WFE、SEV 与 WFI 的作用与工作原理

• SEV

SEV causes an event to be signaled to all cores within a multiprocessor system. If SEV is implemented, WFE must also be implemented.

SEV 指令可以产生事件信号，发送给全部的 cpu，让他们唤醒。如果 SEV 实现了，那么 WFE 也必须被实现。

这里的事件信号其实会表现为 Event register，这是个一 bit 的 register，如果有事件，那么此 bit 为真。

• WFE

If the Event Register is not set, WFE suspends execution until one of the following events
occurs:
• an IRQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR I-bit
• an FIQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR F-bit
• an Imprecise Data abort, unless masked by the CPSR A-bit
• a Debug Entry request, if Debug is enabled
• an Event signaled by another processor using the SEV instruction.
If the Event Register is set, WFE clears it and returns immediately.

If WFE is implemented, SEV must also be implemented.

 

对于 WFE，如果 Event Register 没有设置，WFE 会让 cpu 进入 low-power state，直到下面列举的五个 events 产生，比如说中断等等都会唤醒当前因为 WFE 而 suspend 的cpu。

如果 Event Register 被设置了，那么 WFE 会直接返回，不让 cpu 进入low-power state，目的是因为既然有事件产生了，说明当前 cpu 需要干活，不能 suspend，所以才这样设计。

• WFI

WFI suspends execution until one of the following events occurs:
• an IRQ interrupt, regardless of the CPSR I-bit
• an Imprecise Data abort, unless masked by the CPSR A-bit

• a Debug Entry request, regardless of whether Debug is enabled.
• an FIQ interrupt, regardless of the CPSR F-bit

而对于 WFI 这种，不会判断 Event register，暴力的直接让 cpu 进入 low-power state，直到有上述四个 events 产生才会唤醒 cpu。

注意，这里 WFE 比 WFI 多了一个唤醒特性：

an Event signaled by another processor using the SEV instruction.

也就是说 SEV 是不会唤醒 WFI 指令休眠的 cpu 的。

 

• The Event Register

The Event Register is a single bit register for each processor. When set, an event register indicates that an event has occurred, since the register was last cleared, that might require some action by the processor. Therefore, the processor must not suspend operation on issuing a WFE instruction.
The reset value of the Event Register is UNKNOWN.
The Event Register is set by:
• an SEV instruction
• an event sent by some IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED mechanism
• a debug event that causes entry into Debug state
• an exception return.
As shown in this list, the Event Register might be set by IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED mechanisms.

Software cannot read or write the value of the Event Register directly.

The Event Register is cleared only by a Wait For Event instruction.

 

Event Register 只有一个 bit，可以被 set 的情况总有四种大类型。当任意一个条件满足的时候，Event Register 都可以被 set，那么当 WFE 进入的时候会进行 Event Register 的判断，如果为真，就直接返回

 

WFE 的介绍：

Wait For Event is a hint instruction that permits the processor to enter a low-power state until one of a number of events occurs, including events signaled by executing the SEV instruction on any processor in the multiprocessor system. For more information, see Wait For Event and Send Event on page B1-1197.

In an implementation that includes the Virtualization Extensions, if HCR.TWE is set to 1, execution of a WFE instruction in a Non-secure mode other than Hyp mode generates a Hyp Trap exception if, ignoring the value of the HCR.TWE bit, conditions permit the processor to suspend execution. For more information see Trapping use of the WFI and WFE instructions on page B1-1249.

接下来上 WFE 这条指令的伪代码流程：

1. Assembler syntax
2. WFE{<c>}{<q>}
3. where:
4. <c>, <q> See Standard assembler syntax fields on page A8-
5. Operation
6. if ConditionPassed() then
7. EncodingSpecificOperations();
8. if EventRegistered() then
9. ClearEventRegister();
10. else
11. if HaveVirtExt() && !IsSecure() && !CurrentModeIsHyp() && HCR.TWE == '1' then
12. HSRString = Zeros(25);
13. HSRString<0> = '1';
14. WriteHSR('000001', HSRString);
15. TakeHypTrapException();
16. else
17. WaitForEvent();
18. Exceptions
19. Hyp Trap.

看了上面这段 WFE 的伪代码，一目了然，首先判断 ConditionPassed()，这些函数大家可以在 arm 手册中查看其详细含义，如果 EventResigerted() 函数为真，也就是这个 1 bit 的寄存器为真，那么就清除此 bit，然后退出返回，不会让 cpu 进入 low power state；

如果不是异常处理，TakeHypTrapException()，那么就 WaitForEvent()，等待唤醒事件到来，到来了，就唤醒当前 cpu。

为什么有事件来了就直接返回呢，因为 WFE 的设计认为，如果此时有 event 事件，那么说明当前 cpu 要干活，那就没必要进入 low power state 模式。

