Capsule

The goal of this part of the course is to make you comfortable with the Tock kernel and writing code for it. By the end of this part, you'll have written a new capsule that reads a humidity sensor and outputs its readings over the serial port.

During this you will:

  1. Learn how Tock uses Rust's memory safety to provide isolation for free
  2. Read the Tock boot sequence, seeing how Tock uses static allocation
  3. Learn about Tock's event-driven programming
  4. Write a new capsule that reads a humidity sensor and prints it over serial

Read the Tock boot sequence (20m)

Open imix/src/main.rs in your favorite editor. This file defines the imix platform: how it boots, what capsules it uses, and what system calls it supports for userland applications.

How is everything organized?

Find the declaration of struct Imix (it's pretty early in the file). This declares the structure representing the platform. It has many fields, all of which are capsules. These are the capsules that make up the imix platform. For the most part, these map directly to hardware peripherals, but there are exceptions such as IPC (inter-process communication).

Recall the discussion about how everything in the kernel is statically allocated? We can see that here. Every field in struct Imix is a reference to an object with a static lifetime.

The capsules themselves take a lifetime as a parameter, which is currently always `static. The implementations of these capsules, however, do not rely on this assumption.

The boot process is primarily the construction of this Imix structure. Once everything is set up, the board will pass the constructed imix to kernel::kernel_loop and we're off to the races.

How do things get started?

The method reset_handler is invoked when the chip resets (i.e., boots). It's pretty long because imix has a lot of drivers that need to be created and initialized, and many of them depend on other, lower layer abstractions that need to be created and initialized as well.

Take a look at the first few lines of the reset_handler. The boot sequence initializes memory (copies initialized variables into RAM, clears the BSS), sets up the system clocks, and configures the GPIO pins.

How do capsules get created?

The next lines of reset_handler create and initialize the system console, which is what turns calls to println into bytes sent to the USB serial port:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
let uart_mux = static_init!(
    MuxUart<'static>,
    MuxUart::new(
        &sam4l::usart::USART3,
        &mut capsules::virtual_uart::RX_BUF,
        115200
    )
);
uart_mux.initialize();

hil::uart::Transmit::set_transmit_client(&sam4l::usart::USART3, uart_mux);
hil::uart::Receive::set_receive_client(&sam4l::usart::USART3, uart_mux);

let console = ConsoleComponent::new(board_kernel, uart_mux).finalize();
#}

Eventually, once all of the capsules have been created, we will populate a imix structure with them:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
let imix = Imix {
    console: console,
    gpio: gpio,
    ...
#}

The static_init! macro is simply an easy way to allocate a static variable with a call to new. The first parameter is the type, the second is the expression to produce an instance of the type. This call creates a Console that uses serial port 3 (USART3) at 115200 bits per second.

A brief aside on buffers:

Notice that you have to pass a write buffer to the console for it to use: this buffer has to have a `static lifetime. This is because low-level hardware drivers, especially those that use DMA, require `static buffers. Since Tock doesn't promise when a DMA operation will complete, and you need to be able to promise that the buffer outlives the operation, the one lifetime that is assured to be alive at the end of an operation is `static. So that other code which has buffers without a `static lifetime, such as userspace processes, can use the Console, it copies them into its own internal `static buffer before passing it to the serial port. So the buffer passing architecture looks like this:

Console/UART buffer lifetimes

It's a little weird that Console's new method takes in a reference to itself. This is an ergonomics tradeoff. The Console needs a mutable static buffer to use internally, which the Console capsule declares. However writing global statics is unsafe. To avoid the unsafe operation in the Console capsule itself, we make it the responsibility of the instantiator to give the Console a buffer to use, without burdening the instantiator with sizing the buffer.

Let's make an imix!

The code continues on, creating all of the other capsules that are needed by the imix platform. By the time we get down to around line 360, we've created all of the capsules we need, and it's time to create the actual imix platform structure (let imix = Imix { ...).

Capsule initialization

Up to this point we have been creating numerous structures and setting some static configuration options and mappings, but nothing dynamic has occurred (said another way, all methods invoked by static_init! must be const fn, however Tock's static_init! macro predates stabilization of const fn's. A future iteration could possibly leverage these and obviate the need for the macro).

Some capsules require initialization, some code that must be executed before they can be used. For example, a few lines after creating the imix struct, we initialize the console:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
imix.nrf51822.initialize();
#}

This method is responsible for actually writing the hardware registers that configure the associated UART peripheral for use as a text console (8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity bit, no hardware flow control).

Inter-capsule dependencies

Just after initializing the console capsule, we find this line:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
kernel::debug::assign_console_driver(Some(imix.console), kc);
#}

This configures the kernel's debug! macro to print messages to this console we've just created. The debug! mechanism can be very helpful during development and testing. Today we're going to use it to print output from the capsule you create.

Let's try it out really quick:

--- a/boards/imix/src/main.rs
+++ b/boards/imix/src/main.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 extern crate capsules;
 extern crate cortexm4;
 extern crate compiler_builtins;
-#[macro_use(static_init)]
+#[macro_use(debug, static_init)]
 extern crate kernel;
 extern crate sam4l;

@@ -388,6 +388,8 @@ pub unsafe fn reset_handler() {
         capsules::console::App::default());
     kernel::debug::assign_console_driver(Some(imix.console), kc);

+    debug!("Testing 1, 2, 3...");
+
     imix.nrf51822.initialize();

Compile and flash the kernel (make program) then look at the output (tockloader listen).

