

Change-Id: Ia7c3dcd13b75e5d7c8bafad4698994ea65f42406
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# fcb80d7d 11-Feb-2025 Manish Pandey <manish.pandey2@arm.com>

Merge changes I765a7fa0,Ic33f0b6d,I8d1a88c7,I381f96be,I698fa849, ... into integration

* changes:
fix(cpus): clear CPUPWRCTLR_EL1.CORE_PWRDN_EN_BIT on reset
chore(docs): drop the "wfi" from `pwr_

Merge changes I765a7fa0,Ic33f0b6d,I8d1a88c7,I381f96be,I698fa849, ... into integration

* changes:
fix(cpus): clear CPUPWRCTLR_EL1.CORE_PWRDN_EN_BIT on reset
chore(docs): drop the "wfi" from `pwr_domain_pwr_down_wfi`
chore(psci): drop skip_wfi variable
feat(arm): convert arm platforms to expect a wakeup
fix(cpus): avoid SME related loss of context on powerdown
feat(psci): allow cores to wake up from powerdown
refactor: panic after calling psci_power_down_wfi()
refactor(cpus): undo errata mitigations
feat(cpus): add sysreg_bit_toggle

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# 2b5e00d4 19-Dec-2024 Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

feat(psci): allow cores to wake up from powerdown

The simplistic view of a core's powerdown sequence is that power is
atomically cut upon calling `wfi`. However, it turns out that it has
lots to do

feat(psci): allow cores to wake up from powerdown

The simplistic view of a core's powerdown sequence is that power is
atomically cut upon calling `wfi`. However, it turns out that it has
lots to do - it has to talk to the interconnect to exit coherency, clean
caches, check for RAS errors, etc. These take significant amounts of
time and are certainly not atomic. As such there is a significant window
of opportunity for external events to happen. Many of these steps are
not destructive to context, so theoretically, the core can just "give
up" half way (or roll certain actions back) and carry on running. The
point in this sequence after which roll back is not possible is called
the point of no return.

One of these actions is the checking for RAS errors. It is possible for
one to happen during this lengthy sequence, or at least remain
undiscovered until that point. If the core were to continue powerdown
when that happens, there would be no (easy) way to inform anyone about
it. Rejecting the powerdown and letting software handle the error is the
best way to implement this.

Arm cores since at least the a510 have included this exact feature. So
far it hasn't been deemed necessary to account for it in firmware due to
the low likelihood of this happening. However, events like GIC wakeup
requests are much more probable. Older cores will powerdown and
immediately power back up when this happens. Travis and Gelas include a
feature similar to the RAS case above, called powerdown abandon. The
idea is that this will improve the latency to service the interrupt by
saving on work which the core and software need to do.

So far firmware has relied on the `wfi` being the point of no return and
if it doesn't explicitly detect a pending interrupt quite early on, it
will embark onto a sequence that it expects to end with shutdown. To
accommodate for it not being a point of no return, we must undo all of
the system management we did, just like in the warm boot entrypoint.

To achieve that, the pwr_domain_pwr_down_wfi hook must not be terminal.
Most recent platforms do some platform management and finish on the
standard `wfi`, followed by a panic or an endless loop as this is
expected to not return. To make this generic, any platform that wishes
to support wakeups must instead let common code call
`psci_power_down_wfi()` right after. Besides wakeups, this lets common
code handle powerdown errata better as well.

Then, the CPU_OFF case is simple - PSCI does not allow it to return. So
the best that can be done is to attempt the `wfi` a few times (the
choice of 32 is arbitrary) in the hope that the wakeup is transient. If
it isn't, the only choice is to panic, as the system is likely to be in
a bad state, eg. interrupts weren't routed away. The same applies for
SYSTEM_OFF, SYSTEM_RESET, and SYSTEM_RESET2. There the panic won't
matter as the system is going offline one way or another. The RAS case
will be considered in a separate patch.

Now, the CPU_SUSPEND case is more involved. First, to powerdown it must
wipe its context as it is not written on warm boot. But it cannot be
overwritten in case of a wakeup. To avoid the catch 22, save a copy that
will only be used if powerdown fails. That is about 500 bytes on the
stack so it hopefully doesn't tip anyone over any limits. In future that
can be avoided by having a core manage its own context.

Second, when the core wakes up, it must undo anything it did to prepare
for poweroff, which for the cores we care about, is writing
CPUPWRCTLR_EL1.CORE_PWRDN_EN. The least intrusive for the cpu library
way of doing this is to simply call the power off hook again and have
the hook toggle the bit. If in the future there need to be more complex
sequences, their direction can be advised on the value of this bit.

