Update ReleaseNotes in preparation for the 7.5 release

1 files changed, 406 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/nuttx/ReleaseNotes b/nuttx/ReleaseNotes
index 5f495dd3e..a42a783e1 100644
--- a/nuttx/ReleaseNotes
+++ b/nuttx/ReleaseNotes
@@ -6744,7 +6744,7 @@ Additional new features and extended functionality:
 
       -  Add support for the STM32F103RC and RD.  From Kosma Moczek
       -  Add a procfs entry to show the state of the CCM heap usage.
-         From Pelle Winderstam 
+         From Pelle Winderstam
 
     * STMicro STM32 Drivers:
 
@@ -6955,3 +6955,408 @@ Bugfixes.  Only the most critical bugfixes are listed here (see the ChangeLog fo
       - NxPlayer:  NxPlayer needs to set curbyte field to zero before
         enqueuing a buffer.  Otherwise, it looks like beginning of the
         buffer has already been consumed.
+
+NuttX-7.5
+---------
+
+The 105th release of NuttX, Version 7.5, was made on September 28, 2014,
+and is available for download from the SourceForge website.  Note
+that release consists of two tarballs:  nuttx-7.5.tar.gz and
+apps-7.5.tar.gz.  Both may be needed (see the top-level nuttx/README.txt
+file for build information).
+
+Additional new features and extended functionality:
+
+    * Core OS:
+
+      - Watchdog Timer Allocation:  (1) If we run out of pre-allocated
+        watchdog times, the logic will now allocate additional timers
+        from the heap.  A reserve of pre-allocated watchdog timers is
+        maintained so that there will always be timers available for
+        interrupt handlers. (2) Added support for statically allocated
+        watchdog timer
+      - Address Environment Support:  (2) New OS APIs integrated into all
+        platform-specific context switching logic (up_block_task(),
+        up_unblock_task(), _exit(), and others).
+      - Kernel Build Support: (1) The MPU based "kernel build" renamed to a
+        protected build (CONFIG_BUILD_PROTECTED); added support for the a
+        new MMU-based "kernel build" (CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL), (2) The system
+        call library can now be built with CONFIG_NUTTX_KERNEL.  New
+        selection: CONFIG_LIB_SYSCALL.
+      - System Startup:  Add configuration options to start the system from
+        a program on a file system (versus an address in memory).
+      - Startup Parameter Passing. There used to be two ways to pass
+        parameters to new tasks, depending upon the configuration:  Either
+        (1) argv[] as created as an array with each string strdup'ed.  Or
+        (2) argv[] array and strings were created on the stack before the
+        new task was started.   Now, there is only one way, way (1).  Way
+        (2) might be slightly more compact, but this is not worth carry the
+        complexity of two different ways of doing the same thing.
+      - Board Initialization: Add capability to perform initial board
+        initialization on a separate worker thread.  This is needed because
+        there are many cases where initialization logic cannot execute on
+        the start-up/IDLE thread.  That is because blocking or waiting is
+        not permitted on the IDLE thread.
+
+    * Memory Management:
+
+      - Granule Allocator:  (1) Add a new function to reserve un-allocatable
+        regions in the granule heap.  (2) Add interfaces to support
+        un-initializing a granule allocator.
+      - Page Allocator:  Add a simple physical page allocator based on the
+        existing NuttX granule allocator.  I am not certain if the granule
+        allocator is sufficiently deterministic for long range use, but it
+        gets get a page allocator in place for testing very quickly.
+      - Remove CONFIG_MM_MULTIHEAP.  Non-multiheap operation is no longer
+        supported.
+      - sbrk():  sbrk() is now supported in the kernel build to permit
+        dyanmically sized, per-process heaps.
+      - Per-Process Heaps:  Space at the beginning of the process data space
+        is now reserved for user heap management structures.  In the kernel
+        build mode, these heap structures are shared between the kernel and
+        use code in order to allocate user-specific data.
