The Life Cycle of a UEFI Variable in Flash Part

Below is the data structure of one UEFI Variable stored in variable store.

We want to know the life cycle of the UEFI Variable in flash part.

In UEFI spec, We can do the following operations for one non-volatile Variable by calling SetVariable().

• Add Operation
• Update Operation
• Delete Operation

We use state diagram to explain the life cycle of a UEFI variable.

Added ==> Updated ==> Deleted.

There is a circle on the Updated state. It means the variable can be updated many times.

Physically, if the variable exists in flash part, we cannot directly update variable on the same region in variable store. Variable driver must create a new variable with the same Name and GUID in the available region and set an invalid flag in the old variable. If the variable store is about to full, Variable driver reclaims the variable store to cleanup invalid variables.

Therefore the life cycle of a variable in flash part should be Added ==> Deleted. How is EDKII Variable designed to support Add/Update/Delete operations on variables in flash part and to assure fault tolerant? Let's focus on the State field of VARIABLE_HEADER. We expand them as binary format.

    0xfe = 1111-1110  // Variable is in obsolete transition
    0xfd = 1111-1100  // Variable is obsolete.
    0x7f = 0111-1111  // Variable header has been valid.
    0x3f = 0011-1111  // Variable has been completely added.

Add Operation

1. State = VAR_HEADER_VALID_ONLY (0x7f)
2. Write Data
3. State = VAR_ADDED (0x3f)

The variable state is changed as follows.
0111-1111 (After Step 1)
0011-1111 (After Step 3)

Update Operation

1. Old State &= VAR_IN_DELETED_TRANSITION (0xfe)
2. State = VAR_HEADER_VALID_ONLY (0x7f)
3. Write Data
4. State = VAR_ADDED (0x3f)
5. Old State &= VAR_DELETED (0xfd)

The old variable state is changed as follows.
0011-1111 (Initial state)
0011-1110 (After Step 1)
0011-1100 (After Step 5)

The new variable state is changed as follows.
0111-1111 (After Step 2)
0011-1111 (After Step 4)

Delete Operation

1. State &= VAR_DELETED (0xfd)

The state is directly to add VAR_DELETED flag. The variable state is changed as follows.

0011-1111 (Initial State)
0011-1100 (After Step 1)

In Conclusion.

The states of the variable in flash part are as follows.

0111-1111 = 0x7f (Variable is in creating.)
0011-1111 = 0x3f (Variable is created.)
0011-1110 = 0x3e (Variable is in deleting.)
0011-1100 = 0x3d (Variable is in deleted.)

The state diagram (life cycle) of a variable in flash part are.
0x7f ==> 0x3f ==> 0x3e ==> 0x3d.

The diagram is on-way and no circle.

Please note that the value in the bit field is changed from 1 to 0. It cannot be changed from 0 to 1 in flash-write operation. The reason is the hardware characters of flash part. I'll try to explain it in another page.

-Count