genode/doc/components.txt

                      ==========================
                      Genode components overview
                      ==========================

                             Norman Feske


Abstract
########

Genode comes with a growing number of components apparently scattered across
various repositories. This document provides an overview of these components
and outlines the systematics behind them.


Categorization of components
############################

Genode components usually fall into one of four categories, namely device
drivers, resource multiplexers, protocol stacks, and applications. Each
of them is briefly characterized as follows:

:Device drivers: translate hardware resources into device-independent
  session interfaces. Naturally, a device driver is specific to a
  particular hardware platform. The hardware resources are accessed
  via core's IO_MEM, IO_PORT, and IRQ services. The functionality of
  the driver is made available to other system components by announcing
  one of Genode's device-independent session interfaces, which are
  'pci_session', 'framebuffer_session', 'input_session', 'block_session',
  'audio_out_session', 'log_session', 'nic_session', and 'timer_session'
  (see 'os/include/' for the interface definitions). Those interfaces are
  uniform across hardware platforms and kernel base platforms. Usually,
  each device driver can accommodate only one client at a time.

:Resource multiplexers: provide mechanisms to multiplex device resources
  to multiple clients. A typical resource multiplexer requests one
  of Genode's device-independent session interface (usually connected
  to a device driver) and, in turn, announces a service of the same kind.
  However, in contrast to a device driver, a resource multiplexer is able
  to serve more than one client at the same time.

:Protocol stacks: translate low-level interfaces to higher-level
  interfaces (or sometimes vice versa). Typically, a protocol stack comes
  in the form of a library, which uses a device-independent session
  interface as back end and provides a high-level library interface as
  front end. However, protocol stacks also exist in the form of
  distinct components that implement translations between different
  session interfaces.

:Applications: implement functionality using APIs as provided by
  protocol stacks.

:Runtime environments: enable existing 3rd-party software to be executed
  as a Genode sub systems.


Device drivers
##############

Device drivers usually reside in the 'src/drivers' subdirectory of source-code
repositories. The most predominant repositories hosting device drivers are
'os', 'dde_ipxe', 'dde_linux'.


Platform devices
================

:'os/src/drivers/platform/': Platform drivers for various ARM boards.

:'os/src/drivers/pci':
  Implements the PCI-session interface using the PCI controller as found on
  x86 PC hardware. Using this interface, a client can probe for a particular
  device and request information about physical device resources (using the
  'pci_device' interface). I/O resources for MMIO regions, I/O ports, and
  interrupts can be requested by the provided PCI device abstraction.

:'os/src/drivers/acpi':
  On x86 platforms that use the APIC (namely Fiasco.OC, NOVA, and hw_x86_64)
  this simple ACPI parser traverses the ACPI tables and updates interrupt line
  information of PCI devices within the PCI config space. It uses the pci_drv as
  a utility started as a child and exports its interface.


UART devices
============

The UART device drivers implement the UART-session interface.

:'os/src/drivers/uart/pl011':
  Driver for the PL011 UART as found on many ARM-based platforms.

:'os/src/drivers/uart/i8250':
  Driver for the i8250 UART as found on PC hardware.

:'os/src/drivers/uart/omap4':
  Driver for the UART as found on OMAP4-based hardware.

:'os/src/drivers/uart/exynos5':
  Driver for the UART as found on Exynos-5-based hardware.


Framebuffer and input drivers
=============================

Framebuffer and input drivers implement the framebuffer-session interface and
input-session interfaces respectively.

:'os/src/drivers/input/dummy':
  Pseudo input driver without accessing any hardware. This component is useful
  to resolve a dependency from an input session for scenarios where no user
  input is required.

:'os/src/drivers/input/fiasco_ux':
  Driver for the virtual hardware provided by the user-mode version of the
  Fiasco kernel.

:'os/src/drivers/input/ps2/x86':
  Driver for the 'i8042' PS/2 controller as found in x86 PCs. It supports both
  mouse (including ImPS/2, ExPS/2) and keyboard.

:'os/src/drivers/input/ps2/pl050':
  Driver for the PL050 PS/2 controller as found on ARM platforms such as
  VersatilePB. The physical base address used by the driver is obtained at
  compile time from a header file called 'pl050_defs.h'. The version of the
  VersatilePB platform can be found at 'os/include/platform/vpb926/' and
  is made available to the driver via the SPECS machinery of the Genode build
  system.

:'libports/src/drivers/framebuffer/vesa':
  Driver using VESA mode setting on x86 PCs. For more information, please refer
  to the README file in the driver directory.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/pl11x':
  Driver for the PL110/PL111 LCD display.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/omap4':
  Driver for HDMI output on OMAP4 SoCs.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/exynos5':
  Driver for HDMI output on Exynos-5 SoCs.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/imx53':
  Driver for LCD output on i.MX53 SoCs.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/imx53':
  Driver for touchscreen input on i.MX53 quick start board.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/rpi':
  Driver for the HDMI output of the Raspberry Pi.

