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diff --git a/docs/components/romlib-design.rst b/docs/components/romlib-design.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d34b3cc --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/components/romlib-design.rst @@ -0,0 +1,155 @@ +Library at ROM +============== + +This document provides an overview of the "library at ROM" implementation in +Trusted Firmware-A (TF-A). + +Introduction +~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The "library at ROM" feature allows platforms to build a library of functions to +be placed in ROM. This reduces SRAM usage by utilising the available space in +ROM. The "library at ROM" contains a jump table with the list of functions that +are placed in ROM. The capabilities of the "library at ROM" are: + +1. Functions can be from one or several libraries. + +2. Functions can be patched after they have been programmed into ROM. + +3. Platform-specific libraries can be placed in ROM. + +4. Functions can be accessed by one or more BL images. + +Index file +~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. image:: ../resources/diagrams/romlib_design.png + :width: 600 + +Library at ROM is described by an index file with the list of functions to be +placed in ROM. The index file is platform specific and its format is: + +:: + + lib function [patch] + + lib -- Name of the library the function belongs to + function -- Name of the function to be placed in library at ROM + [patch] -- Option to patch the function + +It is also possible to insert reserved spaces in the list by using the keyword +"reserved" rather than the "lib" and "function" names as shown below: + +:: + + reserved + +The reserved spaces can be used to add more functions in the future without +affecting the order and location of functions already existing in the jump +table. Also, for additional flexibility and modularity, the index file can +include other index files. + +For an index file example, refer to ``lib/romlib/jmptbl.i``. + +Wrapper functions +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. image:: ../resources/diagrams/romlib_wrapper.png + :width: 600 + +When invoking a function of the "library at ROM", the calling sequence is as +follows: + +BL image --> wrapper function --> jump table entry --> library at ROM + +The index file is used to create a jump table which is placed in ROM. Then, the +wrappers refer to the jump table to call the "library at ROM" functions. The +wrappers essentially contain a branch instruction to the jump table entry +corresponding to the original function. Finally, the original function in the BL +image(s) is replaced with the wrapper function. + +The "library at ROM" contains a necessary init function that initialises the +global variables defined by the functions inside "library at ROM". + +Script +~~~~~~ + +There is a ``romlib_generate.py`` Python script that generates the necessary +files for the "library at ROM" to work. It implements multiple functions: + +1. ``romlib_generate.py gentbl [args]`` - Generates the jump table by parsing + the index file. + +2. ``romlib_generator.py genvar [args]`` - Generates the jump table global + variable (**not** the jump table itself) with the absolute address in ROM. + This global variable is, basically, a pointer to the jump table. + +3. ``romlib_generator.py genwrappers [args]`` - Generates a wrapper function for + each entry in the index file except for the ones that contain the keyword + ``patch``. The generated wrapper file is called ``<fn_name>.s``. + +4. ``romlib_generator.py pre [args]`` - Preprocesses the index file which means + it resolves all the include commands in the file recursively. It can also + generate a dependency file of the included index files which can be directly + used in makefiles. + +Each ``romlib_generate.py`` function has its own manual which is accessible by +runing ``romlib_generator.py [function] --help``. + +``romlib_generate.py`` requires Python 3 environment. + + +Patching of functions in library at ROM +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The ``romlib_generator.py genwrappers`` does not generate wrappers for the +entries in the index file that contain the keyword ``patch``. Thus, it allows +calling the function from the actual library by breaking the link to the +"library at ROM" version of this function. + +The calling sequence for a patched function is as follows: + +BL image --> function + +Memory impact +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Using library at ROM will modify the memory layout of the BL images: + +- The ROM library needs a page aligned RAM section to hold the RW data. This + section is defined by the ROMLIB_RW_BASE and ROMLIB_RW_END macros. + On Arm platforms a section of 1 page (0x1000) is allocated at the top of SRAM. + This will have for effect to shift down all the BL images by 1 page. + +- Depending on the functions moved to the ROM library, the size of the BL images + will be reduced. + For example: moving MbedTLS function into the ROM library reduces BL1 and + BL2, but not BL31. + +- This change in BL images size can be taken into consideration to optimize the + memory layout when defining the BLx_BASE macros. + +Build library at ROM +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The environment variable ``CROSS_COMPILE`` must be set appropriately. Refer to +:ref:`Performing an Initial Build` for more information about setting this +variable. + +In the below example the usage of ROMLIB together with mbed TLS is demonstrated +to showcase the benefits of library at ROM - it's not mandatory. + +.. code:: shell + + make PLAT=fvp \ + MBEDTLS_DIR=</path/to/mbedtls/> \ + TRUSTED_BOARD_BOOT=1 GENERATE_COT=1 \ + ARM_ROTPK_LOCATION=devel_rsa \ + ROT_KEY=plat/arm/board/common/rotpk/arm_rotprivk_rsa.pem \ + BL33=</path/to/bl33.bin> \ + USE_ROMLIB=1 \ + all fip + +-------------- + +*Copyright (c) 2019, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.* |