+      - User Heap Management:  When a privileged thread exits, we have to
+        use the kernel allocator to free memory; when an unprivileged thread
+        exits, we don't have to do anything... heap memory will be cleaned
+        up when the address environment is torn down.
+      - Inter-Process Shared Memory Support:  (1) Add implementation and
+        documentation for shmget(), shmctl(), shmat(), and shmdt().  (2)
+        Add system system calls to support the user call gate to the shared
+        memory interfaces.  (3) Add platform-specific interface definitions
+        needed to support the shared memory feature.
+      - Virtual Page Allocator:  Add support for a per-process virtual page
+        allocator.  This is a new member of the task_group_s structure.  The
+        allocator must be initialized when a new user process is started and
+        uninitialize when the process group is finally destroyed.  It is
+        used by shmat() and shmdt() to pick the virtual address onto which
+        to map the shared physical memory.
+
+    * File Systems/Block Drivers/MTD:
+
+      - SMART FS and SMART FS procfs updates from Ken Pettit.
+      - The MTD Read-ahead/Write buffer layer appears is now functional.
+
+    * Binary Formats:
+
+      - Add logic to initialize the per-process user heap when each user
+        process is started.
+
+    * Graphics:
+
+      - Change all occurrences of NxConsole to NxTerm.
+
+    * Networking:
+
+      - PHY Interrupts: (1) Standardize a PHY interrupt attachment
+        interface. (2) Add support for an ioctl that can be used to notify
+        an application when there is a change in the network status
+        signalled by a PHY interrupt.
+      - Improved Send Logic:  In the past, the first packet send to a new
+        network peer would fail; there would be no entry in the ARP table
+        for the peer and so an ARP request qould replace that first packet.
+        Now as an option if CONFIG_NET_ARP_SEND=y, all send logic will (1)
+        check if the peer MAC address is in the ARP table and, if not, (2)
+        send ARP requests periodically to get the mapping and (3) wait for
+        the ARP response.  Then (4) when the ARP response is received then
+        the actual send logic will be initiated.  Thus there may be a delay
+        with the first packet sent to a new peer, but the packet should not
+        be lost
+
+    * Host Simulation:
+
+      - Emulated SPI FLASH driver for the sim target from Ken Pettit.
+
+    * Intel x86:
+
+      - The default host is now x86_64 and the -m32 option will be
+        automatically selected for simulation builds.
+
+    * Intel 8051 Family:
+
+      - Removed all support for the 8051 family architecture from the NuttX
+        source tree.  The obsoleted code along with the removal patch can
+        now be found at misc/Obsoleted/.  This code was removed because (1)
+        although some functionality has been demonstrated, I am not aware of
+        any really successful ports of NuttX to any 8051, and (2) the 8051,
+        with its hardware stack, forces limitations and complications to the
+        other architectures and make growth and development of NuttX more
+        complex.
+
+    * ZiLOG ZNeo Boards:
+
+      - configs/16z:  Support for this board has been removed from the NuttX
+        source tree (but still can be found in the misc/Obsoleted
+        directory). This port is not ready for usage but may return to the
+        NuttX tree at some point in the future.
+
+    * Atmel SAM3/4 Boards:
+
+      - SAM4E-EK: Add (1) a fully-functional ILI9341-based LCD driver and
+        (2) a fully-functional NxWM configuration.
+
+    * ARMv7-A:
+
+      - Address Environments:  Add support for application address
+        environments using the Cortex-A MMU.  Implement standardized
+        platform-specific interfaces of NuttX address environment
+        support.
+      - Cache Operations:  Implement standardized, platform-specific cache
+        operations.  These are called from the ELF loader in order to flush
+        D-cache and invalidate I-cache after an ELF module has been loaded
+        into memory. With this change, ELF modules work correctly on the
+        SAMA5/Cortex-A platform.
