1 Freescale QUICC Engine Firmware Uploading
2 -----------------------------------------
4 (c) 2007 Timur Tabi <timur at freescale.com>,
5 Freescale Semiconductor
10 I - Software License for Firmware
12 II - Microcode Availability
14 III - Description and Terminology
16 IV - Microcode Programming Details
18 V - Firmware Structure Layout
20 VI - Sample Code for Creating Firmware Files
25 November 30, 2007: Rev 1.0 - Initial version
27 I - Software License for Firmware
28 =================================
30 Each firmware file comes with its own software license. For information on
31 the particular license, please see the license text that is distributed with
34 II - Microcode Availability
35 ===========================
37 Firmware files are distributed through various channels. Some are available on
38 http://opensource.freescale.com. For other firmware files, please contact
39 your Freescale representative or your operating system vendor.
41 III - Description and Terminology
42 ================================
44 In this document, the term 'microcode' refers to the sequence of 32-bit
45 integers that compose the actual QE microcode.
47 The term 'firmware' refers to a binary blob that contains the microcode as
48 well as other data that
50 1) describes the microcode's purpose
51 2) describes how and where to upload the microcode
52 3) specifies the values of various registers
53 4) includes additional data for use by specific device drivers
55 Firmware files are binary files that contain only a firmware.
57 IV - Microcode Programming Details
58 ===================================
60 The QE architecture allows for only one microcode present in I-RAM for each
61 RISC processor. To replace any current microcode, a full QE reset (which
62 disables the microcode) must be performed first.
64 QE microcode is uploaded using the following procedure:
66 1) The microcode is placed into I-RAM at a specific location, using the
67 IRAM.IADD and IRAM.IDATA registers.
69 2) The CERCR.CIR bit is set to 0 or 1, depending on whether the firmware
70 needs split I-RAM. Split I-RAM is only meaningful for SOCs that have
71 QEs with multiple RISC processors, such as the 8360. Splitting the I-RAM
72 allows each processor to run a different microcode, effectively creating an
73 asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) system.
75 3) The TIBCR trap registers are loaded with the addresses of the trap handlers
78 4) The RSP.ECCR register is programmed with the value provided.
80 5) If necessary, device drivers that need the virtual traps and extended mode
83 Virtual Microcode Traps
85 These virtual traps are conditional branches in the microcode. These are
86 "soft" provisional introduced in the ROMcode in order to enable higher
87 flexibility and save h/w traps If new features are activated or an issue is
88 being fixed in the RAM package utilizing they should be activated. This data
89 structure signals the microcode which of these virtual traps is active.
91 This structure contains 6 words that the application should copy to some
92 specific been defined. This table describes the structure.
94 ---------------------------------------------------------------
95 | Offset in | | Destination Offset | Size of |
96 | array | Protocol | within PRAM | Operand |
97 --------------------------------------------------------------|
98 | 0 | Ethernet | 0xF8 | 4 bytes |
99 | | interworking | | |
100 ---------------------------------------------------------------
101 | 4 | ATM | 0xF8 | 4 bytes |
102 | | interworking | | |
103 ---------------------------------------------------------------
104 | 8 | PPP | 0xF8 | 4 bytes |
105 | | interworking | | |
106 ---------------------------------------------------------------
107 | 12 | Ethernet RX | 0x22 | 1 byte |
108 | | Distributor Page | | |
109 ---------------------------------------------------------------
110 | 16 | ATM Globtal | 0x28 | 1 byte |
111 | | Params Table | | |
112 ---------------------------------------------------------------
113 | 20 | Insert Frame | 0xF8 | 4 bytes |
114 ---------------------------------------------------------------
119 This is a double word bit array (64 bits) that defines special functionality
120 which has an impact on the softwarew drivers. Each bit has its own impact
121 and has special instructions for the s/w associated with it. This structure is
122 described in this table:
124 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
125 | Bit # | Name | Description |
126 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
127 | 0 | General | Indicates that prior to each host command |
128 | | push command | given by the application, the software must |
129 | | | assert a special host command (push command)|
130 | | | CECDR = 0x00800000. |
131 | | | CECR = 0x01c1000f. |
132 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
133 | 1 | UCC ATM | Indicates that after issuing ATM RX INIT |
134 | | RX INIT | command, the host must issue another special|
135 | | push command | command (push command) and immediately |
136 | | | following that re-issue the ATM RX INIT |
137 | | | command. (This makes the sequence of |
138 | | | initializing the ATM receiver a sequence of |
139 | | | three host commands) |
140 | | | CECDR = 0x00800000. |
141 | | | CECR = 0x01c1000f. |
142 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
143 | 2 | Add/remove | Indicates that following the specific host |
144 | | command | command: "Add/Remove entry in Hash Lookup |
145 | | validation | Table" used in Interworking setup, the user |
146 | | | must issue another command. |
147 | | | CECDR = 0xce000003. |
148 | | | CECR = 0x01c10f58. |
149 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
150 | 3 | General push | Indicates that the s/w has to initialize |
151 | | command | some pointers in the Ethernet thread pages |
152 | | | which are used when Header Compression is |
153 | | | activated. The full details of these |
154 | | | pointers is located in the software drivers.|
155 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
156 | 4 | General push | Indicates that after issuing Ethernet TX |
157 | | command | INIT command, user must issue this command |
158 | | | for each SNUM of Ethernet TX thread. |
159 | | | CECDR = 0x00800003. |
160 | | | CECR = 0x7'b{0}, 8'b{Enet TX thread SNUM}, |
161 | | | 1'b{1}, 12'b{0}, 4'b{1} |
162 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
163 | 5 - 31 | N/A | Reserved, set to zero. |
164 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
166 V - Firmware Structure Layout
167 ==============================
169 QE microcode from Freescale is typically provided as a header file. This
170 header file contains macros that define the microcode binary itself as well as
171 some other data used in uploading that microcode. The format of these files
172 do not lend themselves to simple inclusion into other code. Hence,
173 the need for a more portable format. This section defines that format.
