Building a Firmware Component Ecosystem with the Intel Firmware Engine Brian Richardson Senior Technical Marketing Engineer, Intel Corporation STTS002 1
Agenda Binary Firmware Management The Binary Firmware Workflow Developing Firmware Components Summary and Next Steps
Agenda Binary Firmware Management The Binary Firmware Workflow Developing Firmware Components Summary and Next Steps
Binary Firmware Management Problem: Intel s existing firmware ecosystem doesn t address many customers in new markets (Internet of Things, China Tech Ecosystem, ) Customer doesn t have an out of the box option for Intel firmware (can t ship reference firmware as-is, cant modify reference firmware) Third party firmware solutions are overkill for simple devices Open source alternatives can be too complex How to directly enable customers without adding complexity? One solution: modular and configurable binary firmware. 4
Address Specific Firmware Challenges Perceived Firmware Complexity Quickly Build from Reference Ship it Faster, Build it Cheaper 5
Intel Firmware Engine Platform for building production firmware from binary components. Starts from reference project. Add new features from a firmware component catalog. Based on industry-standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). 6
Core Platform Silicon
Connectors and peripherals
Package repository
Modular Benefits for the Platform Developer Package parameters are easily adjustable without recompiling Packages are easily removed if the functionality isn t required Packages don t depend on outdated coding practices Enabling configuration tools to reduce configuration complexity Binary firmware solutions can be extensible 11
Agenda Binary Firmware Management The Binary Firmware Workflow Developing Firmware Components Summary and Next Steps
The Binary Firmware Workflow Start New Project Based on Reference Change Peripherals & Connectors Configure Firmware Components Build a Custom Firmware Image How do customers extend firmware functionality in a binary workflow? 13
Intel Firmware Engine Package vs. UEFI Driver UEFI Drivers provide extensibility, but packages have additional features Expose configurable parameters as patchable-in-binary PCDs Describes configuration parameters in localized Unicode strings Describes connections to other components and connectors Contains release & debug versions of binaries for bring-up debugging 14 UEFI Unified Extensible Firmware Interface DXE Driver execution Environment PEI Pre-EFI Initialization PCD Platform Configuration Database
Usage Example: MinnowBoard Max No Services Associated with Networking Hardware 15
Add Network Service Gear to Project Drag & drop Network Service from list of Peripherals 16
Configure Networking Parameters Select component and adjust IPv4/IPv6 value in Properties 17
Add Boot to PXE Server Feature 18 PXE - Preboot execution Environment
19 Build and Test the New Firmware
Reference Firmware with Built-In Extensibility Binary packages extend the existing firmware ecosystem Specific functionality with adjustable parameters Hardware-specific packages can be provided by the IHV New functionality can be provided by an IBV or ISV ODMs can configure options w/o a user setup Simple configuration without IP exposure Extensibility is key to a healthy firmware ecosystem 20 IHV Independent Hardware Vendor IBV Independent BIOS Vendor ISV Independent Software Vendor ODM Original Device Manufacturer
Agenda Binary Firmware Management The Binary Firmware Workflow Developing Firmware Components Summary and Next Steps
Developing Firmware Components Modular coding is easier if you do it from the start photo credit: Brian Richardson 22
Intel Firmware Engine Software Development Kit Package Make BinPkg Binary Package Repository Maintenance Tool (RMT) Intel Firmware Engine repository Resulting package includes release and debug binaries Platform Project Intel Firmware Engine application UEFI source code, with Intel Firmware Engine extensions Projects are a collection of binary packages 23
Core Principles for Creating Binary Packages Make parameters in firmware patchable Adding metadata for configuration tools Remove circular module dependencies Remove legacy dependencies 24
Make Parameters in Firmware Patchable Use PcdsPatchableInModule to describe developer parameters PcdFixedAtBuild can t be modified by the developer Convert PcdsDynamic to PcdsDynamicEx The PcdsDynamic type does not work with binary distribution Review & update PCD information in package.dec file Prompt, help, validation expression, valid lists, valid range, and error codes/error messages 25 PCD Platform Configuration Database
