Validium Network Extension Simulation (call)

---

NOTES:

• changed META - it can be used for MSIZE simulation

• setting ergs per pubdata is done by separate opcode now (not part of near_call)

• incrementing TX counter is done by separate opcode now (not part of far_call)

Our VM has some opcodes that are not expressible in Solidity, but we can simulate them on compiler level by abusing “CALL” instruction. We use 2nd parameter of “CALL” (address) as a marker, and remaining 6 parameters as input parameters (we use “address”-like field since it’s kind of shorter type, if assembly block cares about types in Solidity). Unfortunately “CALL” returns only 1 stack parameter, but it looks sufficient for our purposes.

Please note, that some of the methods don’t modify state, so STATICCALL instead of CALL should be used for them. The type of the needed method is indicated in the rightmost column.

Call types are not validated and do not affect the simulation behavior, unless specified otherwise, like in raw_far_call and system_call simulations, where the call type is passed through.

For some simulations below we assume that there exist a hidden global pseudo-variable called ACTIVE_PTR for manipulations, since one can not easily load pointer value into Solidity’s variable.

Simulated opcode	CALL param 0 (gas)	CALL param 1 (address)	CALL param 2 (value)	CALL param 3 (input offset)	CALL param 4 (input length)	CALL param 5 (output offset)	CALL param 6 (output length)	Return value	call type	LLVM implementation	Motivation
to_l1(is_first, in1, in2)	if_first (bool)	0xFFFF	in1 (u256)	in2 (u256)	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	_	call	@llvm.syncvm.tol1(i256 %in1, i256 %in2, i256 %is_first)	Send messages to L1
code_source	0	0xFFFE	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	address	staticcall	@llvm.syncvm.context(i256 %param) ; param == 2 (see SyncVM.h)	Largely to be able to catch “delegatecalls” in system contracts (by comparing this == code_source)
precompile(in1, ergs_to_burn, out0)	in1 (u256)	0xFFFD	-	ergs_to_burn (u32)	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	out0	staticcall	@llvm.syncvm.precompile(i256 %in1, i256 %ergs)	way to trigger call to precompile in VM
decommit(versioned_hash, ergs_to_burn, out0)	versioned_hash (u256)	0xFFDD	-	ergs_to_burn (u32)	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	out0	staticcall	saves the result pointer to @ptr_decommit	way to trigger decommit in VM
meta	0	0xFFFC	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	u256 tight packing	staticcall	@llvm.syncvm.context(i256 %param) ; param == 3 (see SyncVM.h)	way to trigger call to meta information about some small pieces of the state in VM
mimic_call(to, abi_data, implicit r5 = who to mimic)	who_to_call	0xFFFB	0	abi_data	who_to_mimic	0	0	WILL mess up the registers and WILL use r1-r4 for our standard ABI convention and r5 for the extra who_to_mimic argument	any in the code; mimic call in the bytecode	Runtime {i256, i1} __mimiccall(i256, i256, i256, {i256, i1})
system_mimic_call(to, abi_data, implicit r3, r4, r5 = who to mimic)	who_to_call	0xFFFA	0	abi_data	who_to_mimic	value_to_put_into_r3	value_to_put_into_r4	WILL mess up the registers and WILL use r1-r4 for our standard ABI convention and r5 for the extra who_to_mimic argument	any in the code; mimic call in the bytecode	Runtime *{i256, i1} __mimiccall(i256, i256, i256, {i256, i1})
mimic_call_byref(to, ACTIVE_PTR, implicit r5 = who to mimic)	who_to_call	0xFFF9	0	0	who_to_mimic	0	0	WILL mess up the registers and WILL use r1-r4 for our standard ABI convention and r5 for the extra who_to_mimic argument	any in the code; mimic call in the bytecode	Runtime {i256, i1} __mimiccall(i8 addrspace(3), i256, i256, {i256, i1})	Same as one above, but takes ABI data from ACTIVE_PTR
system_mimic_call_byref(to, ACTIVE_PTR, implicit r3, r4, r5 = who to mimic)	who_to_call	0xFFF8	0	0	who_to_mimic	value_to_put_into_r3	value_to_put_into_r4	WILL mess up the registers and WILL use r1-r4 for our standard ABI convention and r5 for the extra who_to_mimic argument	any in the code; mimic call in the bytecode	Runtime {i256, i1} __mimiccall(i8 addrspace(3), i256, i256, {i256, i1})	Same as one above, but takes ABI data from ACTIVE_PTR
