Hacker News Reader

Thanks for the really detailed reply!

> The very first instructions executed by the SBE are from OTPROM...

How is the very first instruction executed by the SBE in an un-initialized state?

Not sure I follow. The SBE is designed to boot the system. If it requires any initialisation itself, it must be handled by a hardcoded state machine in the RTL logic.

> If it requires any initialisation itself, it must be handled by a hardcoded state machine in the RTL logic.

Thanks, that's what I was trying to ask about.

How does the 'hardcoded state machine in the RTL logic' in the SBE execute the very first instruction?

The SBE is a processor. It fetches instructions and executes them, starting from a reset vector. That reset vector is the OTPROM.

To clarify, I'm asking about how the 'hardcoded state machine' functions at the beginning of boot-up, not of the overall SBE that is initialized later.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com