docs: Document the bootloader protocols

GPREGRET, PNVRAM and WDT protocols are all now fully documented.

1 files changed, 131 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/docs/wasp.rst b/docs/wasp.rst
index 7ff7cc3..a44803d 100644
--- a/docs/wasp.rst
+++ b/docs/wasp.rst
@@ -89,3 +89,134 @@ Libraries
    :members:
    :undoc-members:
 
+Bootloader
+----------
+
+The bootloader implements a couple of protocols that allow the bootloader
+and payload to communicate during a reset or on handover from bootloader
+to application.
+
+GPREGRET protocol
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+``GPREGRET`` is a general purpose 8-bit retention register that is preserved
+in all power states of the nRF52 (including System OFF mode when SRAM
+content is destroyed).
+
+It can be used by the application to request specific bootloader behaviours
+during a reset:
+
+================= ===== ======================================================
+Name              Value Description
+----------------- ----- ------------------------------------------------------
+OTA_APPJUM         0xb1 Bootloader entered (without reset) from application.
+OTA_RESET          0xa8 Enter OTA (Bluetooth) recovery mode
+SERIAL_ONLY_RESET  0x4e Enter UART recovery mode (if applicable)
+UF2_RESET          0x57 Enter USB recovery mode (if applicable)
+FORCE_APP_BOOT     0x65 Force direct application boot (no splash screen)
+================= ===== ======================================================
+
+PNVRAM protocol
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The pseudo non-volatile RAM is a small block of regular static RAM that,
+once initialized, can be used to share information.
+
+The PNVRAM starts at 0x200039c0 and is 32 bytes long.
+
+========== ===================================================================
+Address    Description
+---------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
+0x200039c0 Guard value. Must be set to 0x1abe11ed .
+0x200039c4 Course grained RTC value (bootloader must preserve but can ignore).
+0x200039c8 RTC millisecond counter (bootloader must increment this).
+0x200039cc Reserved
+0x200039d0 Reserved
+0x200039d4 Reserved
+0x200039d8 Reserved
+0x200039cc Guard value. Must be set to 0x10adab1e .
+========== ===================================================================
+
+Note: *The PNVRAM protocol allows up to 28 bytes to be transfered (compared to
+2 bytes via GPREGRET and GPREGRET2) but it is less versatile. For example
+FORCE_APP_BOOT cannot be implmented using PNVRAM.*
+
+The RTC millisecond counter is incremented whenever the bootloader is 
+active (during splash screen or early UART recovery mode, during an
+update). It can be consumed by the application to prevent the current
+time being lost during an update.
+
+Watchdog
+--------
+
+Form-factor devices such as smart watches and fitness trackers do not usually
+have any hardware mechanism to allow the user to force a failed device into
+bootloader mode. This makes them difficult to develop on because opening the
+case to access a SWD or reset pins may compromise their waterproofing.
+
+WASP uses a watchdog timer (WDT) combined with a single hardware button in
+order to provide a robust mechanism to allow the user to force entry into a
+over-the-air firmware recovery mode that allows the buggy application to be
+replaced.
+
+The software responsibilities to implement this are split between the
+bootloader and the application, although the application responsibilities
+are intentionally minimal.
+
+Bootloader
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The bootloader implements an over-the-air recovery mode, as well as handling
+normal boot, where it's role is to display the splash screen.
+
+Additionally the bootloader implements several watchdog related features
+necessary for robust reboot handling:
+
+1. The bootloader configures the watchdog prior to booting the main
+   application. This is a simple, single channel reload request, watchdog
+   with a 5 second timeout.
+
+2. The bootloader checks the reset reason prior too booting the main
+   application. If it detects a watchdog reset the bootloader switches
+   automatically to DFU mode.
+
+3. The bootlaoder initialized the pinmux allowing the hardware button
+   state to be observed.
+
+4. The bootloader monitors the hardware button and switches back to the main
+   application when it is pressed.
+    
+From this list #1 and #2 are needed to ensure robust WDT handling whilst #3
+and # 4 ensure the user can switch back to application from the device
+itself if they ever accidentally trigger entry to recovery mode.
+
+Application
+~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The application's role is to carefully pet the watchdog so that it will
+trigger automatically if the hardware button is held down for five
+seconds.
+
+Key points for robustness:
+
+1. Unlike a normal watchdog we can be fairly reckless about where in the
+   code we pet the dog. For example petting the dog from a timer interrupt
+   is fine because we only need the dog to bark if the hardware button is
+   pressed.
+
+2. The routine to pet the dog is predicated on the hardware button not
+   being pressed.
+
+3. The routine to pet the dog is also predicated on the hardware button
+   still being correctly configured.
+
+To avoid mistakes the application should contain no subroutines that 
+unconditionally pet the dog; they should all implement #2 and #3 from
+the above list.
+
+Note: *nRF52 microcontrollers implement a distributed pin-muxing
+mechanism meaning most peripheral can acidentally "steal" a pin
+if the pin is requested by the peripheral. This requires a fully
+robust implementation of #3 to visit the PSEL registers of every
+peripheral that can control pins. The code currently used in
+wasp-os does not yet meet this criteria.*