Arm SystemReady IR
SystemReady IR is a band of system certification in the Arm SystemReady program.
SystemReady IR is tailored to meet the needs of embedded Linux/BSD ecosystem on systems based on embedded Arm SoCs. It ensures standard firmware interfaces to deploy and maintain. It assumes SoC supported by mainline Linux/BSD. It targets both custom (Yocto, OpenWRT, buildroot) and pre-build (Debian, Fedora, SUSE) images.
SystemReady IR certified platforms implement a minimum set of hardware and firmware features that an operating system can depend on to deploy the operating system image. Compliant systems must conform to the:
- Embedded Base Boot Requirements (EBBR)
- EBBR recipe of the Arm Base Boot Requirements (BBR) specification
- Device Tree specification
Compliance to the Arm Base System Architecture (BSA) specification is also recommended. The SystemReady IR certification and testing requirements are specified in the Arm SystemReady Requirements Specification (SRS).
What Version of SystemReady IR is the Best Choice?
Arm is committed to assessing the market and adjusting standards towards a frictionless ecosystem. As SystemReady IR has matured in boot and installation capabilities, we’ve added more requirements to address maintenance and security level capabilities. In the new SystemReady IR2.0, the focus has been in providing a better long term compatibility between platforms and OS, so that new OS versions do not break on older platforms/ It also adds support for secure firmware over-the-air (OTA) updates and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) secure boot. You can use the table below to assess which version of SystemReady IR is the best fit for your product.
Available Certifications | SystemReady IR1.2 | SystemReady IR2.0 | SystemReady IR2.1 |
---|---|---|---|
Available since | October 2022 (updated October 2023) | April 2023 | October 2023 |
Profile supported | A-profile, 32bit only | A-profile, 64bit only | A-profile, 64bit only |
OS | Major pre-build Linux and BSD distributions upon DeviceTree only | Major pre-build Linux and BSD distributions upon DeviceTree only | Major pre-build Linux, BSD and openWRT distributions upon DeviceTree only |
Features certified | |||
Foundational subset of UEFI tables, protocols, services and variables to boot and firmware update platforms. | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
fOTA support – secure and non-secure | - | ✔ | ✔ |
DeviceTree Conformance | - | ✔ | ✔ (refined version) |
Security Interfaces Extension integrated into the compliant test suite (ACS) for UEFI Secure boot and TPM support | - | ✔ | ✔ (key enrollment test automated) |
Explicit devices checks | - | - | ✔ Block boot sources checks ✔ Ethernet at the Linux side checks |
SystemReady IR Certified Systems
Note that this list does not indicate that the operating system is officially supported on this device. Please consult the device and operating system vendors for official support.
The following systems are certified for IR 64-bit requirements unless otherwise indicated.
Company: Variscite
Systems:
- Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-PLUS with Symphony-Board (Quad-core @1.8 GHz, 4 GB LPDDR4, 16 GB eMMC)
- Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-MINI with Symphony-Board (Quad-core @1.8 GHz, 2 GB DDR4, 16 GB eMMC)
- Variscite DART-MX8M-PLUS with VAR-DT8MCustomBoard (Quad-core @1.8 GHz, 4 GB LPDDR4, 16 GB eMMC)
- Variscite DART-MX8M-MINI with VAR-DT8MCustomBoard (Quad-core @1.8 GHz, 2 GB LPDDR4, 16 GB eMMC)
Partners Testimonials
“At NXP, our mission is to enable our customers to reduce development time and maintenance costs, or secure cloud to edge applications, NXP recognized early on the value of Arm’s SystemReady and PSA certifications to provide software and security building blocks necessary for accelerating time-to-market. And therefore, we sought certification of our popular i.MX 8M applications processors family which is now the first to be SystemReady IR certified.” - Rob Oshana, VP of SW, NXP Semiconductors. |
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“For SECO and our customers, the benefit of participating in the Project Cassini is twofold. First, it enables seamless and therefore fast integration of our SystemReady certified devices into larger systems and networks, which can be used by a broad ecosystem of partners in many different markets. Second, being also a software solutions provider, SECO can become an active part of this ecosystem by opening our software offering to third parties. By joining Project Cassini, we once again demonstrate that at SECO, standardization, security and openness are essential principles.” - Marco Sogli, Head of SW R&D & DevOps at SECO |
Test Lab Facilities
We are using independent laboratories to expand the testing facilities for the SystemReady program. These laboratories currently consist of the following:
Other SystemReady Bands
ES
SystemReady ES provides an interoperability framework and evaluation for Arm-based embedded devices and SmartNICs, uniting the ecosystem on a common foundation and enabling everyone to focus on differentiation and innovation.
SR
SystemReady SR provides an interoperability framework and evaluation for Arm-based servers or workstations, uniting the ecosystem on a common foundation and enabling everyone to focus on differentiation and innovation.
LS
SystemReady LS is tailored to meet the needs of many hyperscalers on systems based on server Arm SoCs.
VE
SystemReady VE provides a solution for virtual environments, such as cloud instances or virtual platforms.
Other Resources
Partner Content
Videos
- Video: Can Embedded and IoT "Just Work"? - Standards, SystemReady and Linux
- Video: The Value and Path to SystemReady IR Certification
- Video: Deploying Yocto Linux on SystemReady IR Compliant Hardware
Blogs
- Blog: Arm SystemReady certifications reach 50 including the Morello System Development Platform
- Blog: Major milestones for Arm SystemReady in driving ecosystem standards
- Blog: Simplifying Embedded Linux with SystemReady IR
- Blog: The Journey to a Brave New World of Secure, Easy to Deploy and Maintain Cloud-Native IoT-Edge