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- Arm / Thumb Interworking
- ========================
-
-The Cygnus GNU Pro Toolkit for the ARM7T processor supports function
-calls between code compiled for the ARM instruction set and code
-compiled for the Thumb instruction set and vice versa. This document
-describes how that interworking support operates and explains the
-command line switches that should be used in order to produce working
-programs.
-
-Note: The Cygnus GNU Pro Toolkit does not support switching between
-compiling for the ARM instruction set and the Thumb instruction set
-on anything other than a per file basis. There are in fact two
-completely separate compilers, one that produces ARM assembler
-instructions and one that produces Thumb assembler instructions. The
-two compilers share the same assembler, linker and so on.
-
-
-1. Explicit interworking support for C and C++ files
-====================================================
-
-By default if a file is compiled without any special command line
-switches then the code produced will not support interworking.
-Provided that a program is made up entirely from object files and
-libraries produced in this way and which contain either exclusively
-ARM instructions or exclusively Thumb instructions then this will not
-matter and a working executable will be created. If an attempt is
-made to link together mixed ARM and Thumb object files and libraries,
-then warning messages will be produced by the linker and a non-working
-executable will be created.
-
-In order to produce code which does support interworking it should be
-compiled with the
-
- -mthumb-interwork
-
-command line option. Provided that a program is made up entirely from
-object files and libraries built with this command line switch a
-working executable will be produced, even if both ARM and Thumb
-instructions are used by the various components of the program. (No
-warning messages will be produced by the linker either).
-
-Note that specifying -mthumb-interwork does result in slightly larger,
-slower code being produced. This is why interworking support must be
-specifically enabled by a switch.
-
-
-2. Explicit interworking support for assembler files
-====================================================
-
-If assembler files are to be included into an interworking program
-then the following rules must be obeyed:
-
- * Any externally visible functions must return by using the BX
- instruction.
-
- * Normal function calls can just use the BL instruction. The
- linker will automatically insert code to switch between ARM
- and Thumb modes as necessary.
-
- * Calls via function pointers should use the BX instruction if
- the call is made in ARM mode:
-
- .code 32
- mov lr, pc
- bx rX
-
- This code sequence will not work in Thumb mode however, since
- the mov instruction will not set the bottom bit of the lr
- register. Instead a branch-and-link to the _call_via_rX
- functions should be used instead:
-
- .code 16
- bl _call_via_rX
-
- where rX is replaced by the name of the register containing
- the function address.
-
- * All externally visible functions which should be entered in
- Thumb mode must have the .thumb_func pseudo op specified just
- before their entry point. e.g.:
-
- .code 16
- .global function
- .thumb_func
- function:
- ...start of function....
-
- * All assembler files must be assembled with the switch
- -mthumb-interwork specified on the command line. (If the file
- is assembled by calling gcc it will automatically pass on the
- -mthumb-interwork switch to the assembler, provided that it
- was specified on the gcc command line in the first place.)
-
-
-3. Support for old, non-interworking aware code.
-================================================
-
-If it is necessary to link together code produced by an older,
-non-interworking aware compiler, or code produced by the new compiler
-but without the -mthumb-interwork command line switch specified, then
-there are two command line switches that can be used to support this.
-
-The switch
-
- -mcaller-super-interworking
-
-will allow calls via function pointers in Thumb mode to work,
-regardless of whether the function pointer points to old,
-non-interworking aware code or not. Specifying this switch does
-produce slightly slower code however.
-
-Note: There is no switch to allow calls via function pointers in ARM
-mode to be handled specially. Calls via function pointers from
-interworking aware ARM code to non-interworking aware ARM code work
-without any special considerations by the compiler. Calls via
-function pointers from interworking aware ARM code to non-interworking
-aware Thumb code however will not work. (Actually under some
-circumstances they may work, but there are no guarantees). This is
-because only the new compiler is able to produce Thumb code, and this
-compiler already has a command line switch to produce interworking
-aware code.
-
-
-The switch
-
- -mcallee-super-interworking
-
-will allow non-interworking aware ARM or Thumb code to call Thumb
-functions, either directly or via function pointers. Specifying this
-switch does produce slightly larger, slower code however.
-
-Note: There is no switch to allow non-interworking aware ARM or Thumb
-code to call ARM functions. There is no need for any special handling
-of calls from non-interworking aware ARM code to interworking aware
-ARM functions, they just work normally. Calls from non-interworking
-aware Thumb functions to ARM code however, will not work. There is no
-option to support this, since it is always possible to recompile the
-Thumb code to be interworking aware.
