09-19, 10:15–10:45 (Europe/Stockholm), Main Room
VBE supports firmware update, OS selection and other features that traditionally rely on the UEFI standard. It is simpler, more deterministic and easier to extend and test.
VBE comprises an implementation in U-Boot (using the new standard boot), firmware update in fwupd. It is designed to support verified boot (where SDRAM-init code and most firmware can be updated).
VBE is designed with embedded systems in mind. Rather than ignoring the existing boot methods and trying to shoe-horn UEFI into embedded systems, VBE extends the existing methods, such as U-Boot's Flat Image Tree.
This talk introduces the concept and the capability. It discusses the trade-offs that have been made and ends with a demo on an ARM board.
Simon Glass has worked in embedded systems for many years, at Trimble, ARM, Bluewater Systems (which he founded) and Google. Simon led firmware development of the first ARM-based Chromebook and now leads new Chromebook bring-up, starting the Chrome OS Zephyr effort in 2019. In his spare time, Simon is a contributor to U-Boot (with over 7000 commits) and a staunch proponent of Open Source firmware. He holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from University of Canterbury. He is married with three children and lives in Colorado.