:'os/src/drivers/framebuffer/sdl':
  Serves as both framebuffer and input driver on Linux using libSDL. This
  driver is only usable on the Linux base platform.

:'dde_linux/src/drivers/usb':
  USB driver that makes USB HID and USB storage devices available as input
  sessions and block session respectively. For examples of using this driver,
  refer to the run scripts at 'dde_linux/run/usb_hid' and
  'dde_linux/run/usb_storage'.


Timer drivers
=============

The timer driver located at 'os/src/drivers/timer' implements the timer-session
interface. Technically, it is is both a device driver (accessing a timer
device) and a resource multiplexer (supporting multiple timer-session clients
at the same time). Depending on the base platform, the implementation uses of
different time sources. Time sources are either hardware timers, a time source
provided by the kernel, or a pseudo time source (busy):

:'nova':      NOVA kernel semaphores as time source
:'codezero':  busy time source
:'okl4_x86':  PIT as time source
:'foc':       IPC timeout as time source
:'fiasco':    IPC timeout as time source
:'pistachio': IPC timeout as time source
:'linux':     nanosleep as time source


Audio output drivers
====================

All audio-output drivers implement the audio session interface defined at
'os/include/audio_out_session/'.

:'os/src/drivers/audio_out/linux':
  Uses ALSA as back-end on the Linux base platform.

:'dde_bsd/src/drivers/audio_out':
  Sound drivers ported from OpenBSD. Currently, the repository
  includes support for Intel HD Audio as well as for Ensoniq AudioPCI
  (ES1370) compatible sound cards.


Block drivers
=============

All block drivers implement the block-session interface defined at
'os/include/block_session/'.

:'os/src/drivers/sd_card/pl180':
  Driver for SD-cards connected via the PL180 device as found on the PBX-A9
  platform.

:'os/src/drivers/sd_card/omap4':
  Driver for SD-cards connected to the SD-card controller of the OMAP4 SoC.

:'os/src/drivers/sd_card/exynos5':
  Driver for SD-cards and eMMC connected to Exynos-5-based platforms.

:'os/src/drivers/sd_card/imx53':
  Driver for SD-cards connected to the Freescale i.MX53 platform like the
  Quick Start Board or the USB armory device.

:'os/src/drivers/sd_card/rpi':
  Driver for SD-cards connected to the Raspberry Pi.

:'dde_linux/src/drivers/usb':
  USB driver that makes USB storage devices available as block sessions.
  For an example of using this driver, refer to the run script at
  'dde_linux/run/usb_storage'.

:'os/src/drivers/ahci':
  Driver for SATA disks and CD-ROMs on x86 PCs.


Network interface drivers
=========================

All network interface drivers implement the NIC session interface
defined at 'os/include/nic_session'.

:'os/src/drivers/nic/linux':
  Driver that uses a Linux tap device as back end. It is only useful on the
  Linux base platform.

:'os/src/drivers/nic/lan9118':
  Native device driver for the LAN9118 network adaptor as featured on the
  PBX-A9 platform.

:'dde_ipxe/src/drivers/nic':
  Device drivers ported from the iPXE project. Supported devices are Intel
  E1000 and pcnet32.

:'dde_linux/src/drivers/wifi':
  The wifi_drv component is a port of the Linux mac802.11 stack, including the
  iwlwifi driver. It enables the use of Intel Wireless 6xxx and 7xxx cards.

:'dde_linux/src/drivers/usb':
  For the OMAP4 platform, the USB driver contains the networking driver.


General-purpose I/O drivers
===========================

:'os/src/drivers/gpio/omap4':
  Driver for accessing the GPIO pins of OMAP4 platforms.

:'os/src/drivers/gpio/imx53':
  Driver for accessing the GPIO pins of i.MX53 platforms.


Resource multiplexers
#####################

By convention, resource multiplexers are located at the 'src/server'
subdirectory of a source repository.

:Framebuffer and input: The framebuffer and input session interfaces can be
  multiplexed using the Nitpicker GUI server, which allows multiple clients to
  create and manage rectangular areas on screen. Nitpicker uses one input
  session and one framebuffer session as back end and, in turn, provides
  so-called nitpicker sessions to one or multiple clients. Each nitpicker
  session contains a virtual framebuffer and a virtual input session. Nitpicker
  (including a README file) is located at 'os/src/server/nitpicker'.

:Audio output: The audio mixer located at 'os/src/server/mixer' enables
  multiple clients to use the audio-out interface. The mixing is done by simply
  adding and clamping the signals of all present clients.