-
-As an alternative to the command line switch
--mcallee-super-interworking, which affects all externally visible
-functions in a file, it is possible to specify an attribute or
-declspec for individual functions, indicating that that particular
-function should support being called by non-interworking aware code.
-The function should be defined like this:
-
- int __attribute__((interfacearm)) function
- {
- ... body of function ...
- }
-
-or
-
- int __declspec(interfacearm) function
- {
- ... body of function ...
- }
-
-
-
-4. Interworking support in dlltool
-==================================
-
-It is possible to create DLLs containing mixed ARM and Thumb code. It
-is also possible to call Thumb code in a DLL from an ARM program and
-vice versa. It is even possible to call ARM DLLs that have been compiled
-without interworking support (say by an older version of the compiler),
-from Thumb programs and still have things work properly.
-
- A version of the `dlltool' program which supports the `--interwork'
-command line switch is needed, as well as the following special
-considerations when building programs and DLLs:
-
-*Use `-mthumb-interwork'*
- When compiling files for a DLL or a program the `-mthumb-interwork'
- command line switch should be specified if calling between ARM and
- Thumb code can happen. If a program is being compiled and the
- mode of the DLLs that it uses is not known, then it should be
- assumed that interworking might occur and the switch used.
-
-*Use `-m thumb'*
- If the exported functions from a DLL are all Thumb encoded then the
- `-m thumb' command line switch should be given to dlltool when
- building the stubs. This will make dlltool create Thumb encoded
- stubs, rather than its default of ARM encoded stubs.
-
- If the DLL consists of both exported Thumb functions and exported
- ARM functions then the `-m thumb' switch should not be used.
- Instead the Thumb functions in the DLL should be compiled with the
- `-mcallee-super-interworking' switch, or with the `interfacearm'
- attribute specified on their prototypes. In this way they will be
- given ARM encoded prologues, which will work with the ARM encoded
- stubs produced by dlltool.
-
-*Use `-mcaller-super-interworking'*
- If it is possible for Thumb functions in a DLL to call
- non-interworking aware code via a function pointer, then the Thumb
- code must be compiled with the `-mcaller-super-interworking'
- command line switch. This will force the function pointer calls
- to use the _interwork_call_via_rX stub functions which will
- correctly restore Thumb mode upon return from the called function.
-
-*Link with `libgcc.a'*
- When the dll is built it may have to be linked with the GCC
- library (`libgcc.a') in order to extract the _call_via_rX functions
- or the _interwork_call_via_rX functions. This represents a partial
- redundancy since the same functions *may* be present in the
- application itself, but since they only take up 372 bytes this
- should not be too much of a consideration.
-
-*Use `--support-old-code'*
- When linking a program with an old DLL which does not support
- interworking, the `--support-old-code' command line switch to the
- linker should be used. This causes the linker to generate special
- interworking stubs which can cope with old, non-interworking aware
- ARM code, at the cost of generating bulkier code. The linker will
- still generate a warning message along the lines of:
- "Warning: input file XXX does not support interworking, whereas YYY does."
- but this can now be ignored because the --support-old-code switch
- has been used.
-
-
-
-5. How interworking support works
-=================================
-
-Switching between the ARM and Thumb instruction sets is accomplished
-via the BX instruction which takes as an argument a register name.
-Control is transfered to the address held in this register (with the
-bottom bit masked out), and if the bottom bit is set, then Thumb
-instruction processing is enabled, otherwise ARM instruction
-processing is enabled.
-
-When the -mthumb-interwork command line switch is specified, gcc
-arranges for all functions to return to their caller by using the BX
-instruction. Thus provided that the return address has the bottom bit
-correctly initialized to indicate the instruction set of the caller,
-correct operation will ensue.
-
-When a function is called explicitly (rather than via a function
-pointer), the compiler generates a BL instruction to do this. The
-Thumb version of the BL instruction has the special property of
-setting the bottom bit of the LR register after it has stored the
-return address into it, so that a future BX instruction will correctly
-return the instruction after the BL instruction, in Thumb mode.
-
-The BL instruction does not change modes itself however, so if an ARM
-function is calling a Thumb function, or vice versa, it is necessary
-to generate some extra instructions to handle this. This is done in
-the linker when it is storing the address of the referenced function
-into the BL instruction. If the BL instruction is an ARM style BL
-instruction, but the referenced function is a Thumb function, then the
-linker automatically generates a calling stub that converts from ARM
-mode to Thumb mode, puts the address of this stub into the BL
-instruction, and puts the address of the referenced function into the
-stub. Similarly if the BL instruction is a Thumb BL instruction, and
-the referenced function is an ARM function, the linker generates a
-stub which converts from Thumb to ARM mode, puts the address of this
-stub into the BL instruction, and the address of the referenced
-function into the stub.
