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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/audio.h>
32 #include <chre/common.h>
33 #include <chre/event.h>
34 #include <chre/gnss.h>
35 #include <chre/nanoapp.h>
36 #include <chre/re.h>
37 #include <chre/sensor.h>
38 #include <chre/toolchain.h>
39 #include <chre/user_settings.h>
40 #include <chre/version.h>
41 #include <chre/wifi.h>
42 #include <chre/wwan.h>
43 
44 /**
45  * @mainpage
46  * CHRE is the Context Hub Runtime Environment.  CHRE is used in Android to run
47  * contextual applications, called nanoapps, in a low-power processing domain
48  * other than the applications processor that runs Android itself.  The CHRE
49  * API, documented herein, is the common interface exposed to nanoapps for any
50  * compatible CHRE implementation.  The CHRE API provides the ability for
51  * creating nanoapps that are code-compatible across different CHRE
52  * implementations and underlying platforms. Refer to the following sections for
53  * a discussion on some important details of CHRE that aren't explicitly exposed
54  * in the API itself.
55  *
56  * @section entry_points Entry points
57  *
58  * The following entry points are used to bind a nanoapp to the CHRE system, and
59  * all three must be implemented by any nanoapp (see chre/nanoapp.h):
60  * - nanoappStart: initialization
61  * - nanoappHandleEvent: hook for event-driven processing
62  * - nanoappEnd: graceful teardown
63  *
64  * The CHRE implementation must also ensure that it performs these functions
65  * prior to invoking nanoappStart, or after nanoappEnd returns:
66  * - bss section zeroed out (prior to nanoappStart)
67  * - static variables initialized (prior to nanoappStart)
68  * - global C++ constructors called (prior to nanoappStart)
69  * - global C++ destructors called (after nanoappEnd)
70  *
71  * @section threading Threading model
72  *
73  * A CHRE implementation is free to choose among many different
74  * threading models, including a single-threaded system or a multi-threaded
75  * system with preemption.  The current platform definition is agnostic to this
76  * underlying choice.  However, the CHRE implementation must ensure that time
77  * spent executing within a nanoapp does not significantly degrade or otherwise
78  * interfere with other functions of the system in which CHRE is implemented,
79  * especially latency-sensitive tasks such as sensor event delivery to the AP.
80  * In other words, it must ensure that these functions can either occur in
81  * parallel or preempt a nanoapp's execution.  The current version of the API
82  * does not specify whether the implementation allows for CPU sharing between
83  * nanoapps on a more granular level than the handling of individual events [1].
84  * In any case, event ordering from the perspective of an individual nanoapp
85  * must be FIFO, but the CHRE implementation may choose to violate total
86  * ordering of events across all nanoapps to achieve more fair resource sharing,
87  * but this is not required.
88  *
89  * This version of the CHRE API does require that all nanoapps are treated as
90  * non-reentrant, meaning that only one instance of program flow can be inside
91  * an individual nanoapp at any given time.  That is, any of the functions of
92  * the nanoapp, including the entry points and all other callbacks, cannot be
93  * invoked if a previous invocation to the same or any other function in the
94  * nanoapp has not completed yet.
95  *
96  * For example, if a nanoapp is currently in nanoappHandleEvent(), the CHRE is
97  * not allowed to call nanoappHandleEvent() again, or to call a memory freeing
98  * callback.  Similarly, if a nanoapp is currently in a memory freeing
99  * callback, the CHRE is not allowed to call nanoappHandleEvent(), or invoke
100  * another memory freeing callback.
101  *
102  * There are two exceptions to this rule: If an invocation of chreSendEvent()
103  * fails (returns 'false'), it is allowed to immediately invoke the memory
104  * freeing callback passed into that function.  This is a rare case, and one
105  * where otherwise a CHRE implementation is likely to leak memory. Similarly,
106  * chreSendMessageToHost() is allowed to invoke the memory freeing callback
107  * directly, whether it returns 'true' or 'false'.  This is because the CHRE
108  * implementation may copy the message data to its own buffer, and therefore
109  * wouldn't need the nanoapp-supplied buffer after chreSendMessageToHost()
110  * returns.
111  *
112  * For a nanoapp author, this means no thought needs to be given to
113  * synchronization issues with global objects, as they will, by definition,
114  * only be accessed by a single thread at once.
115  *
116  * [1]: Note to CHRE implementers: A future version of the CHRE platform may
117  * require multi-threading with preemption.  This is mentioned as a heads up,
118  * and to allow implementors deciding between implementation approaches to
119  * make the most informed choice.
