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1 /*
2  * Copyright (C) 2016 The Android Open Source Project
3  *
4  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6  * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7  *
8  *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9  *
10  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14  * limitations under the License.
15  */
16 
17 #ifndef _CHRE_H_
18 #define _CHRE_H_
19 
20 /**
21  * @file
22  * This header file includes all the headers which combine to fully define the
23  * interface for the Context Hub Runtime Environment (CHRE).  This interface is
24  * of interest to both implementers of CHREs and authors of nanoapps.  The API
25  * documentation attempts to address concerns of both.
26  *
27  * See individual header files for API details, and general comments below
28  * for overall platform information.
29  */
30 
31 #include <chre/common.h>
32 #include <chre/event.h>
33 #include <chre/gnss.h>
34 #include <chre/nanoapp.h>
35 #include <chre/re.h>
36 #include <chre/sensor.h>
37 #include <chre/version.h>
38 #include <chre/wifi.h>
39 #include <chre/wwan.h>
40 
41 /**
42  * @mainpage
43  * CHRE is the Context Hub Runtime Environment.  CHRE is used in Android to run
44  * contextual applications, called nanoapps, in a low-power processing domain
45  * other than the applications processor that runs Android itself.  The CHRE
46  * API, documented herein, is the common interface exposed to nanoapps for any
47  * compatible CHRE implementation.  The CHRE API provides the ability for
48  * creating nanoapps that are code-compatible across different CHRE
49  * implementations and underlying platforms. Refer to the following sections for
50  * a discussion on some important details of CHRE that aren't explicitly exposed
51  * in the API itself.
52  *
53  * @section entry_points Entry points
54  *
55  * The following entry points are used to bind a nanoapp to the CHRE system, and
56  * all three must be implemented by any nanoapp (see chre/nanoapp.h):
57  * - nanoappStart: initialization
58  * - nanoappHandleEvent: hook for event-driven processing
59  * - nanoappEnd: graceful teardown
60  *
61  * The CHRE implementation must also ensure that it performs these functions
62  * prior to invoking nanoappStart, or after nanoappEnd returns:
63  * - bss section zeroed out (prior to nanoappStart)
64  * - static variables initialized (prior to nanoappStart)
65  * - global C++ constructors called (prior to nanoappStart)
66  * - global C++ destructors called (after nanoappEnd)
67  *
68  * @section threading Threading model
69  *
70  * A CHRE implementation is free to choose among many different
71  * threading models, including a single-threaded system or a multi-threaded
72  * system with preemption.  The current platform definition is agnostic to this
73  * underlying choice.  However, the CHRE implementation must ensure that time
74  * spent executing within a nanoapp does not significantly degrade or otherwise
75  * interfere with other functions of the system in which CHRE is implemented,
76  * especially latency-sensitive tasks such as sensor event delivery to the AP.
77  * In other words, it must ensure that these functions can either occur in
78  * parallel or preempt a nanoapp's execution.  The current version of the API
79  * does not specify whether the implementation allows for CPU sharing between
80  * nanoapps on a more granular level than the handling of individual events [1].
81  * In any case, event ordering from the perspective of an individual nanoapp
82  * must be FIFO, but the CHRE implementation may choose to violate total
83  * ordering of events across all nanoapps to achieve more fair resource sharing,
84  * but this is not required.
85  *
86  * This version of the CHRE API does require that all nanoapps are treated as
87  * non-reentrant, meaning that only one instance of program flow can be inside
88  * an individual nanoapp at any given time.  That is, any of the functions of
89  * the nanoapp, including the entry points and all other callbacks, cannot be
90  * invoked if a previous invocation to the same or any other function in the
91  * nanoapp has not completed yet.
92  *
93  * For example, if a nanoapp is currently in nanoappHandleEvent(), the CHRE is
94  * not allowed to call nanoappHandleEvent() again, or to call a memory freeing
95  * callback.  Similarly, if a nanoapp is currently in a memory freeing
96  * callback, the CHRE is not allowed to call nanoappHandleEvent(), or invoke
97  * another memory freeing callback.
98  *
99  * There are two exceptions to this rule: If an invocation of chreSendEvent()
100  * fails (returns 'false'), it is allowed to immediately invoke the memory
101  * freeing callback passed into that function.  This is a rare case, and one
102  * where otherwise a CHRE implementation is likely to leak memory. Similarly,
103  * chreSendMessageToHost() is allowed to invoke the memory freeing callback
104  * directly, whether it returns 'true' or 'false'.  This is because the CHRE
105  * implementation may copy the message data to its own buffer, and therefore
106  * wouldn't need the nanoapp-supplied buffer after chreSendMessageToHost()
107  * returns.