如果没有事件产生，那么就可以进入 low power state 模式，因为 cpu 反正也是在等待锁，此时也干不了别的事情，还不如休眠还可以降低功耗。

当然，irq，fiq 等很多中断都可以让 WFE 休眠的 cpu 唤醒，那么这样做还有什么意义呢？比如说时钟中断是一直产生的，那么 cpu 很快就醒了啊，都不用等到发 SEV，那么既然是用 spin_lock，也可以在中断上半部使用，也可以在进程上下文，既然是自旋锁，就意味着保护的这段代码是要足够精简，不希望被其他东西打断，那么如果你保护的这部分代码非常长，这时候整个系统响应很可能会变慢，因为如果这时候有人也要使用这个锁的话，那么是否保护的这段代码设计上是有问题的。因此用 spin_lock 保护的函数尽可能要短，如果长的话可能需要换其他锁，或者考虑下是否真的要这么长的保护措施。

 

TakeHypTrapException()，是进入异常处理

1. Pseudocode description of taking the Hyp Trap exception
2. The TakeHypTrapException() pseudocode procedure describes how the processor takes the exception:
3. // TakeHypTrapException()
4. // ======================
5. TakeHypTrapException()
6. // HypTrapException is caused by executing an instruction that is trapped to Hyp mode as a
7. // result of a trap set by a bit in the HCR, HCPTR, HSTR or HDCR. By definition, it can only
8. // be generated in a Non-secure mode other than Hyp mode.
9. // Note that, when a Supervisor Call exception is taken to Hyp mode because HCR.TGE==1, this
10. // is not a trap of the SVC instruction. See the TakeSVCException() pseudocode for this case.
11. preferred_exceptn_return = if CPSR.T == '1' then PC-4 else PC-8;
12. new_spsr_value = CPSR;
13. EnterHypMode(new_spsr_value, preferred_exceptn_return, 20);
14. Additional pseudocode functions for exception handling on page B1-1221 defines the EnterHypMode() pseudocode
15. procedure.

ClearEventRegister()

Clear the Event Register of the current processor 清除Event Register的bit

EventRegistered()

Determine whether the Event Register of the current processor is set Event Register bit为真，即被设置过

WaitForEvent()

Wait until WFE instruction completes

等待 Events 事件，有任何一个 Event 事件来临，都会唤醒当前被 WFE suspend 下去的 cpu， 如果是 SEV，会唤醒全部被 WFE suspend 下去的cpu。

如下是关于 WFE 的 wake up events 事件描述和列举：

• WFE wake-up events

The following events are WFE wake-up events:
• the execution of an SEV instruction on any processor in the multiprocessor system
• a physical asynchronous abort, unless masked by the CPSR.A bit
— when HCR.IMO is set to 1, a virtual IRQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR.I bit
— when HCR.FMO is set to 1, a virtual FIQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR.F bit
• an asynchronous debug event, if invasive debug is enabled and the debug event is permitted
• an event sent by some IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED mechanism.
• a physical IRQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR.I bit
• a physical FIQ interrupt, unless masked by the CPSR.F bit
— when HCR.AMO is set to 1, a virtual asynchronous abort, unless masked by the CPSR.A bit
• in Non-secure state in any mode other than Hyp mode:
• an event sent by the timer event stream, see Event streams on page B8-1934
In addition to the possible masking of WFE wake-up events shown in this list, when invasive debug is enabled and DBGDSCR[15:14] is not set to 0b00, DBGDSCR.INTdis can mask interrupts, including masking them acting as WFE wake-up events. For more information, see DBGDSCR, Debug Status and Control Register on page C11-2206.

NoteFor more information about CPSR masking see Asynchronous exception masking on page B1-1181. If the configuration of the masking controls provided by the Security Extensions, or Virtualization Extensions, mean that a CPSR mask bit cannot mask the corresponding exception, then the physical exception is a WFE wake-up event, regardless of the value of the CPSR mask bit.

As shown in the list of wake-up events, an implementation can include IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED hardware mechanisms to generate wake-up events.

 

WFI 的伪代码：

1. Assembler syntax
2. WFI{<c>}{<q>}
3. where:
4. <c>, <q> See Standard assembler syntax fields on page A8-
5. Operation
6. if ConditionPassed() then
7. EncodingSpecificOperations();
8. if HaveVirtExt() && !IsSecure() && !CurrentModeIsHyp() && HCR.TWI == '1' then
9. HSRString = Zeros(25);
10. HSRString<0> = '1';
11. WriteHSR('000001', HSRString);
12. TakeHypTrapException();
13. else
14. WaitForInterrupt();
15. Exceptions
16. Hyp Trap.

相关解释：

WFI
Wait For Interrupt is a hint instruction that permits the processor to enter a low-power state until one of a number of asynchronous events occurs. For more information, see Wait For Interrupt on page B1-1200.

In an implementation that includes the Virtualization Extensions, if HCR.TWI is set to 1, execution of a WFE instruction in a Non-secure mode other than Hyp mode generates a Hyp Trap exception if, ignoring the value of the HCR.TWI bit, conditions permit the processor to suspend execution. For more information see Trapping use of the WFI and WFE instructions on page B1-1249.

以上可以看出，WFI 并没有去判断 event register，因此看伪代码可以很直观的看出 WFI 与 WFE 的区别。