1Feature Overview
2================
3
4This page provides an overview of the current |TF-A| feature set. For a full
5description of these features and their implementation details, please see
6the documents that are part of the *Components* and *System Design* chapters.
7
8The :ref:`Change Log & Release Notes` provides details of changes made since the
9last release.
10
11Current features
12----------------
13
14-  Initialization of the secure world, for example exception vectors, control
15   registers and interrupts for the platform.
16
17-  Library support for CPU specific reset and power down sequences. This
18   includes support for errata workarounds and the latest Arm DynamIQ CPUs.
19
20-  Drivers to enable standard initialization of Arm System IP, for example
21   Generic Interrupt Controller (GIC), Cache Coherent Interconnect (CCI),
22   Cache Coherent Network (CCN), Network Interconnect (NIC) and TrustZone
23   Controller (TZC).
24
25-  Secure Monitor library code such as world switching, EL2/EL1 context
26   management and interrupt routing.
27
28-  SMC (Secure Monitor Call) handling, conforming to the `SMC Calling
29   Convention`_ using an EL3 runtime services framework.
30
31-  |PSCI| library support for CPU, cluster and system power management
32   use-cases.
33   This library is pre-integrated with the AArch64 EL3 Runtime Software, and
34   is also suitable for integration with other AArch32 EL3 Runtime Software,
35   for example an AArch32 Secure OS.
36
37-  A generic |SCMI| driver to interface with conforming power controllers, for
38   example the Arm System Control Processor (SCP).
39
40-  A minimal AArch32 Secure Payload (*SP_MIN*) to demonstrate |PSCI| library
41   integration with AArch32 EL3 Runtime Software.
42
43-  Secure partition manager dispatcher(SPMD) with following two configurations:
44
45   -  S-EL2 SPMC implementation, widely compliant with FF-A v1.1 EAC0 and initial
46      support of FF-A v1.2.
47
48   -  EL3 SPMC implementation, compliant with a subset of FF-A v1.1 EAC0.
49
50-  Support for Arm CCA based on FEAT_RME which supports authenticated boot and
51   execution of RMM with the necessary routing of RMI commands as specified in
52   RMM Beta 0 Specification.
53
54-  A Test SP and SPD to demonstrate AArch64 Secure Monitor functionality and SP
55   interaction with PSCI.
56
57-  SPDs for the `OP-TEE Secure OS`_, `NVIDIA Trusted Little Kernel`_,
58   `Trusty Secure OS`_ and `ProvenCore Secure OS`_.
59
60-  A Trusted Board Boot implementation, conforming to all mandatory TBBR
61   requirements. This includes image authentication, Firmware recovery,
62   Firmware encryption and packaging of the various firmware images into a
63   Firmware Image Package (FIP).
64
65-  Measured boot support with PoC to showcase its interaction with firmware TPM
66   (fTPM) service implemneted on top of OP-TEE.
67
68-  Support for Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement (DRTM).
69
70-  Following firmware update mechanisms available:
71
72   -  PSA Firmware Update (PSA FWU)
73
74   -  TBBR Firmware Update (TBBR FWU)
75
76-  Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) functionality, including
77
78   -  A Secure Partition Manager (SPM) to manage Secure Partitions in
79      Secure-EL0, which can be used to implement simple management and
80      security services.
81
82   -  An |SDEI| dispatcher to route interrupt-based |SDEI| events.
83
84   -  An Exception Handling Framework (EHF) that allows dispatching of EL3
85      interrupts to their registered handlers, to facilitate firmware-first
86      error handling.
87
88-  A dynamic configuration framework that enables each of the firmware images
89   to be configured at runtime if required by the platform. It also enables
90   loading of a hardware configuration (for example, a kernel device tree)
91   as part of the FIP, to be passed through the firmware stages.
92   This feature is now incorporated inside the firmware configuration framework
93   (fconf).
94
95-  Support for alternative boot flows, for example to support platforms where
96   the EL3 Runtime Software is loaded using other firmware or a separate
97   secure system processor, or where a non-TF-A ROM expects BL2 to be loaded
98   at EL3.
99
100-  Support for Errata management firmware interface.
101
102-  Support for the GCC, LLVM and Arm Compiler 6 toolchains.
103
104-  Support for combining several libraries into a "romlib" image that may be
105   shared across images to reduce memory footprint. The romlib image is stored
106   in ROM but is accessed through a jump-table that may be stored
107   in read-write memory, allowing for the library code to be patched.
108
109-  Position-Independent Executable (PIE) support.
110
111Experimental features
112---------------------
113
114A feature is considered experimental when still in development or isn't known
115to the TF-A team as widely deployed or proven on end products. It is generally
116advised such options aren't pulled into real deployments, or done with the
117appropriate level of supplementary integration testing.
118
119A feature is no longer considered experimental when it is generally agreed
120the said feature has reached a level of maturity and quality comparable to
121other features that have been integrated into products.
122
123Experimental build options are found in following section
124:ref:`build_options_experimental`. Their use through the build emits a warning
125message.
126
127Additionally the following libraries are marked experimental when included
128in a platform:
129
130-  MPU translation library ``lib/xlat_mpu``
131-  RSS comms driver ``drivers/arm/rss``
132
133Still to come
134-------------
135
136-  Support for additional platforms.
137
138-  Documentation enhancements.
139
140-  Ongoing support for new architectural features, CPUs and System IP.
141
142-  Ongoing support for new Arm system architecture specifications.
143
144-  Ongoing security hardening, optimization and quality improvements.
145
146.. _SMC Calling Convention: https://developer.arm.com/docs/den0028/latest
147.. _OP-TEE Secure OS: https://github.com/OP-TEE/optee_os
148.. _NVIDIA Trusted Little Kernel: http://nv-tegra.nvidia.com/gitweb/?p=3rdparty/ote_partner/tlk.git;a=summary
149.. _Trusty Secure OS: https://source.android.com/security/trusty
150.. _ProvenCore Secure OS: https://provenrun.com/products/provencore/
151
152--------------
153
154*Copyright (c) 2019-2023, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.*
155