108  *
109  * For a nanoapp author, this means no thought needs to be given to
110  * synchronization issues with global objects, as they will, by definition,
111  * only be accessed by a single thread at once.
112  *
113  * [1]: Note to CHRE implementers: A future version of the CHRE platform may
114  * require multi-threading with preemption.  This is mentioned as a heads up,
115  * and to allow implementors deciding between implementation approaches to
116  * make the most informed choice.
117  *
118  * @section timing Timing
119  *
120  * Nanoapps should expect to be running on a highly constrained system, with
121  * little memory and little CPU.  Any single nanoapp should expect to
122  * be one of several nanoapps on the system, which also share the CPU with the
123  * CHRE and possibly other services as well.
124  *
125  * Thus, a nanoapp needs to be efficient in its memory and CPU usage.
126  * Also, as noted in the Threading Model section, a CHRE implementation may
127  * be single threaded.  As a result, all methods invoked in a nanoapp
128  * (like nanoappStart, nanoappHandleEvent, memory free callbacks, etc.)
129  * must run "quickly".  "Quickly" is difficult to define, as there is a
130  * diversity of Context Hub hardware.  Nanoapp authors are strongly recommended
131  * to limit their application to consuming no more than 1 second of CPU time
132  * prior to returning control to the CHRE implementation.  A CHRE implementation
133  * may consider a nanoapp as unresponsive if it spends more time than this to
134  * process a single event, and take corrective action.
135  *
136  * A nanoapp may have the need to occasionally perform a large block of
137  * calculations that exceeds the 1 second guidance.  The recommended approach in
138  * this case is to split up the large block of calculations into smaller
139  * batches.  In one call into the nanoapp, the nanoapp can perform the first
140  * batch, and then set a timer or send an event (chreSendEvent()) to itself
141  * indicating which batch should be done next. This will allow the nanoapp to
142  * perform the entire calculation over time, without monopolizing system
143  * resources.
144  *
145  * @section floats Floating point support
146  *
147  * The C type 'float' is used in this API, and thus a CHRE implementation
148  * is required to support 'float's.
149  *
150  * Support of the C types 'double' and 'long double' is optional for a
151  * CHRE implementation.  Note that if a CHRE decides to support them, unlike
152  * 'float' support, there is no requirement that this support is particularly
153  * efficient.  So nanoapp authors should be aware this may be inefficient.
154  *
155  * If a CHRE implementation choses not to support 'double' or
156  * 'long double', then the build toolchain setup provided needs to set
157  * the preprocessor define CHRE_NO_DOUBLE_SUPPORT.
158  *
159  * @section compat CHRE and Nanoapp compatibility
160  *
161  * CHRE implementations must make affordances to maintain binary compatibility
162  * across minor revisions of the API version (e.g. v1.1 to v1.2).  This applies
163  * to both running a nanoapp compiled for a newer version of the API on a CHRE
164  * implementation built against an older version (backwards compatibility), and
165  * vice versa (forwards compatibility).  API changes that are acceptable in
166  * minor version changes that may require special measures to ensure binary
167  * compatibility include: addition of new functions; addition of arguments to
168  * existing functions when the default value used for nanoapps compiled against
169  * the old version is well-defined and does not affect existing functionality;
170  * and addition of fields to existing structures, even when this induces a
171  * binary layout change (this should be made rare via judicious use of reserved
172  * fields).  API changes that must only occur alongside a major version change
173  * and are therefore not compatible include: removal of any function, argument,
174  * field in a data structure, or mandatory functional behavior that a nanoapp
175  * may depend on; any change in the interpretation of an existing data structure
176  * field that alters the way it was defined previously (changing the units of a
177  * field would fall under this, but appropriating a previously reserved field
178  * for some new functionality would not); and any change in functionality or
179  * expected behavior that conflicts with the previous definition.
180  *
181  * Note that the CHRE API only specifies the software interface between a
182  * nanoapp and the CHRE system - the binary interface (ABI) between nanoapp and
183  * CHRE is necessarily implementation-dependent.  Therefore, the recommended
184  * approach to accomplish binary compatibility is to build a Nanoapp Support
185  * Library (NSL) that is specific to the CHRE implementation into the nanoapp
186  * binary, and use it to handle ABI details in a way that ensures compatibility.
187  * In addition, to accomplish forwards compatibility, the CHRE implementation is
188  * expected to recognize the CHRE API version that a nanoapp is targeting and
189  * engage compatibility behaviors where necessary.
190  *
191  * By definition, major API version changes (e.g. v1.1 to v2.0) break
192  * compatibility.  Therefore, a CHRE implementation must not attempt to load a
193  * nanoapp that is targeting a newer major API version.
194  */
195 
196 #endif  /* _CHRE_H_ */
197 
198