This repository contains the Firmware Handoff specification, which defines a data structure to transfer essential configuration information between firmware stages during platform initialization.

The documentation is generated using the Sphinx framework. A version of this specification, rendered in HTML, is available here.

Project dependencies

For an Ubuntu development machine, install the following packages to build the specification:

• librsvg2-bin
• python3-sphinx
• python3-sphinxcontrib.svg2pdfconverter
• python3-sphinx-rtd-theme
• latexmk
• texlive-latex-extra

Note: This list has been tested on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS running on AArch64 and AMD64.

Building the document

The following are use to generate the specification:

• pdf:

make latexpdf

• html:

make html

The output of these build commands goes into subdirectory build.

Status

The first release of the specification has been published. We are currently in the implementation phase, looking at various target projects, including U-Boot, coreboot, TF-A and Tianocore. Once this is done we will review the result to see if any serious flaws have come to light, meaning that changes are needed. If so, these will be undertaken in each project.

By the end of 2024, the spec will be considered stable and will be published as version 1. From there on, backwards compatibility will be maintained.