Specifications

Arm SystemReady is a set of standards and a compliance certification program that ensures systems Just Work. Systems that are designed to Just Work should install and run generic, off-the-shelf operating systems straight out of the box.

To do this, the system design must follow a set of minimum hardware and firmware requirements. Arm SystemReady builds on the foundations and success of the Arm ServerReady program. Arm SystemReady applies the Arm ServerReady standards framework to a broader set of devices. The standards are applied initially in the embedded-server and high-performance IoT ecosystems, extending the proposition from the cloud to the infrastructure and IoT edge.

This page describes and provides links to the following specifications:

• Arm SystemReady Requirements (SRS) specification
• Arm Base System Architecture (BSA) specification
• Arm Server Base System Architecture (SBSA) supplement specification
• Arm Base Boot Requirements (BBR) specification
• UEFI drivers
• Arm Base Boot Security Requirements (BBSR) specification
• Architectural Compliance Suite (ACS)

The SystemReady Requirements specification (SRS) describes the technical requirements for a system to become Arm SystemReady. The specification outlines the program and provides guidance on hardware and firmware conditions for certification of the individual SystemReady bands – SR, ES, IR, and LS.

Download SRS

The Base System Architecture (BSA) specification describes the minimum requirements for the hardware, based on Arm 64-bit architecture, that system software such as operating systems, hypervisors, and firmware, can rely on. The specification addresses processing element features and important aspects of system architecture.

Download BSA

The Server Base System Architecture (SBSA) specification is a supplement to the Base System Architecture specification, for servers. The SBSA describes the additional server hardware requirements and features required for a server OS. The specification contains a set of levels that describe an increasing set of hardware features, following the progression of the CPU architecture.

Note: Originally, SBSA v6.0 was a monolithic specification for the minimum server hardware requirements. The content is now split into the market-segment agnostic BSA, and the market-specific Supplement. The result is that the SBSA v6.0 (ServerReady v 1.0, before BSA) is equivalent to the BSA v1.0 plus the SBSA Supplement v6.1. If needed, other market-specific supplements may be provided in the future.

Download SBSA

The Base Boot Requirements (BBR) specification specifies requirements for systems that are based on Arm architecture and that operating systems and hypervisors can rely on. This specification establishes the firmware interface requirements, like PSCI, SMCCC, UEFI, ACPI, and SMBIOS.

Download BBR

The Base Boot Security Requirements (BBSR) specification specifies security interface requirements and guidance for systems that are compliant with the Base Boot Requirements (BBR) specification.

Download BBSR

The BBR 1.0 specification requires native AArch64 binary format to be used for UEFI Drivers.

Download UEFI drivers