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-rw-r--r--book/en/src/SUMMARY.md1
-rw-r--r--book/en/src/by-example/starting_a_project.md5
-rw-r--r--book/en/src/internals/targets.md71
3 files changed, 76 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/book/en/src/SUMMARY.md b/book/en/src/SUMMARY.md
index 045036ea..853f3a53 100644
--- a/book/en/src/SUMMARY.md
+++ b/book/en/src/SUMMARY.md
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
- [v0.4.x to v0.5.x](./migration/migration_v4.md)
- [RTFM to RTIC](./migration/migration_rtic.md)
- [Under the hood](./internals.md)
+ - [Cortex-M architectures](./internals/targets.md)
<!--- [Interrupt configuration](./internals/interrupt-configuration.md)-->
<!--- [Non-reentrancy](./internals/non-reentrancy.md)-->
<!--- [Access control](./internals/access.md)-->
diff --git a/book/en/src/by-example/starting_a_project.md b/book/en/src/by-example/starting_a_project.md
index c916479a..ccb0083c 100644
--- a/book/en/src/by-example/starting_a_project.md
+++ b/book/en/src/by-example/starting_a_project.md
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
# Starting a new project
-A recommendation when starting a RTIC project from scratch is to follow RTIC's [`defmt-app-template`].
+A recommendation when starting a RTIC project from scratch is to
+follow RTIC's [`defmt-app-template`].
+
+If you are targeting ARMv6-M or ARMv8-M-base architecture, check out the section [Target Architecture](../internals/targets.md) for more information on hardware limitations to be aware of.
[`defmt-app-template`]: https://github.com/rtic-rs/defmt-app-template
diff --git a/book/en/src/internals/targets.md b/book/en/src/internals/targets.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dfb68dea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/book/en/src/internals/targets.md
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# Target Architecture
+
+While RTIC can currently target all Cortex-m devices there are some key architecure differences that
+users should be aware of. Namely the absence of Base Priority Mask Register (`BASEPRI`) which lends
+itself exceptionally well to the hardware priority ceiling support used in RTIC, in the ARMv6-M and
+ARMv8-M-base architectures, which forces RTIC to use source masking instead. For each implementation
+of lock and a detailed commentary of pros and cons, see the implementation of
+[lock in src/export.rs][src_export].
+
+[src_export]: https://github.com/rtic-rs/cortex-m-rtic/blob/master/src/export.rs
+
+These differences influence how critical sections are realized, but functionality should be the same
+except that ARMv6-M/ARMv8-M-base cannot have tasks with shared resources bound to exception
+handlers, as these cannot be masked in hardware.
+
+Table 1 below shows a list of Cortex-m processors and which type of critical section they employ.
+
+#### *Table 1: Critical Section Implementation by Processor Architecture*
+
+| Processor | Architecture | Priority Ceiling | Source Masking |
+| :--------- | :----------: | :--------------: | :------------: |
+| Cortex-M0 | ARMv6-M | | &#2713 |
+| Cortex-M0+ | ARMv6-M | | &#2713 |
+| Cortex-M3 | ARMv7-M | &#2713 | |
+| Cortex-M4 | ARMv7-M | &#2713 | |
+| Cortex-M7 | ARMv7-M | &#2713 | |
+| Cortex-M23 | ARMv8-M-base | | &#2713 |
+| Cortex-M33 | ARMv8-M-main | &#2713 | |
+
+## Priority Ceiling
+
+This implementation is covered in depth by the [Critical Sections][critical_sections] page of this book.
+
+## Source Masking
+
+Without a `BASEPRI` register which allows for directly setting a priority ceiling in the Nested
+Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC), RTIC must instead rely on disabling (masking) interrupts.
+Consider Figure 1 below, showing two tasks A and B where A has higher priority but shares a resource
+with B.
+
+#### *Figure 1: Shared Resources and Source Masking*
+
+```text
+ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+ │ │
+ │ │
+3 │ Pending Preempts │
+2 │ ↑- - -A- - - - -↓A─────────► │
+1 │ B───────────────────► - - - - B────────► │
+0 │Idle┌─────► Resumes ┌────────► │
+ ├────┴────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────┤
+ │ │
+ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──► Time
+ t1 t2 t3 t4
+```
+
+At time *t1*, task B locks the shared resource by selectively disabling (using the NVIC) all other
+tasks which have a priority equal to or less than any task which shares resouces with B. In effect
+this creates a virtual priority ceiling, miroring the `BASEPRI` approach described in the
+[Critical Sections][critical_Sections] page. Task A is one such task that shares resources with
+task B. At time *t2*, task A is either spawned by task B or becomes pending through an interrupt
+condition, but does not yet preempt task B even though its priority is greater. This is because the
+NVIC is preventing it from starting due to task A being being disabled. At time *t3*, task B
+releases the lock by re-enabling the tasks in the NVIC. Because task A was pending and has a higher
+priority than task B, it immediately preempts task B and is free to use the shared resource without
+risk of data race conditions. At time *t4*, task A completes and returns the execution context to B.
+
+Since source masking relies on use of the NVIC, core exception sources such as HardFault, SVCall,
+PendSV, and SysTick cannot share data with other tasks.
+
+[critical_sections]: https://github.com/rtic-rs/cortex-m-rtic/blob/master/book/en/src/internals/critical-sections.md