-
-This is why it is necessary to mark Thumb functions with the
-.thumb_func pseudo op when creating assembler files. This pseudo op
-allows the assembler to distinguish between ARM functions and Thumb
-functions. (The Thumb version of GCC automatically generates these
-pseudo ops for any Thumb functions that it generates).
-
-Calls via function pointers work differently. Whenever the address of
-a function is taken, the linker examines the type of the function
-being referenced. If the function is a Thumb function, then it sets
-the bottom bit of the address. Technically this makes the address
-incorrect, since it is now one byte into the start of the function,
-but this is never a problem because:
-
- a. with interworking enabled all calls via function pointer
- are done using the BX instruction and this ignores the
- bottom bit when computing where to go to.
-
- b. the linker will always set the bottom bit when the address
- of the function is taken, so it is never possible to take
- the address of the function in two different places and
- then compare them and find that they are not equal.
-
-As already mentioned any call via a function pointer will use the BX
-instruction (provided that interworking is enabled). The only problem
-with this is computing the return address for the return from the
-called function. For ARM code this can easily be done by the code
-sequence:
-
- mov lr, pc
- bx rX
-
-(where rX is the name of the register containing the function
-pointer). This code does not work for the Thumb instruction set,
-since the MOV instruction will not set the bottom bit of the LR
-register, so that when the called function returns, it will return in
-ARM mode not Thumb mode. Instead the compiler generates this
-sequence:
-
- bl _call_via_rX
-
-(again where rX is the name if the register containing the function
-pointer). The special call_via_rX functions look like this:
-
- .thumb_func
-_call_via_r0:
- bx r0
- nop
-
-The BL instruction ensures that the correct return address is stored
-in the LR register and then the BX instruction jumps to the address
-stored in the function pointer, switch modes if necessary.
-
-
-6. How caller-super-interworking support works
-==============================================
-
-When the -mcaller-super-interworking command line switch is specified
-it changes the code produced by the Thumb compiler so that all calls
-via function pointers (including virtual function calls) now go via a
-different stub function. The code to call via a function pointer now
-looks like this:
-
- bl _interwork_call_via_r0
-
-Note: The compiler does not insist that r0 be used to hold the
-function address. Any register will do, and there are a suite of stub
-functions, one for each possible register. The stub functions look
-like this:
-
- .code 16
- .thumb_func
-_interwork_call_via_r0
- bx pc
- nop
-
- .code 32
- tst r0, #1
- stmeqdb r13!, {lr}
- adreq lr, _arm_return
- bx r0
-
-The stub first switches to ARM mode, since it is a lot easier to
-perform the necessary operations using ARM instructions. It then
-tests the bottom bit of the register containing the address of the
-function to be called. If this bottom bit is set then the function
-being called uses Thumb instructions and the BX instruction to come
-will switch back into Thumb mode before calling this function. (Note
-that it does not matter how this called function chooses to return to
-its caller, since the both the caller and callee are Thumb functions,
-and mode switching is necessary). If the function being called is an
-ARM mode function however, the stub pushes the return address (with
-its bottom bit set) onto the stack, replaces the return address with
-the address of the a piece of code called '_arm_return' and then
-performs a BX instruction to call the function.
-
-The '_arm_return' code looks like this:
-
- .code 32
-_arm_return:
- ldmia r13!, {r12}
- bx r12
- .code 16
-
-
-It simply retrieves the return address from the stack, and then
-performs a BX operation to return to the caller and switch back into
-Thumb mode.
-
-
-7. How callee-super-interworking support works
-==============================================
-
-When -mcallee-super-interworking is specified on the command line the
-Thumb compiler behaves as if every externally visible function that it
-compiles has had the (interfacearm) attribute specified for it. What
-this attribute does is to put a special, ARM mode header onto the
-function which forces a switch into Thumb mode:
-
- without __attribute__((interfacearm)):
-
- .code 16
- .thumb_func
- function:
- ... start of function ...
-
- with __attribute__((interfacearm)):
-
- .code 32
- function:
- orr r12, pc, #1
- bx r12
-
- .code 16
- .thumb_func
- .real_start_of_function:
-
- ... start of function ...
-
-Note that since the function now expects to be entered in ARM mode, it
-no longer has the .thumb_func pseudo op specified for its name.
-Instead the pseudo op is attached to a new label .real_start_of_<name>
-(where <name> is the name of the function) which indicates the start
-of the Thumb code. This does have the interesting side effect in that
-if this function is now called from a Thumb mode piece of code
-outside of the current file, the linker will generate a calling stub
-to switch from Thumb mode into ARM mode, and then this is immediately
-overridden by the function's header which switches back into Thumb
-mode.
