Altera SoC Embedded Design Suite - Manual (Page 189)

In general, the HWLIB assumes to be part of the system software that is executing on the Hard Processor
System (HPS) in privileged supervisor mode and in the secure state.
The anticipated HWLIB clients include:
• Bare-Metal application developers
• Custom preloader and boot loader software developers
• Board support package developers
• Diagnostic tool developers
• Software driver developers
• Debug agent developers
• Board bring-up engineers
• Other developers requiring full access to SoC FPGA hardware capabilities
Feature Description
This section provides a description of the operational features and functional capabilities present in the
HWLIB. An overview and brief description of the HWLIB architecture is also presented.
The HWLIB is a software library architecturally comprised of two major functional components:
• SoC Abstraction Layer (SoCAL)
• Hardware Manager (HW Manager)
SoC Abstraction Layer (SoCAL)
The SoC Abstraction Layer (SoCAL) presents the software API closest to the actual HPS hardware. Its
purpose is to provide a logical interface abstraction and decoupling layer to the physical devices and
registers that comprise the hardware interface of the HPS.
The SoCAL provides the benefits of:
• A logical interface abstraction to the HPS physical devices and registers including the bit-fields
comprising them.
• A loosely coupled software interface to the underlying hardware that promotes software isolation from
hardware changes in the system address map and device register bit field layouts.
Hardware Manager (HW Manager)
The Hardware Manager (HW Manager) component provides a group of functional APIs that address
more complex configuration and operational control aspects of selected HPS resources.
The HW Manager functions have the following characteristics:
• Functions employ a combination of low level device operations provided by the SoCAL executed in a
specific sequence to effect a desired operation.
• Functions may employ cross functional (such as from different IP blocks) device operations to
implement a desired effect.
• Functions may have to satisfy specific timing constraints for the application of operations and
validation of expected device responses.
• Functions provide a level of user protection and error diagnostics through parameter constraint and
validation checks.
The HW Manager functions are implemented using elemental operations provided by the SoCAL API to
implement more complex functional capabilities and services. The HW Manager functions may also be
8-2 Feature Description
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2014.12.15
Altera Corporation Hardware Library
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