Nate DeSimone

Michael Kubacki
OSFC 2019 September 3rd, 2019
How to Build Intel UEFI FW For a System?

?
https://github.com/tianocore/edk2 https://github.com/IntelFsp/FSP

1. Core 2. Silicon 3. Platform

• Typically open • Typically closed • Typically closed

source. source. source.
• Industry standard • Has some tie to a • Advanced or
drivers. specific class of platform feature
• Generic firmware physical hardware. code.
infrastructure code. • Sometimes • Board specific code
governed by for one or more
industry standards, motherboards.
sometimes
proprietary.

2
Firmware is Built on Standards

UEFI Forum Core

The platform code
• UEFI specification
• ACPI specification
brings it all together
• Platform Initialization specification
 Defines the firmware flash map
Intel Firmware Silicon  Specifies the core and hardware drivers needed
• Intel® FSP specification  Calls into the silicon initialization API
 Provides board-specific settings like GPIO
values, SPD settings, etc.
Hardware

. . .

3
Intel® Legacy BIOS to UEFI
Scope/Complexity

UEFI BIOS

1980 2004 2009 2015 2019+

Legacy PC
BIOS

4
Intel® Legacy BIOS to UEFI
Scope/Complexity

Converged Core

UEFI FW

1980 2004 2009 2015 2019+

Legacy PC PC Platform
BIOS UEFI FW

5
Intel® Legacy BIOS to UEFI
Scope/Complexity

Full UEFI FW
Binary

Converged Core

UEFI FW

1980 2004 2009 2015 2019+

Legacy PC PC Platform Multi-Segment

BIOS UEFI FW UEFI FW

6
Intel® Legacy BIOS to UEFI

Platform
Scope/Complexity

Standardization

Full UEFI FW
Binary

Converged Core

UEFI FW

1980 2004 2009 2015 2019+

Legacy PC PC Platform Multi-Segment Intel®

BIOS UEFI FW UEFI FW FSP

7
 UEFI PI Overview
Pre-boot Human User
OS GUI
Tools
Application
Libraries
UEFI Specification Drivers Full system stack
Network (user -> hardware)
OS
UEFI PI Scope – “Green H”

Firmware
Hardware
Platform
Drivers • UEFI specifies how firmware executes the OS loader.
• UEFI’s Platform Initialization (PI) spec. defines:
• Pre-EFI Initialization (PEI)
• Driver Execution Environment (DXE)
Silicon
Component • DXE is the preferred UEFI Implementation.
Modules
PEI/DXE PI Foundation
Hardware
Modular components

8
Silicon Initialization Overview

 Intel® FSP is a binary distribution of Intel’s silicon initialization code.

 The resources necessary to implement Intel silicon code are not
publicly available.

 Intel’s FSP Strategy:

1. Distribute binaries of our proprietary silicon code to the public
2. Enable this binary to plug into arbitrary firmware designs (coreboot,
TianoCore, etc.)

 Secondary goal is to abstract the complexity of silicon initialization.

 Expose a limited number of well-defined interfaces.

9
Intel® FSP 2.0

 Intel® FSP is treated as a binary blob.

Custom System Boot Loader Firmware

 Intel® FSP header provides 32-bit entry

points to APIs defined in the FSP
specification.
Intel® FSP

 Intel® FSP specification defines data Intel® FSP API

structures used for input and output from
the API functions.

10
Intel® FSP 2.1
Now we need an
 Primary objective: Seamlessly integrate with UEFI PI firmware open source UEFI PI
platform wrapper
for Intel® FSP…
 Non-UEFI PI Firmware: API mode
 Same “mode” provided with 2.0 using the same binary API
 Uses UPDs for configuration

 UEFI PI Firmware: Dispatch mode (* New)

 The FSP wrapper uses Intel® FSP the same as any other firmware file system partition
 Directly uses UEFI PI architecture executables

Takeaway: Dispatch mode can improve efficiency if a UEFI PI wrapper is used.

11
Lack of Platform Code Consistency

Platform code today needs work to encourage collaboration.

 It is designed with a specific device and segment in mind.

 Lacks feature modularization

 It is difficult to understand and debug.

 Boot flows vary arbitrarily between systems

 It is difficult to secure.
 Same thing done different ways

Server Client Ultra Mobile

12
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small
edk2 edk2-platforms

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
UefiCpuPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source Feature A

Feature B

NextGenBoardPkg Feature C
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small
edk2 edk2-platforms

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg

UefiCpuPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source Feature A

Feature B

NextGenBoardPkg Feature C
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small
edk2 edk2-platforms

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source Feature A

Feature B

NextGenBoardPkg Feature C
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small Feature A

edk2 edk2-platforms

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source

Feature B

NextGenBoardPkg Feature C
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small Feature A

Feature B
edk2 edk2-platforms

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source

NextGenBoardPkg Feature C
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small Feature A

Feature B
edk2 edk2-platforms
Feature C

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source

NextGenBoardPkg
Feature …
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small Feature A

Feature B
edk2 edk2-platforms
Feature C
Feature …

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . .

