The architecture of ARMv8-based firmware systems

Sergey Temerkhanov (Auriga, Inc.) & Igor Pochinok (MSU RCC)
embedded.com (July 15, 2018)

Since its release in 2011, the ARMv8 processor architecture has become quite widespread in the mobile device market. According to the forecasts of the ARM Limited CEO, the processors of this generation will acquire a world market share of up to 25% by 2020. It is natural enough that the software support was established and has been developing further by inheriting the features and general principles of the historically formed infrastructure.

A fundamentally different situation is observed in the server segment of the market. X86-based servers have been dominating this area for a long while, while ARMv8 is just finding its way (and only into specific business segments). The novelty of this market for ARM and the fact that most of the accepted standards and specifications (primarily ACPI and UEFI) have not been adapted for ARM systems until recently has left its mark on the development of the software infrastructure.

First, we should point out that the current implementations of firmware for ARMv8 server systems consist of several relatively independent components. This gives a number of advantages, such as the possibility of using the same components in both the server and embedded systems’ firmware, as well as the relative independence of introduced changes.

So, what modules and components are used in these systems, and what are their functions?

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