-
-In addition the (interfacearm) attribute also forces the function to
-return by using the BX instruction, even if has not been compiled with
-the -mthumb-interwork command line flag, so that the correct mode will
-be restored upon exit from the function.
-
-
-8. Some examples
-================
-
- Given these two test files:
-
- int arm (void) { return 1 + thumb (); }
-
- int thumb (void) { return 2 + arm (); }
-
- The following pieces of assembler are produced by the ARM and Thumb
-version of GCC depending upon the command line options used:
-
- `-O2':
- .code 32 .code 16
- .global _arm .global _thumb
- .thumb_func
- _arm: _thumb:
- mov ip, sp
- stmfd sp!, {fp, ip, lr, pc} push {lr}
- sub fp, ip, #4
- bl _thumb bl _arm
- add r0, r0, #1 add r0, r0, #2
- ldmea fp, {fp, sp, pc} pop {pc}
-
- Note how the functions return without using the BX instruction. If
-these files were assembled and linked together they would fail to work
-because they do not change mode when returning to their caller.
-
- `-O2 -mthumb-interwork':
-
- .code 32 .code 16
- .global _arm .global _thumb
- .thumb_func
- _arm: _thumb:
- mov ip, sp
- stmfd sp!, {fp, ip, lr, pc} push {lr}
- sub fp, ip, #4
- bl _thumb bl _arm
- add r0, r0, #1 add r0, r0, #2
- ldmea fp, {fp, sp, lr} pop {r1}
- bx lr bx r1
-
- Now the functions use BX to return their caller. They have grown by
-4 and 2 bytes respectively, but they can now successfully be linked
-together and be expect to work. The linker will replace the
-destinations of the two BL instructions with the addresses of calling
-stubs which convert to the correct mode before jumping to the called
-function.
-
- `-O2 -mcallee-super-interworking':
-
- .code 32 .code 32
- .global _arm .global _thumb
- _arm: _thumb:
- orr r12, pc, #1
- bx r12
- mov ip, sp .code 16
- stmfd sp!, {fp, ip, lr, pc} push {lr}
- sub fp, ip, #4
- bl _thumb bl _arm
- add r0, r0, #1 add r0, r0, #2
- ldmea fp, {fp, sp, lr} pop {r1}
- bx lr bx r1
-
- The thumb function now has an ARM encoded prologue, and it no longer
-has the `.thumb-func' pseudo op attached to it. The linker will not
-generate a calling stub for the call from arm() to thumb(), but it will
-still have to generate a stub for the call from thumb() to arm(). Also
-note how specifying `--mcallee-super-interworking' automatically
-implies `-mthumb-interworking'.
-
-
-9. Some Function Pointer Examples
-=================================
-
- Given this test file:
-
- int func (void) { return 1; }
-
- int call (int (* ptr)(void)) { return ptr (); }
-
- The following varying pieces of assembler are produced by the Thumb
-version of GCC depending upon the command line options used:
-
- `-O2':
- .code 16
- .globl _func
- .thumb_func
- _func:
- mov r0, #1
- bx lr
-
- .globl _call
- .thumb_func
- _call:
- push {lr}
- bl __call_via_r0
- pop {pc}
-
- Note how the two functions have different exit sequences. In
-particular call() uses pop {pc} to return, which would not work if the
-caller was in ARM mode. func() however, uses the BX instruction, even
-though `-mthumb-interwork' has not been specified, as this is the most
-efficient way to exit a function when the return address is held in the
-link register.
-
- `-O2 -mthumb-interwork':
-
- .code 16
- .globl _func
- .thumb_func
- _func:
- mov r0, #1
- bx lr
-
- .globl _call
- .thumb_func
- _call:
- push {lr}
- bl __call_via_r0
- pop {r1}
- bx r1
-
- This time both functions return by using the BX instruction. This
-means that call() is now two bytes longer and several cycles slower
-than the previous version.
-
- `-O2 -mcaller-super-interworking':
- .code 16
- .globl _func
- .thumb_func
- _func:
- mov r0, #1
- bx lr
-
- .globl _call
- .thumb_func
- _call:
- push {lr}
- bl __interwork_call_via_r0
- pop {pc}
-
- Very similar to the first (non-interworking) version, except that a
-different stub is used to call via the function pointer. This new stub
-will work even if the called function is not interworking aware, and
-tries to return to call() in ARM mode. Note that the assembly code for
-call() is still not interworking aware itself, and so should not be
-called from ARM code.