:Networking: The NIC bridge located at 'os/src/server/nic_bridge' multiplexes
  one NIC session to multiple virtual NIC sessions using a proxy-ARP
  implementation. Each client has to obtain a dedicated IP address visible to
  the physical network. DHCP requests originating from the virtual NIC sessions
  are delegated to the physical network.

:Block: The block-device partition server at 'os/src/server/part_blk' reads
  the partition table of a block session and exports each partition found as
  separate block session. For using this server, please refer to the run
  script at 'os/run/part_blk'.

:File system: The FFAT file-system service allows multiple clients to
  concurrently access the same FFAT-formatted block device. It is located
  at 'libports/src/server/ffat_fs'.

:Terminal: The terminal_mux service located at gems/src/server/terminal_mux
  is able to provide multiple terminal sessions over one terminal-client
  session. The user can switch between the different sessions using a keyboard
  shortcut, which brings up an ncurses-based menu.


Protocol stacks
###############

Protocol stacks come either in the form of separate components that translate
one session interface to another, or in the form of libraries.

Separate components:

:'os/src/server/nit_fb':
  Translates a nitpicker session to a pair of framebuffer and input sessions.
  Each 'nit_fb' instance is visible as a rectangular area on screen presenting
  a virtual frame buffer. The area is statically positioned. For more
  information, please refer to 'os/src/server/nit_fb/README'.

:'gems/src/server/wm':
  Window manager that implements the nitpicker session interface but manages
  each client view as a separate window. The window decorations are provided
  by a so-called decorator (e.g., 'gems/src/app/decorator'). The behaviour
  is defined by a so-called window layouter such as the floating window
  layouter located at 'gems/src/app/floating_window_layouter/'.

:'demo/src/server/liquid_framebuffer':
  Implements the same translation as 'nit_fb' but by presenting an interactive
  window rather than a statically positioned screen area.

:'os/src/server/tar_rom':
  Provides each file contained in a tar file obtained via Genode's ROM session
  as separate ROM session.

:'os/src/server/iso9660':
  Provides each file of an ISO9660 file system accessed via a block session as
  separate ROM session.

:'os/src/server/ram_fs':
  A file-system implementation that keeps all data in memory.

:'os/src/server/tar_fs':
  A read-only file-system implementation that reads data from a TAR archive,
  which, in turn, is provided by a ROM service.

:'dde_rump/src/server/rump_fs':
  A file-system server that contains various file-systems ported from the
  NetBSD kernel.

:'os/src/server/lx_fs':
  A file system server that makes the file system of a Linux base platform
  available to Genode.

:'os/src/server/trace_fs':
  A pseudo file system that can be used as a front end to core's TRACE
  service.

:'os/src/server/rom_blk':
  Provides the content of a ROM file as a block session, similar to the
  loop-mount mechanism on Linux

:'os/src/server/ram_blk':
  Provides the content of a RAM dataspace as a block session. In contrast
  to 'rom_blk', this server provides a writeable block device.

:'os/src/server/terminal_log':
  Adapter for forwarding LOG messages to a terminal session.

:'os/src/server/log_terminal':
  Adapter for forwarding terminal output to a LOG session.

:'libports/src/server/fs_log':
  Adapter that writes LOG messages to files on a file system.

:'demo/src/server/nitlog':
  Provides a LOG session, printing log output on screen via a nitpicker
  session.

:'os/src/server/log_terminal':
  Forwards terminal output to a LOG session.

:'gems/src/server/file_terminal':
  Provides terminal sessions that target files on a file system.

:'gems/src/server/terminal':
  Provides a terminal session via a graphical terminal using a framebuffer
  session and an input session.

:'gems/src/server/tcp_terminal':
  Provides one or multiple terminal sessions over TCP connections.
  For further information, refer to 'gems/src/server/tcp_terminal/README'.

:'os/src/server/terminal_crosslink':
  The terminal crosslink service allows to terminal clients to talk to each
  other.

:'gems/src/server/http_blk':
  A block service that fetches a virtual block device over the network from
  a HTTP server.

:'os/src/server/fs_rom':
  A ROM service that translates the 'File_system' session interface to the
  'ROM' session' interface. Each request for a ROM file is handled by looking
  up an equally named file on the file system.
  Please refer to 'os/src/server/fs_rom' for more information.

:'os/src/server/dynamic_rom':
  A simple ROM service that provides ROM modules that change in time according
  to a configured timeline.

:'os/src/server/report_rom':
  A service that implements both the report session interface and the ROM
  session interface. It reflects incoming reports as ROM modules.

:'ports/src/app/openvpn':
  OpenVPN enables access to remote network resources through a secure tunnel
  by providing an encrypted connection to a remote host. It is plugged between
  NIC server (such as a network driver) and NIC client.

:'os/src/server/input_merger':
  A component that merges input events from multiple sources into a single
  stream.

:'gems/src/server/nit_fader':
  A wrapper for nitpicker's session interface that applies alpha-blending to
  the of views a nitpicker client.