  • What happens if you put the debug! before assign_console_driver?
  • What happens if you put imix.console.initialize() after assign_console_driver?

As you can see, sometimes there are dependencies between capsules, and board authors must take care during initialization to ensure correctness.

Note: The debug! implementation is asynchronous. It copies messages into a buffer and the console prints them via DMA as the UART peripheral is available, interleaved with other console users (i.e. processes). You shouldn't need to worry about the mechanics of this for now.

Loading processes

Once the platform is all set up, the board is responsible for loading processes into memory:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
kernel::process::load_processes(&_sapps as *const u8,
                                &mut APP_MEMORY,
                                &mut PROCESSES,
                                FAULT_RESPONSE);
#}

A Tock process is represented by a kernel::Process struct. In principle, a platform could load processes by any means. In practice, all existing platforms write an array of Tock Binary Format (TBF) entries to flash. The kernel provides the load_processes helper function that takes in a flash address and begins iteratively parsing TBF entries and making Processes.

Starting the kernel

Finally, the board passes a reference to the current platform, the chip the platform is built on (used for interrupt and power handling), the processes to run, and an IPC server instance to the main loop of the kernel:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
kernel::main(&imix, &mut chip, &mut PROCESSES, &imix.ipc);
#}

From here, Tock is initialized, the kernel event loop takes over, and the system enters steady state operation.

Create a "Hello World" capsule

Now that you've seen how Tock initializes and uses capsules, you're going to write a new one. At the end of this section, your capsule will sample the humidity sensor once a second and print the results as serial output. But you'll start with something simpler: printing "Hello World" to the debug console once on boot.

The imix board configuration you've looked through has a capsule for the this tutorial already set up. The capsule is a separate Rust crate located in exercises/capsule. You'll complete this exercise by filling it in.

In addition to a constructor, Our capsule has start function defined that is currently empty. The board configuration calls this function once it has initialized the capsule.

Eventually, the start method will kick off a state machine for periodic humidity readings, but for now, let's just print something to the debug console and return:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
debug!("Hello from the kernel!");
#}
$ cd [PATH_TO_BOOK]/imix
$ make program
$ tockloader listen
No device name specified. Using default "tock"                                                                         Using "/dev/ttyUSB0 - Imix IoT Module - TockOS"
Listening for serial output.
Hello from the kernel!

Extend your capsule to print "Hello World" every second

In order for your capsule to keep track of time, it will need to depend on another capsule that implements the Alarm interface. We'll have to do something similar for reading the accelerometer, so this is good practice.

The Alarm HIL includes several traits, Alarm, Client, and Frequency, all in the kernel::hil::time module. You'll use the set_alarm and now methods from the Alarm trait to set an alarm for a particular value of the clock. Note that both methods accept arguments in the alarm's native clock frequency, which is available using the Alarm trait's associated Frequency type:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
// native clock frequency in Herz
let frequency = <A::Frequency>::frequency();
#}

Your capsule already implements the alarm::Client trait so it can receive alarm events. The alarm::Client trait has a single method:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
fn fired(&self)
#}

Your capsule should now set an alarm in the start method, print the debug message and set an alarm again when the alarm fires.

Compile and program your new kernel:

$ make program
$ tockloader listen
No device name specified. Using default "tock"                                                                         Using "/dev/ttyUSB0 - Imix IoT Module - TockOS"
Listening for serial output.
TOCK_DEBUG(0): /home/alevy/hack/helena/rustconf/tock/boards/imix/src/accelerate.rs:31: Hello World
TOCK_DEBUG(0): /home/alevy/hack/helena/rustconf/tock/boards/imix/src/accelerate.rs:31: Hello World
TOCK_DEBUG(0): /home/alevy/hack/helena/rustconf/tock/boards/imix/src/accelerate.rs:31: Hello World
TOCK_DEBUG(0): /home/alevy/hack/helena/rustconf/tock/boards/imix/src/accelerate.rs:31: Hello World

Sample Solution

Extend your capsule to sample the humidity once a second

The steps for reading an accelerometer from your capsule are similar to using the alarm. You'll use a capsule that implements the humidity HIL, which includes the HumidityDriver and HumidityClient traits, both in kernel::hil::sensors.

The HumidityDriver trait includes the method read_accelerometer which initiates an accelerometer reading. The HumidityClient trait has a single method for receiving readings:


# #![allow(unused_variables)]
#fn main() {
fn callback(&self, humidity: usize);
#}

Implement logic to initiate a accelerometer reading every second and report the results.

Structure of rustconf capsule

Compile and program your kernel:

$ make program
$ tockloader listen
No device name specified. Using default "tock"                                                                         Using "/dev/ttyUSB0 - Imix IoT Module - TockOS"
Listening for serial output.
Humidity 2731
Humidity 2732

Sample solution

Some further questions and directions to explore

Your capsule used the si7021 and virtual alarm. Take a look at the code behind each of these services:

  1. Is the humidity sensor on-chip or a separate chip connected over a bus?

  2. What happens if you request two humidity sensors back-to-back?

  3. Is there a limit on how many virtual alarms can be created?

  4. How many virtual alarms does the imix boot sequence create?

Extra credit: Write a virtualization capsule for humidity sensor (∞)

If you have extra time, try writing a virtualization capsule for the Humidity HIL that will allow multiple clients to use it. This is a fairly open ended task, but you might find inspiration in the virtua_alarm and virtual_i2c capsules.