+      - Kernel Build: (1) Add implementations of system call gate. (2) Add
+        CRT0 start-up file that can be linked with separately built user
+        programs.  (3) Add support for delivery of use-mode signals in the
+        kernel build.  (4) Add logic to initialize the per-process user heap
+        when each user process is started.  (5) ARMv7-A exception handling
+        needs to work a little differently if we support user mode
+        processes.  This is because R13 and R14 are paged differently
+        between user and SVC mode.
+      - Shared Memory Support:  (1) Add logic necessary to handle remapping
+        of shared memory on context switches.  (2) Extend virtual/physical
+        address conversions to include addresses in shared memory.  (3) Add
+        implementation of platform-specific shared memory support.
+
+    * Atmel SAMA5D Drivers:
+
+      - Implement all network ioctls, including the new ioctl to setup PHY
+        event notifications.
+      - In kernel build with address environment, need logic to map user
+        virtual addresses to physical addresses, and vice versa.
+
+    * Atmel SAMA5D Boards:
+
+      - SAMA5D3 Xplained, SAMA5D3-EK, and SAMA5D4-EK:  Convert existing
+        board specific PHY interrupt interfaces to use newly defined
+        standard interface.
+      - SAMA5D4-EK: Add a configuration for testing the kernel build
+        configuration.  There are configurations to boot either from an SD
+        card or from and in-memory ROMFS file system.
+      - SAMA5D4-EK: Add documentation/support for Rev E. board.
+
+    * STMicro STM32 Drivers:
+
+      - Ethernet: Modified to support the change to the network ioctl
+        signature changes.  Also add support for new ioctl to setup PHY
+        event notifications.
+
+    * STMicro STM32 Boards:
+
+      - STM32F4Discovery with STM32F4DIS-BB: Add a network enabled NSH
+        configuration for the STM32F4Discovery board with the STM32F4DIS-BB
+        base board installed.  Includes support for the microSD card slot on
+        the STM32F4DIS-BB base board.
+
+    * TI Tiva Drivers:
+
+      - Add support for the TI CC3200. From Jim Ewing.
+
+    * TI Tiva Boards:
+
+      - Add support for the TI CC3200 Launchpad. From Jim Ewing.
+
+    * C Library:
+
+      - Re-implemented poll() delay using sem_timedwait().
+
+    * Configuration/Build System:
+
+      - Export Target:  In the kernel or protected builds, (1) only the user
+        libraries should be exported,  (2) do not copy internal header files
+        or build scripts if this is a kernel or protected build, and (3)
+        needs to bundle up the user C startup file (crt0), not the kernel
+        head object for the kernel and protected builds.
+      - Add logic that will permit us to build user libraries with different
+        CFLAGS than kernel code.  This is needed because we need the
+        -fno-common option when building ELF code to prevent SHN_COMMON
+        relocations.
+
+    * Applications:
+
+      - NSH:  Extend the NSH network initialization logic.  There is now an
+        option that will create a network monitor thread that will monitor
+        the state of the link.  When the link goes down, the code will
+        attempt to gracefully put the Ethernet driver in a down state; When
+        the link comes back, the code will attempt to bring the network back
+        up.
+      - ELF Example:  The ELF test/example has been extended so the
+        individual ELF test programs can link against the SYSCALL library
+        (if it is available) or against the C library to eliminate or
+        minimize the need for symbol tables.
+      - Change all occurrences of NxConsole to NxTerm.
+      - MTDRWB Example:  Add an example to test MTD R/W buffering.
+      - OS Test Example:  Add a trivial test of sem_timedwait.
+
+    * Application Configuration/Build System:
+
+      - Import Target:  (1) Add logic that will allow building applications
+        against a NuttX export package (vs. the nuttx/ source tree).  (2)
+        Add .config file to export package.  (3) Create apps/import.  Create
+        apps/import/Make.defs that does things like define CFLAGS; ELF build
+        requires -fno-common in CFLAGS. Copy some base logic from
+        nuttx/tools/Config.mk to apps/import/Make.defs.  (4) Add
+        apps/import/scripts/gnu-elf.ld GCC linker script for ELF import
+        builds.