175 Instead of distributing a header file, the microcode and related data are
176 embedded into a binary blob. This blob is passed to the qe_upload_firmware()
177 function, which parses the blob and performs everything necessary to upload
180 All integers are big-endian. See the comments for function
181 qe_upload_firmware() for up-to-date implementation information.
183 This structure supports versioning, where the version of the structure is
184 embedded into the structure itself. To ensure forward and backwards
185 compatibility, all versions of the structure must use the same 'qe_header'
186 structure at the beginning.
188 'header' (type: struct qe_header):
189 The 'length' field is the size, in bytes, of the entire structure,
190 including all the microcode embedded in it, as well as the CRC (if
193 The 'magic' field is an array of three bytes that contains the letters
194 'Q', 'E', and 'F'. This is an identifier that indicates that this
195 structure is a QE Firmware structure.
197 The 'version' field is a single byte that indicates the version of this
198 structure. If the layout of the structure should ever need to be
199 changed to add support for additional types of microcode, then the
200 version number should also be changed.
202 The 'id' field is a null-terminated string(suitable for printing) that
203 identifies the firmware.
205 The 'count' field indicates the number of 'microcode' structures. There
206 must be one and only one 'microcode' structure for each RISC processor.
207 Therefore, this field also represents the number of RISC processors for this
210 The 'soc' structure contains the SOC numbers and revisions used to match
211 the microcode to the SOC itself. Normally, the microcode loader should
212 check the data in this structure with the SOC number and revisions, and
213 only upload the microcode if there's a match. However, this check is not
214 made on all platforms.
216 Although it is not recommended, you can specify '0' in the soc.model
217 field to skip matching SOCs altogether.
219 The 'model' field is a 16-bit number that matches the actual SOC. The
220 'major' and 'minor' fields are the major and minor revision numbers,
221 respectively, of the SOC.
223 For example, to match the 8323, revision 1.0:
228 'padding' is neccessary for structure alignment. This field ensures that the
229 'extended_modes' field is aligned on a 64-bit boundary.
231 'extended_modes' is a bitfield that defines special functionality which has an
232 impact on the device drivers. Each bit has its own impact and has special
233 instructions for the driver associated with it. This field is stored in
234 the QE library and available to any driver that calles qe_get_firmware_info().
236 'vtraps' is an array of 8 words that contain virtual trap values for each
237 virtual traps. As with 'extended_modes', this field is stored in the QE
238 library and available to any driver that calles qe_get_firmware_info().
240 'microcode' (type: struct qe_microcode):
241 For each RISC processor there is one 'microcode' structure. The first
242 'microcode' structure is for the first RISC, and so on.
244 The 'id' field is a null-terminated string suitable for printing that
245 identifies this particular microcode.
247 'traps' is an array of 16 words that contain hardware trap values
248 for each of the 16 traps. If trap[i] is 0, then this particular
249 trap is to be ignored (i.e. not written to TIBCR[i]). The entire value
250 is written as-is to the TIBCR[i] register, so be sure to set the EN
251 and T_IBP bits if necessary.
253 'eccr' is the value to program into the ECCR register.
255 'iram_offset' is the offset into IRAM to start writing the
258 'count' is the number of 32-bit words in the microcode.
260 'code_offset' is the offset, in bytes, from the beginning of this
261 structure where the microcode itself can be found. The first
262 microcode binary should be located immediately after the 'microcode'
265 'major', 'minor', and 'revision' are the major, minor, and revision
266 version numbers, respectively, of the microcode. If all values are 0,
267 then these fields are ignored.
269 'reserved' is necessary for structure alignment. Since 'microcode'
270 is an array, the 64-bit 'extended_modes' field needs to be aligned
271 on a 64-bit boundary, and this can only happen if the size of
272 'microcode' is a multiple of 8 bytes. To ensure that, we add
275 After the last microcode is a 32-bit CRC. It can be calculated using
278 u32 crc32(const u8 *p, unsigned int len)
285 for (i = 0; i < 8; i++)
286 crc = (crc >> 1) ^ ((crc & 1) ? 0xedb88320 : 0);
291 VI - Sample Code for Creating Firmware Files
292 ============================================
294 A Python program that creates firmware binaries from the header files normally
295 distributed by Freescale can be found on http://opensource.freescale.com.