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diff --git a/Release_Notes.txt b/Release_Notes.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4ab788 --- /dev/null +++ b/Release_Notes.txt @@ -0,0 +1,237 @@ +Release notes +============= + +1. Preface + + a. Proprietary notice + + Copyright (c) 2011, ARM Limited + All rights reserved. + + THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND + CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED + WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED + WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR + PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER + OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, + SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT + LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF + USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED + AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT + LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING + IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF + THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + + b. License details + + Copyright (c) 2009-11, ARM Limited. All rights reserved. + + Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with + or without modification, are permitted provided that the + following conditions are met: + + * Redistributions of source code must retain the above + copyright notice, + this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. + + * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the + above copyright notice, + this list of conditions and the following disclaimer + in the documentation and/or other materials provided + with the distribution. + + * Neither the name of ARM nor the names of its + contributors may be used to endorse or promote products + derived from this software without specific prior written + permission. + + c. Document confidentiality status + + Redistribution of source and compiled code is subject to the + license terms above. + + d. Product status + + ARM Virtualizer for Cortex-A15/Cortex-A7 Task Migration v2.1 + + e. Web address + + Not applicable. + + f. Feedback on the ARM Virtualizer software + + None at present. + + g. Feedback on this release note document + + None at present. + +2. Release details + + a. Product release status + + v2.1 + + b. ARM Virtualizer software release v2.1 + + This software release is a v2.1 snapshot of the ARM + Virtualizer software. + + The ARM Virtualizer software is example code that demonstrates + cluster context switching capability on a coherent dual + cluster system composed of a Cortex-A7 cluster and a + Cortex-A15 cluster. + + The intent behind this delivery is to allow + inspection of the software architecture and to + demonstrate existing functionality. + + It is possible to execute the ARM Virtualizer software on a + Kingfisher Real-Time System Model (RTSM VE Cortex-A15 KF CCI + version 6.2 Beta). + + This model may be obtained from ARM by separate arrangement. + + c. Deliverables + + This release contains: + + - Source code for a basic boot wrapper. + + This boot wrapper performs minimal system initialization + and boots the system with the Virtualizer code. It also + permits booting the system with an optional Linux kernel + image and an accompanying root filesystem [both NOT + supplied with this release]. + + - Source code for the ARM Virtualizer software. + + - Pertinent documentation covering the release components, + their installation and usage. + + d. Functionality included + + This release of the ARM Virtualizer software is capable of rapid + and robust cluster context switching on a coherent system + between a cluster of up to four Cortex-A7 processors and a + cluster of up to four Cortex-A15 processors. + + In addition, this release of the ARM Virtualizer software + permits payload software (bare-metal software or a Linux + operating system kernel) built for the Cortex-A15 processor + cluster to run un-modified on a Cortex-A7 processor cluster. + + This release does not support execution of software built for the + Cortex-A7 cluster on the Cortex-A15 cluster. + + e. New features + + 1. Code optimizations have been done to lower the number of cycles + taken to switch payload software execution between the two clusters. + An internal cycle accurate emulation platform was used to perform + the optimizations. It is not possible to undertake the same activity + on the ARM FastModels. The changes mostly center around: + + a. Replacement & rework of C code by assembler routines for + initialising the Secure Monitor and HYP mode environment after a + warm reset. + + b. Context of the vGIC shared distributor interface is not saved any + longer. Since the interface maintains its state across a switch, + changes are made to it directly while restoring context on the + inbound cluster. + + c. MMU is enabled as soon as possible after a warm reset to minimize + strongly ordered accesses. + + d. Barrier instructions are being used more optimally. + + e. The copy_words() routine which was used to save and restore the vGIC + context using word sized loads and stores has been replaced by the + memcpy() library routine. Depending upon the number of bytes that + need to be transferred, it chooses an optimal way of saving and + restoring context. + + 2. The variant field of the KFS_ID register is used to distinguish + between the FastModels and other platform types. + + f. Known issues + + 1. This release does not support execution of software + built for the Cortex-A7 cluster on the Cortex-A15 + cluster. + + 2. This release is intended to be built in a Linux development + environment. Environments other than Linux are not supported. + + 3. The snoop hit rate calculation support depends on per-CPU tube + constructs. These are currently only present in internal development + versions of the ARM FastModels. A forthcoming release of the ARM + FastModels will incorporate this functionality. For the moment, + attempts to write to non-existent tubes will be treated as a no-op. + (See docs/04-Cache-hit-rate-howto.txt for details). + + 4. This release provides instructions to build and run + large filesystems with the Virtualizer. The use of + large filesystems with the current FastModels + release (RTSM VE Cortex-A15 KF CCI version + 6.2 Beta) is known to be unstable. + + g. Issues resolved since last release + + 1. Bug fixes + + 1. vGIC HYP view interface handling code in (common/vgiclib.c) now + detects the number of implemented list registers from the vgic + type register instead of assuming that the maximum (64) will be + present. + + h. Test cases and results + + 1. This release has been tested for correct cluster switching + operation at ~12 million cycle switching intervals with + bare-metal and Linux kernel payloads. + + 2. This release has been tested using a select subset of an ARM + internal Linux based stress testing suite. + + i. Other information + + Not applicable. + +3. Documentation + + The docs subdirectory contains the following notes: + + 01-Usage.txt: General installation and usage instructions. + + 02-Code-layout.txt: Overview of the code layout. + + 03-Linux-kernel-build.txt: Instructions on obtaining and + building a Linux kernel image suitable for the virtualizer. + + 04-Cache-hit-rate-howto.txt: Description of the MTI trace + plugin infrastructure and ways to use the trace for + estimating snoop hit rates across cluster switches. + + 05-FAQ.txt: Placeholder for commonly asked questions with + answers. + + 06-Optional-rootfs-build.txt: Instructions for building and + using rootfilesystems with the virtualizer. + +4. Tools + + a. Tools + + 1. ARM RealView Development Suite version 4.1 [Build 514]. + + 2. Kingfisher Real-Time System Model (RTSM VE Cortex-A15 KF CCI + version 6.2 Beta). + + b. Operating systems + + 1. Ubuntu 10.10. + + 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS release 4 (Nahant Update 4). + |