+      - All Makefiles:  (1) Add an install target to all makefiles.  For
+        the import build, the top-level Makefile now does two passes: (1)
+        builds libapp.a, then (2) installs the programs into apps/bin.  (2)
+        Add program installation for CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL in all Makefiles
+        that build a main().  (3) For kernel build, the object file
+        containing main cannot go into library because of name collisions.
+        The object file must be handled as a special case in every Makefile.
+      - All Built-In Programs:  With kernel build (CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL),
+        entry point to all tasks is main(), not some xyz_main().
+      - NSH: Several commands must be disabled in the kernel build because
+        they depend on interfaces that are not available outside of the
+        kernel: dd, df, losetup, mkfatfs, mkdr, and ps.
+      - apps/tools/:  (1) Add mkimport.sh to expload an NuttX import package
+        and install in apps/import.  (2) Add mkromfsimg.sh  script to create
+        a BOOT ROMFS filesystem image.
+      - ELF and NxFLAT Examples: Do not build test cases that use
+        task_create() if there is an address environment.
+
+    * Tools:
+
+      - refresh.sh: Add a tool to make refreshing configurations easier
+        when you want to do a lot of them.
+      - mksyscall.c: Build syscalls that do not need header files.
+      - mkexport.sh: Add .config file to export package.
+      - See above for new apps/tools scripts.
+
+Efforts In Progress.  The following are features that are partially
+implemented but present in this release.  They are not likely be be
+completed soon.
+
+    * Processes.  Much of the work in this release is focused on the
+      realization of Unix-style user processes in NuttX.  There is more to
+      be done, however.  The full roadmap and status is available at:
+      http://www.nuttx.org/doku.php?id=wiki:nxinternal:memconfigs#the_roadmap_toward_processes
+
+    * XMega:  There are some fragments in place for an XMega port.  That
+      port has not really started, however.
+
+    * Galileo:  Similarly, there are fragments in place for an Intel Galileo
+      port.  The port not been started in earnest either.
+
+Bugfixes.  Only the most critical bugfixes are listed here (see the ChangeLog for the complete list of bugfixes and for additional, more detailed bugfix information):
+
+    * Core OS:
+
+      - Kernel build fixes: (1) IDLE TCB setup needs to indicate that the
+        IDLE thread is a privileged, kernel thread.  (2) Don't build
+        task_create() or task_spawn() interfaces if there is an address
+        environment.  (3) posix_spawn() kernel proxy thread should be a
+        kernel thread, not a user task.
+      - Several pthread interfaces: Add const storage class to to phthread
+        parameters.  From Freddie Chopin.
+      - sched/clock: Remove vestiges of g_tickbias;  need, instead, to apply
+        time bias to g_basetime in order to provide the correct system time.
+      - System Calls:  (1) Several typos fixed; corrected integration of
+        exevc(), execvl(), posix_spawn, and posix_spawnp system calls. (2)
+        If we are configured to use a kernel stack while in SYSCALL handling,
+        then we need to switch back to the user stack to deliver a signal.
+
+    * File Systems/Block Drivers/MTD:
+
+      - procfs: Fix some procfs breakage introduced by reorganizing some
+        non-reorganizable data structures.  From Ken Pettit.
+      - AT45: In at45db_bwrite , the buffer is not increased when writing
+        more than 1 page.  Sourceforge bug #34.
+
+    * Binary Formats:
+
+      - ELF relocations.  Some relocation types do not have a named symbol
+        associated with them.  The design did not account for that case.
+      - ELF Loader: Critical bugfix.. BSS was not being cleared.
+
+    * Memory Management:
+
+      - Granule allocator initialization uses wrong allocator to setting
+        aside kernel memory.