Libraries:

:'libports/lib/mk/libc':
  C runtime ported from FreeBSD.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_log':
  Redirects the standard output of the libc to Genode's LOG session interface.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_lwip_nic_dhcp':
  Translates the BSD socket API to a NIC session using the lwIP stack.

:'dde_linux/lib/mk/libc_lxip':
  Translates the BSD socket API to a NIC session using the Linux TCP/IP stack.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_ffat':
  Accesses files on a block device that contains a FAT32 file system.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_fuse_exfat':
  Accesses files on a block device that contains an exFAT file system.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_fuse_ext2':
  Accesses files on a block device that contains an ext2 file system.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_fs':
  Allows libc-using programs to access the Genode file-system infrastructure
  using the POSIX file API.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_block':
  Accesses a block session as a virtual block device.

:'libports/lib/mk/libc_terminal':
  Connects the standard input and output from/to Genode's terminal session
  interface.

:'libports/lib/mk/stdcxx':
  Standard C++ library

:'libports/lib/mk/gallium':
  Translates the OpenGL API to a framebuffer session using the MESA OpenGL
  stack

:'libports/lib/mk/pthread':
  Subset of the POSIX thread and semaphore API.

:'libports/lib/mk/python':
  Runtime of the Python scripting language.

:'libports/lib/mk/mupdf':
  PDF rendering engine.

:'libports/lib/mk/sdl':
  Translates the libSDL API to framebuffer and input sessions.

:'libports/lib/mk/ncurses':
  Library for implementing pseudo-graphical applications (i.e., VIM) that
  run on a text terminal.

:'libports/lib/mk/avcodec':
  A library for video decoding, conversion, and streaming.

:'libports/lib/mk/lua':
  Runtime for the Lua scripting language.

:'libports/lib/mk/qt5_*':
  Qt5 framework, using nitpicker session and NIC session as back end.

:'libports/lib/mk/vfs_jitterentropy.mk':
  A VFS plugin that makes a jitter-based random-number generator available
  as a file within the process-local VFS.


Applications
############

Applications are Genode components that use other component's services but
usually do not provide services. They are typically located in the 'src/app/'
subdirectory of a repository. Most applications come with README files
located in their respective directory.

:'gems/src/app/backdrop':
  Nitpicker client application that sets a composition of PNG images as
  desktop background.

:'demo/src/app/launchpad':
  Graphical application for interactively starting and killing subsystems.

:'gems/app/launcher': Graphical launcher of Genode subsystems.

:'os/app/cli_monitor': Command-line-based launcher of Genode subsystems.

:'demo/src/app/scout':
  Graphical hypertext browser used for Genode's default demonstration scenario.

:'libports/src/app/eglgears':
  Example program for using OpenGL via the Gallium3D graphics stack.

:'ports/src/app/arora':
  Arora is a Qt-based web browser using the Webkit engine.

:'ports/src/app/gdb_monitor':
  Application that allows the debugging of a process via GDB over a remote
  connection.

:'libports/src/app/qt5/qt_launchpad':
  Graphical application starter implemented using Qt.

:'libports/src/app/qt5/examples/':
  Several example applications that come with Qt.

:'os/src/app/xvfb':
  Is a proxy application that enables the integration of a virtual X server
  into a Nitpicker session on the Linux base platform.

:'ports/src/noux-pkg':
  Ports of popular commandline-based Unix software such as VIM, bash,
  coreutils, binutils, gcc, findutils, and netcat. The programs are supposed
  to be executed within the Noux runtime environment.

:'ports/src/app/lighttpd':
  Lighttpd is a fast and feature-rich web server. The port of lighttpd uses
  a file-system session to access the website content and the web-server
  configuration.


Runtime environments
####################

:'ports/src/noux': Noux is an experimental implementation of a UNIX-like API
  that enables the use of unmodified command-line based GNU software. For using
  noux, refer to the run script 'ports/run/noux.run'.

:'ports-foc/src/l4linux': L4Linux is a paravirtualized Linux kernel that
  enables the use of Linux-based OSes as subsystems on the Fiasco.OC kernel.
  For using L4Linux, refer to the run script 'ports-foc/run/l4linux.run'.

:'ports-foc/src/l4android': L4Android is a variant of L4Linux that is able
  to execute the Android software stack on top of the Fiasco.OC kernel.

:'ports/src/app/seoul': Seoul is a virtual-machine monitor developed for
  the use with the NOVA platform. It virtualizes 32bit x86 PC hardware
  including various peripherals.

:'os/src/server/loader': A service that allows the creation and destruction
  of Genode subsystems via a session interface. For further information,
  refer to 'os/src/server/loader/README'.

:'ports/src/app/dosbox': A port of DosBox for executing DOS software.

:'ports/src/virtualbox': VirtualBox running on top of the NOVA hypervisor.