Package DEC File Package UNI File 26
27 Package DEC File
Adding Metadata for Configuration Tools Create help, prompt & declaration for PCDs Declaration in.dec file & help/prompt in associated.uni file Define package connections Dependencies, connection points & configuration questions (.INF file) Name & description of a connector component (Unicode) Name & description of supported connection points (Unicode) Connector component icon (optional) 28
[Defines] INF_VERSION = 0x00010018 BASE_NAME = NanoUsb FILE_GUID = 9CEEE4A6-1109-4582-9DFD-647FB18519EE MODULE_TYPE = USER_DEFINED VERSION_STRING = 0.8 MODULE_UNI_FILE = NanoUsb.uni User extensions to package.inf file for Intel Firmware Engine [Packages] HardwarePkg/HardwarePkg.dec [Pcd] ghardwarepkgtokenspaceguid.unicodeannotationstring [UserExtensions.Intel."Properties"] CONNECTOR_NAME = Nano USB LOCATION = EDGE [UserExtensions.Intel."ConnectionPoints"] BOARD ghardwarepkgconnectiontypespaceguid.usbbus UP PERIPHERAL ghardwarepkgconnectiontypespaceguid.usbbus DOWN [UserExtensions.TianoCore."ExtraFiles"] NanoUsbProperties.uni NanoUsb.png 29
[UserExtensions.Intel."ConnectionPoints"] BOARD ghardwarepkgconnectiontypespaceguid.usbbus UP PERIPHERAL ghardwarepkgconnectiontypespaceguid.usbbus DOWN UP DOWN 30
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Circular Dependencies & Legacy Dependencies Packages cannot have circular dependencies Properly declared and described with connections in.dec/.inf Packages cannot have legacy dependencies No use of EFI Development Kit (EDK) or EDK Compatibility Package (ECP) in Intel Firmware Engine packages No dependency on legacy BIOS calls (INT XXh, 16-bit instructions, ) These issues must be resolved before attempting to build a package 32
Build Process, Packaging and Distribution Package Make BinPkg Binary Package Repository Maintenance Tool (RMT) Intel Firmware Engine repository Provided by SDK NanoUsb.inf NanoUsb.uni NanoUsb.png NanoUsbProperties.uni NanoUsb.dist.DIST files use UEFI Distribution Package (UDP) format NanoUsb.dist Customer downloads new package and adds to repository using RMT 33
What s in the Next Intel Firmware Engine SDK? Additional tools to simplify package creation Intel Firmware Engine Package Creator - Builds skeleton code for new packages, components and UEFI drivers - Wizard-style interface creates code based on developer input Intel Firmware Engine Package Converter - Convert existing UDK2014.SP1 code to binary packages - Identify non-patchable PCDs and circular dependencies Intel provides tools to simplify binary package development 34 Intel Firmware Engine Software Development Kit (Intel Firmware Engine SDK)
Agenda Binary Firmware Management The Binary Firmware Workflow Developing Firmware Components Summary and Next Steps
Summary Binary firmware solutions can be extensible Extensibility is key to a healthy firmware ecosystem Intel provides tools to simplify binary package development 36
Next Steps Use modular practices to enable binary firmware distribution Evaluate existing UEFI drivers and features for binary packages Develop and distribute firmware packages using the Intel Firmware Engine Software Development Kit intel.com/firmwareengine 37
Additional Sources of Information A PDF of this presentation is available from our Technical Session Catalog: www.intel.com/idfsessionssf. This URL is also printed on the top of Session Agenda Pages in the Pocket Guide. Demos in the showcase booth #511 Tech Chats - Using Intel Firmware Engine to Generate Simulated Platforms for Wind River * Simics * Wed -1:00 level 2 -Station 5 Develop and distribute firmware packages using the Intel Firmware Engine Software Development Kit intel.com/firmwareengine 38
Other Technical Sessions Session ID Title Day Time Room STTS001 Firmware in the Data Center: Building a Modern Deployment Framework Using UEFI and Redfish REST APIs Tue 11:00 2002 STTS002 Building a Firmware Component Ecosystem with the Intel Firmware Engine Tue 1:15 2002 STTS003 Developing Best-in-Class Security Principles with Open Source Firmware Tue 2:30 2002 STTS004 STTS005 Planning and Predicting Big Data Clusters for Spark*, NoSQL and SQL-on- Hadoop* Deployments Accelerating Real-time Analytics Insights with Open Source Software from Intel Tue 4:00 2002 Wed 9:30 2002 = DONE 39
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