120  *
121  * @section timing Timing
122  *
123  * Nanoapps should expect to be running on a highly constrained system, with
124  * little memory and little CPU.  Any single nanoapp should expect to
125  * be one of several nanoapps on the system, which also share the CPU with the
126  * CHRE and possibly other services as well.
127  *
128  * Thus, a nanoapp needs to be efficient in its memory and CPU usage.
129  * Also, as noted in the Threading Model section, a CHRE implementation may
130  * be single threaded.  As a result, all methods invoked in a nanoapp
131  * (like nanoappStart, nanoappHandleEvent, memory free callbacks, etc.)
132  * must run "quickly".  "Quickly" is difficult to define, as there is a
133  * diversity of Context Hub hardware.  Nanoapp authors are strongly recommended
134  * to limit their application to consuming no more than 1 second of CPU time
135  * prior to returning control to the CHRE implementation.  A CHRE implementation
136  * may consider a nanoapp as unresponsive if it spends more time than this to
137  * process a single event, and take corrective action.
138  *
139  * A nanoapp may have the need to occasionally perform a large block of
140  * calculations that exceeds the 1 second guidance.  The recommended approach in
141  * this case is to split up the large block of calculations into smaller
142  * batches.  In one call into the nanoapp, the nanoapp can perform the first
143  * batch, and then set a timer or send an event (chreSendEvent()) to itself
144  * indicating which batch should be done next. This will allow the nanoapp to
145  * perform the entire calculation over time, without monopolizing system
146  * resources.
147  *
148  * @section floats Floating point support
149  *
150  * The C type 'float' is used in this API, and thus a CHRE implementation
151  * is required to support 'float's.
152  *
153  * Support of the C types 'double' and 'long double' is optional for a
154  * CHRE implementation.  Note that if a CHRE decides to support them, unlike
155  * 'float' support, there is no requirement that this support is particularly
156  * efficient.  So nanoapp authors should be aware this may be inefficient.
157  *
158  * If a CHRE implementation chooses not to support 'double' or
159  * 'long double', then the build toolchain setup provided needs to set
160  * the preprocessor define CHRE_NO_DOUBLE_SUPPORT.
161  *
162  * @section compat CHRE and Nanoapp compatibility
163  *
164  * CHRE implementations must make affordances to maintain binary compatibility
165  * across minor revisions of the API version (e.g. v1.1 to v1.2).  This applies
166  * to both running a nanoapp compiled for a newer version of the API on a CHRE
167  * implementation built against an older version (backwards compatibility), and
168  * vice versa (forwards compatibility).  API changes that are acceptable in
169  * minor version changes that may require special measures to ensure binary
170  * compatibility include: addition of new functions; addition of arguments to
171  * existing functions when the default value used for nanoapps compiled against
172  * the old version is well-defined and does not affect existing functionality;
173  * and addition of fields to existing structures, even when this induces a
174  * binary layout change (this should be made rare via judicious use of reserved
175  * fields).  API changes that must only occur alongside a major version change
176  * and are therefore not compatible include: removal of any function, argument,
177  * field in a data structure, or mandatory functional behavior that a nanoapp
178  * may depend on; any change in the interpretation of an existing data structure
179  * field that alters the way it was defined previously (changing the units of a
180  * field would fall under this, but appropriating a previously reserved field
181  * for some new functionality would not); and any change in functionality or
182  * expected behavior that conflicts with the previous definition.
183  *
184  * Note that the CHRE API only specifies the software interface between a
185  * nanoapp and the CHRE system - the binary interface (ABI) between nanoapp and
186  * CHRE is necessarily implementation-dependent.  Therefore, the recommended
187  * approach to accomplish binary compatibility is to build a Nanoapp Support
188  * Library (NSL) that is specific to the CHRE implementation into the nanoapp
189  * binary, and use it to handle ABI details in a way that ensures compatibility.
190  * In addition, to accomplish forwards compatibility, the CHRE implementation is
191  * expected to recognize the CHRE API version that a nanoapp is targeting and
192  * engage compatibility behaviors where necessary.
193  *
194  * By definition, major API version changes (e.g. v1.1 to v2.0) break
195  * compatibility.  Therefore, a CHRE implementation must not attempt to load a
196  * nanoapp that is targeting a newer major API version.
197  */
198 
199 #endif  /* _CHRE_H_ */
200 
201