# SIF Contract

Status: `Draft`

## Purpose

Define the communication contract between EE and IOP.

## Owns

- SIF register behavior visible on both sides,
- mailbox/flag exchange,
- DMA-linked data movement endpoints,
- synchronization semantics required by BIOS and basic software.

## Inputs

- EE-side register writes and DMA requests,
- IOP-side register writes and DMA requests,
- reset and interrupt-state changes.

## Outputs

- flag and mailbox visibility on both sides,
- DMA endpoint readiness/traffic,
- trace events.

## Questions to lock

- What minimum SIF behavior is required before BIOS reaches meaningful IOP boot?
- Can early milestones use a narrower command subset?
- How will SIF traces be correlated between EE and IOP timelines?

## Allowed early stubs

- mailbox/flag-only implementation,
- reduced DMA payload path,
- synchronous fake acknowledgements for platform smoke tests.

## Required debug visibility

- MSCOM/SMCOM writes,
- flag transitions,
- SIF DMA starts/completions,
- mismatched or stalled handshakes.