+      - Add a flag to group structure:  If the group is created by a kernel
+        thread, then all resources in the group must be privileged.
+
+    * Cryptogrphic Support:
+
+      - crypto/cryptodev.c: Path segments reversed in include file path. Noted by Brennan Ashton.
+
+    * Common Drivers:
+
+      - Common CAN upper-half: In can_txdone, waiters on the semaphore
+        should be informed regardless of the return value of can_xmit. First
+        it returns -EIO if there are no new packets, and second the
+        information of the waiters is about the last transferred packet.
+        From  Daniel Lazlo Sitzer.
+
+    * ARM:
+
+      - System Calls: Fix a typo in system call when fetching parameter from
+        the stack:  regs[REG_PC]+4 is the address, not regs[REG_PC+4].
+
+    * STMicro STM32 Drivers:
+
+      - STM32 F401 UART: Correct support for USART6 on this chip.  From
+        Freddie Chopin.
+      - STM32 FLASH fixes: use size_t instead of uint16_t, make interface
+        more generic.  From Freddie Chopin.
+      - Fix for UART7 and UART8 on STM32 clock enable from Aton.
+      - CAN: At the end of the interrupt handler, the interrupts were being
+        disabled, if all packets have been transferred when the interrupt
+        handler was invoked. This is problematic, because the interrupt
+        handler calls can_txdone of the upper half which can enqueue new
+        packets to send. Removed the block altogether, because can_txdone
+        calls can_xmit which disables interrupts if there are no new packets
+        to send.  From  Daniel Lazlo Sitzer.
+      - Additional STM32 CAN correction suggested by Max Holtzberg.
+
+    * STMicro ST32 Boards:
+
+      - configs/mikroe-stm32f4: Fix a few compile bugs and minor corrections
+        to the mikroe-stm32f4 configuration source.  From Ken Pettit.
+
+    * ARM9/ARMv7-A:
+
+      - System Calls: Fix ARM7/9 and Cortex-A SYSCALLs:  For threads in SVC
+        mode, the SVC instructions clobbers R14.  This must be taken account
+        in the inline assembly.
+      - Task Setup:  All tasks, even user mode tasks, must start in
+        supervisor mode until they get past the start-up trampoline.
+      - ARMv7-A:  Modify up_fullcontextrestore() for CONFIG_BUILD_KERNEL.
+        It changed CPSR while in kernel.  That will crash if the new CPSR is
+        user mode while executing in kernel space.  Fixed by adding a
+        SYS_context_restore system call.  There is an alternative, simpler
+        modification to up_fullcontextrestore() that could have been done:
+        It might have been possible to use the SPSR instead of the CPRSR and
+        then do an exception return from up_fullcontextrestore().  That
+        would be more efficient, but I never tried it.
+
+    * Atmel SAM3/4 Boards:
+
+      - SAM3X/Arduino Due: Fix typo in sam3x_periphclks.h; add SCLK
+        definitions to board.h header file.  From Fabien Comte.
+      - SAM3 RTT: Only SAM4 family has RTTDIS bit in the MR register.
+        SourceForge bug #33 from Fabien Comte.
+
+    * C Library:
+
+      - sscanf(): NuttX libc tried to guess how many characters to parse,
+        extracted them into a buffer, then ran strtol() on that buffer.
+        That guess was often wrong.  A better approach would be to call
+        strtol() directly on the input data, using the endptr return value
+        to determine how many characters to skip after parsing.  From Kosma
+        Moczek.
+      - Corrected atan2 implementations from Denis Arnst.
+      - Change to lib_dtoa() to fix precision error from trailing zeroes.
+        From Bob Doiron.
+
+    * Applications:
+
+      - Fix NSH PS command:  If there are no arguments, it could print
+        garbage for argument list.
+
+    * Configuration/Build System:
+
+      - Null Example:  Need to include config.h it order know if this is or
+        is not a kernel build.  This problem still exists in several other
+        file that may need to define main().