Third, do the actual "resume". Most of the logic is already there for
the retention suspend, so that only needs a small touch up to apply to
the powerdown case as well. The missing bit is the powerdown specific
state management. Luckily, the warmboot entrypoint does exactly that
already too, so steal that and we're done.

All of this is hidden behind a FEAT_PABANDON flag since it has a large
memory and runtime cost that we don't want to burden non pabandon cores
with.

Finally, do some function renaming to better reflect their purpose and
make names a little bit more consistent.

Change-Id: I2405b59300c2e24ce02e266f91b7c51474c1145f
Signed-off-by: Boyan Karatotev <boyan.karatotev@arm.com>

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# eee0ec48 26-Mar-2024 Madhukar Pappireddy <madhukar.pappireddy@arm.com>

Merge changes from topic "mte_fixes" into integration

* changes:
build(changelog): move mte to mte2
refactor(mte): remove mte, mte_perm


# c282384d 07-Mar-2024 Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

refactor(mte): remove mte, mte_perm

Currently both FEAT_MTE and FEAT_MTE_PERM aren't used for enabling
of any feature bits in EL3. So remove both FEAT handling.

All mte regs that are currently cont

refactor(mte): remove mte, mte_perm

Currently both FEAT_MTE and FEAT_MTE_PERM aren't used for enabling
of any feature bits in EL3. So remove both FEAT handling.

All mte regs that are currently context saved/restored are needed
only when FEAT_MTE2 is enabled, so move to usage of FEAT_MTE2 and
remove FEAT_MTE usage.

BREAKING CHANGE: Any platform or downstream code trying to use
SCR_EL3.ATA bit(26) will see failures as this is now moved to be
used only with FEAT_MTE2 with
commit@ef0d0e5478a3f19cbe70a378b9b184036db38fe2

Change-Id: Id01e154156571f7792135639e17dc5c8d0e17cf8
Signed-off-by: Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

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# 2bc0aaad 08-Mar-2024 Madhukar Pappireddy <madhukar.pappireddy@arm.com>

Merge "docs: add documentation for `entry_point_info`" into integration


# 2839a3c4 30-Jan-2024 Harrison Mutai <harrison.mutai@arm.com>

docs: add documentation for `entry_point_info`

Change-Id: I20b5f2cf70bfff09126f3c0645f40d3e410a4c70
Signed-off-by: Harrison Mutai <harrison.mutai@arm.com>


# eb889865 12-Feb-2024 Olivier Deprez <olivier.deprez@arm.com>

Merge "feat(mte): add mte2 feat" into integration


# 8e397889 26-Jan-2024 Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

feat(mte): add mte2 feat

Add support for feat mte2. tfsr_el2 is available only with mte2,
however currently its context_save/restore is done with mte rather than
mte2, so introduce 'is_feat_mte2_sup

feat(mte): add mte2 feat

Add support for feat mte2. tfsr_el2 is available only with mte2,
however currently its context_save/restore is done with mte rather than
mte2, so introduce 'is_feat_mte2_supported' to check mte2.

Change-Id: I108d9989a8f5b4d1d2f3b9865a914056fa566cf2
Signed-off-by: Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

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# 9198ad5b 07-Feb-2024 Sandrine Bailleux <sandrine.bailleux@arm.com>

Merge "docs: fix link to TBBR specification" into integration


# 4290d343 02-Feb-2024 Sandrine Bailleux <sandrine.bailleux@arm.com>

docs: fix link to TBBR specification

The former link pointed to a page which displayed the following warning
message:

We could not find that page in the latest version, so we have taken
you to

docs: fix link to TBBR specification

The former link pointed to a page which displayed the following warning
message:

We could not find that page in the latest version, so we have taken
you to the first page instead

Signed-off-by: Sandrine Bailleux <sandrine.bailleux@arm.com>
Change-Id: Icf9277770e38bc5e602b75052c2386301984238d

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# 61dfdfd4 24-Jan-2024 Manish V Badarkhe <manish.badarkhe@arm.com>

Merge "refactor(mte): deprecate CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS" into integration


# 0a33adc0 21-Dec-2023 Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

refactor(mte): deprecate CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS

Currently CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS is used for dual purpose,
to enable allocation tags register and to context save and restore
them and also to check if mt

refactor(mte): deprecate CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS

Currently CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS is used for dual purpose,
to enable allocation tags register and to context save and restore
them and also to check if mte feature is available.

To make it more meaningful, remove CTX_INCLUDE_MTE_REGS
and introduce FEAT_MTE. This would enable allocation tags register
when FEAT_MTE is enabled and also supported from platform.

Also arch features can be conditionally enabled disabled based on
arch version from `make_helpers/arch_features.mk`

Change-Id: Ibdd2d43874634ad7ddff93c7edad6044ae1631ed
Signed-off-by: Govindraj Raja <govindraj.raja@arm.com>

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