cpu specific kernel call

[Stefan Kalkowski]

Hello Michael,

On Fri, Mar 05, 2021 at 12:54:14PM +0100, Michael Grunditz wrote:
> In message <20210305110844.dl5rao6mntiugjc5 at genode-labs.com>
>           Stefan Kalkowski <stefan.kalkowski at genode-labs.com> wrote:
> 
> > Hello Michael,
> 
> > On Wed, Mar 03, 2021 at 11:22:33PM +0100, Michael Grunditz wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >> 
> >> I have a kernel call that starts RISC OS, and uses psci. I wonder , where
> >> should I put that very aarch64 dependent code. I somehow need to be able
> >> to call it from userspace.
> >> 
> >> Regarding kernel calls in general , what is the best way of calling them?
> >> Right now I do "MOV x0,#number ; SVC" , probably not very Genode style! :)
> 
> > Actually, there is already support for what you are looking for, I
> > think. As far as I understood it correctly, you want to wake up the
> > Cortex-M4 (side-) processor, after you've prepared RiscOS to run on top of
> > it?
> 
> 
> RISC OS doesn't run on a M4, it is a desktop OS. Even if it is very light 
> and no overhead, it needs a proper cpu

Ah ok sorry, I've misunderstood that.

> 
> 
> > Of course, you should not just add a system call that can be executed
> > by every component to do something like this ;-). But we already had
> > similar needs, when doing power control inside of the platform driver
> > for i.MX 8M. There are some GPC controls that are done by the ARM
> > Trusted firmware. Therefore we extended a previously existent
> > privilege to the so called "managing_system" privilege that can be
> > given when creating a new PD resp. component. This privilege is
> > typically given only to the platform driver. With it a component can
> > do a "managing_system(State&)" call on its PD session. This call transfers
> > registers (State == Cpu_state) to core, which on will do a "secure
> > monitor call" with the given registers (at least on ARMv8).
> > For further understanding, please grep for "managing_system" inside
> > base and base-hw.
> 
> I think that the startup call , and possible restart needs to be in a 
> driver. I think that what you did wrote is about that, but I need to 
> explore the sources to fully understand. I also need a interrupthandler 
> for the MU. I just poll the Message Unit now ,which is fine for serial 
> output from RISC OS. But I have started with a filing system, which 
> probably would be good if it was interrupt driven. Yet a lot to decide ...
> 
> 
> > To sum it up, you could define a specific "Power_domain" for the M4 in
> > the platform driver of your board, and then do the corresponding SMC
> > call therein using the managing_system call. Your application doing
> > the RiscOS loading just needs to acquire the device with the M4
> > Power_domain from the platform driver at the point where you want to
> > power it, and release it again when you want to power it off.
> 
> > This way, you will have a secure and sane integration of the M4
> > handling.
> 
> Thanks! Can this Power_domain thing also work for A53?

In general yes, I do not see what should stay against this. You still
need an adapted version of the platform_driver for your specific
setup, which implements the A53 Power_domain by using the
"managing_system" so-to-say "SMC wrapper".

Regards
Stefan

> 
> Michael 
> 
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-- 
Stefan Kalkowski
Genode labs

https://github.com/skalk | https://genode.org