-
- `-O2 -mcallee-super-interworking':
-
- .code 32
- .globl _func
- _func:
- orr r12, pc, #1
- bx r12
-
- .code 16
- .globl .real_start_of_func
- .thumb_func
- .real_start_of_func:
- mov r0, #1
- bx lr
-
- .code 32
- .globl _call
- _call:
- orr r12, pc, #1
- bx r12
-
- .code 16
- .globl .real_start_of_call
- .thumb_func
- .real_start_of_call:
- push {lr}
- bl __call_via_r0
- pop {r1}
- bx r1
-
- Now both functions have an ARM coded prologue, and both functions
-return by using the BX instruction. These functions are interworking
-aware therefore and can safely be called from ARM code. The code for
-the call() function is now 10 bytes longer than the original, non
-interworking aware version, an increase of over 200%.
-
- If a prototype for call() is added to the source code, and this
-prototype includes the `interfacearm' attribute:
-
- int __attribute__((interfacearm)) call (int (* ptr)(void));
-
- then this code is produced (with only -O2 specified on the command
-line):
-
- .code 16
- .globl _func
- .thumb_func
- _func:
- mov r0, #1
- bx lr
-
- .globl _call
- .code 32
- _call:
- orr r12, pc, #1
- bx r12
-
- .code 16
- .globl .real_start_of_call
- .thumb_func
- .real_start_of_call:
- push {lr}
- bl __call_via_r0
- pop {r1}
- bx r1
-
- So now both call() and func() can be safely called via
-non-interworking aware ARM code. If, when such a file is assembled,
-the assembler detects the fact that call() is being called by another
-function in the same file, it will automatically adjust the target of
-the BL instruction to point to .real_start_of_call. In this way there
-is no need for the linker to generate a Thumb-to-ARM calling stub so
-that call can be entered in ARM mode.
-
-
-10. How to use dlltool to build ARM/Thumb DLLs
-==============================================
- Given a program (`prog.c') like this:
-
- extern int func_in_dll (void);
-
- int main (void) { return func_in_dll(); }
-
- And a DLL source file (`dll.c') like this:
-
- int func_in_dll (void) { return 1; }
-
- Here is how to build the DLL and the program for a purely ARM based
-environment:
-
-*Step One
- Build a `.def' file describing the DLL:
-
- ; example.def
- ; This file describes the contents of the DLL
- LIBRARY example
- HEAPSIZE 0x40000, 0x2000
- EXPORTS
- func_in_dll 1
-
-*Step Two
- Compile the DLL source code:
-
- arm-pe-gcc -O2 -c dll.c
-
-*Step Three
- Use `dlltool' to create an exports file and a library file:
-
- dlltool --def example.def --output-exp example.o --output-lib example.a
-
-*Step Four
- Link together the complete DLL:
-
- arm-pe-ld dll.o example.o -o example.dll
-
-*Step Five
- Compile the program's source code:
-
- arm-pe-gcc -O2 -c prog.c
-
-*Step Six
- Link together the program and the DLL's library file:
-
- arm-pe-gcc prog.o example.a -o prog
-
- If instead this was a Thumb DLL being called from an ARM program, the
-steps would look like this. (To save space only those steps that are
-different from the previous version are shown):
-
-*Step Two
- Compile the DLL source code (using the Thumb compiler):
-
- thumb-pe-gcc -O2 -c dll.c -mthumb-interwork
-
-*Step Three
- Build the exports and library files (and support interworking):
-
- dlltool -d example.def -z example.o -l example.a --interwork -m thumb
-
-*Step Five
- Compile the program's source code (and support interworking):
-
- arm-pe-gcc -O2 -c prog.c -mthumb-interwork
-
- If instead, the DLL was an old, ARM DLL which does not support
-interworking, and which cannot be rebuilt, then these steps would be
-used.
-
-*Step One
- Skip. If you do not have access to the sources of a DLL, there is
- no point in building a `.def' file for it.
-
-*Step Two
- Skip. With no DLL sources there is nothing to compile.
-
-*Step Three
- Skip. Without a `.def' file you cannot use dlltool to build an
- exports file or a library file.
-
-*Step Four
- Skip. Without a set of DLL object files you cannot build the DLL.
- Besides it has already been built for you by somebody else.
-
-*Step Five
- Compile the program's source code, this is the same as before:
-
- arm-pe-gcc -O2 -c prog.c
-
-*Step Six
- Link together the program and the DLL's library file, passing the
- `--support-old-code' option to the linker:
-
- arm-pe-gcc prog.o example.a -Wl,--support-old-code -o prog
-
- Ignore the warning message about the input file not supporting
- interworking as the --support-old-code switch has taken care if this.