Extensible Validated Open Source

NextGenBoardPkg
Future Product
Development
Evolving Intel Open Source Platform Firmware

Open Small Feature A

Feature B
edk2 edk2-platforms
Feature C
Feature …

Structured Portable MdePkg

MdeModulePkg
MinPlatformPkg
AdvancedFeaturePkg
UefiCpuPkg KabylakeOpenBoardPkg
. . . WhiskeylakeOpenBoardPkg
NextGenBoardPkg
. . .
Extensible Validated
Open Source
NextGenBoardPkg
Future Product
Development
 Intel Open Platform Firmware Stack
Open source Closed source Implementation Choice

EDKII
MinPlatformPkg
Intel® Firmware Support Package (Intel® FSP) Binary .com
Si API MPA API EDK2 API Si API MPA API EDK2 API Si API MPA API EDK2 API

Server Board Package Client Board Package Mobile Board Package

Consistent boot flows and interfaces

Approachable across the ecosystem
Scalable from pre-silicon to derivatives

21
The Staged Platform Approach

Minimal Memory Boot to Boot to Security Advanced

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Stage VI
Stage IV

Stage V
Debug Functional UEFI Shell OS Enabled Feature
Selection

External Debugger Basic HW Includes Serial Basic ACPI Table Authenticated Boot Features Selected
Console I/O Initialization Features
Based on Selected
System-
Support Initialization
Security Registers Based
Specific System-
on Usage.
Specific Usage.
Serial Port Memory Initialized UEFI Shell SMM support Locked
command line BIOS Setup
interface OS kernel minimal BIOS Setup
Progress and Error
reporting functionality Capsule Update
Capsule Update
Minimum Platform
. . .
Full Platform

22
Intel Open Platform – Minimum Platform + Intel® FSP
OS
Pre-boot • UEFI is built with the PC supply chain in mind.
Tools
• Open and closed modules can co-exist in a system.
UEFI Specification • Minimum Platform seeks to increase the overall share of
open source UEFI firmware code available.
GPU Drivers

Board Code • UEFI’s component based design gives OEM’s choices:

• Wide array of choice in ICs:
MinPlatform
• CPU
• GPU
• I/O Controllers (USB, Disk, etc.)
Intel® FSP

• Silicon vendors can provide pluggable UEFI components that

Hardware
adhere to specifications.
23
Call to Action
Contributions welcome!

 Embedded system
development

 Simple sample code

for porting to other
Create and modify Intel Share platform features firmware
system firmware

Create new board packages:

1. Start with a sample OpenBoard package.
2. Update the board-specific data such as GPIOs.
3. Get a simple stage 4 boot to OS boot functional and add advanced board features.
4. Customize the Intel FSP configuration settings for your needs.

24
Current Status & Upcoming Plans
Platforms Currently Supported:
7th Generation Intel® Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors 8th Generation Intel®
Core™ i7 Processors with Intel® C620 Series Chipsets Core™ i7 Processors
(products formerly Kaby Lake) (products formerly Purley) (products formerly Whiskey Lake)

Kaby Lake U DDR3 RVP Mt. Olympus Whiskey Lake U DDR4 RVP
System76* Galago Pro 3
Note: Sky Lake U DDR3 RVP works
with KabylakeOpenBoardPkg.

EDK II Minimum Platform draft specification published.

Upcoming Plans:
1. Continue to roll out more Intel open source platform code.
2. Expand advance feature code and quality.
3. Support open source community continuous integration for minimum platforms.

25
Legal Disclaimer
You may not use or facilitate the use of this document in connection with any infringement or other legal analysis concerning Intel products described herein. You agree to grant
Intel a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to any patent claim thereafter drafted which includes subject matter disclosed herein.

No license (express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise) to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document.

Intel technologies’ features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on
system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at intel.com.

Intel technologies may require enabled hardware, specific software, or services activation. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer.

The products described may contain design defects or errors known as errata which may cause the product to deviate from published specifications. Current characterized errata
are available on request.

Intel disclaims all express and implied warranties, including without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, as
well as any warranty arising from course of performance, course of dealing, or usage in trade.

All information provided here is subject to change without notice. Contact your Intel representative to obtain the latest Intel product specifications and roadmaps

Copies of documents which have an order number and are referenced in this document may be obtained by calling 1-800-548-4725 or visit www.intel.com/design/literature.htm.

Intel, the Intel logo, and Core are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

© 2019 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Glossary
 edk2: The tianocore.org git source code repository.
 edk2-platforms: The tianocore.org platforms git source code repository.
 EDK II: Cross-platform firmware development environment for the UEFI and PI specifications.
 Intel® FSP: Intel® Firmware Support Package. A binary distribution model for Intel silicon component code.
 Green H: Allowed components to build portable UEFI & PI arch components. APIs, standards, and libraries.
 GPIO: General Purpose Input/Output
 Minimum Platform: EDK II compatible minimum and cross-platform code with a well-defined control flow.
 MPA: Minimum Platform Architecture.
 SPD: Serial Presence Detect
 Tiano: A UEFI implementation combining TianoCore with Intel’s closed source platform and silicon modules.
 TianoCore: An open source project that creates the most widely used UEFI implementation: EDK II.
 UEFI: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.
 UEFI.org / UEFI Forum: Industry standards body.
 UEFI PI Arch specs: Platform Initialization. Firmware construction specifications. Defines: SEC, PEI, DXE, BDS.
 UEFI Specification: A firmware to OS interface specification.