raw_far_call	who_to_call	0xFFF7	0	0	abi_data (CAN be with “to system = true”)	output_offset	output_length	Same as for EVM call	call	static	delegate (the call type is preserved) It’s very similar to “system_call” described below, but for the cases when we only need to have to_system = true set in ABI (responsibility of the user, NOT the compiler), but we do not actually need to pass anything through r3 and r4 (so we can save on setting them or zeroing them, whatever)
raw_far_call_byref	who_to_call	0xFFF6	0	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	output_offset	output_length	Same as for EVM call	call	static	delegate (the call type is preserved) Same as one above, but takes ABI data from ACTIVE_PTR
system_call	who_to_call	0xFFF5	value_to_put_into_r3 (only for call with 7 arguments)	value_to_put_into_r4	abi_data (MUST have “to system” set)	value_to_put_into_r5	value_to_put_into_r6	Same as for EVM call	call	static	delegate (the call type is preserved) to call system contracts, like MSG_VALUE_SIMULATOR. We may need 4 different formal definitions for cases when we would want to have integer/ptr in r3 and r4
system_call_byref	who_to_call	0xFFF4	value_to_put_into_r3 (only for call with 7 arguments)	value_to_put_into_r4	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	value_to_put_into_r5	value_to_put_into_r6	Same as for EVM call	call	static	delegate (the call type is preserved) to call system contracts, like MSG_VALUE_SIMULATOR. We may need 4 different formal definitions for cases when we would want to have integer/ptr in r3 and r4 Same as one above, but takes ABI data from ACTIVE_PTR
set_context_u128	0	0xFFF3	value	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	-	call
set_pubdata_price	in1	0xFFF2	0	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	-	call	context.set_ergs_per_pubdata in1 in assembly
increment_tx_counter	0	0xFFF1	0	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	-	call	context.inc_tx_num in assembly
ptr_calldata	0	0xFFF0	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	one passed in r1 on far_call to the callee (save in very first instructions on entry)	Loads as INTEGER!
call_flags	0	0xFFEF	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	one passed in r2 on far_call to the callee (save in very first instructions on entry)
ptr_return_data	0	0xFFEE	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	one passed in r1 on return from far_call back to the caller (save in very first instruction in the corresponding branch!)	Loads as INTEGER!
event_initialize	in1	0xFFED	-	in2	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		call
event_write	in1	0xFFEC	-	in2	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		call
load_calldata_into_active_ptr	0	0xFFEB	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	loads value of @calldataptr (from r1 at the entry point of the contract into virtual ACTIVE_PTR)ACTIVE_PTR
load_returndata_into_active_ptr	0	0xFFEA	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	loads value of the latest @returndataptr (from the r1 at the point of return from the child into virtual ACTIVE_PTR)
load_decommit_into_active_ptr	0	0xFFDC	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	loads value of the @ptr_decommit into virtual ACTIVE_PTR
ptr_add_into_active	in1	0xFFE9	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	performs ptr.add ACTIVE_PTR, in1, ACTIVE_PTR
ptr_shrink_into_active	in1	0xFFE8	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	performs ptr.shrink ACTIVE_PTR, in1, ACTIVE_PTR
ptr_pack_into_active	in1	0xFFE7	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	performs ptr.pack ACTIVE_PTR, in1, ACTIVE_PTR
multiplication_high	in1	0xFFE6	-	in2	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0	Returns the higher register (the overflown part)	staticcall
extra_abi_data	in1	0xFFE5	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	ones passed in r3-r12 on far_call to the callee (saved in the very first instructions in the entry)
ptr_data_load	offset	0xFFE4	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall
ptr_data_copy	destination	0xFFE3	-	source	size	0	0		staticcall
ptr_data_size	0	0xFFE2	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall
active_ptr_swap	index_1	0xFFD9	-	index_2	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	swaps active pointers
const_array_declare	index(constant)	0xFFE1	-	size(constant)	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall
const_array_set	index(constant)	0xFFE0	-	offset(constant)	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	value(constant)	0		staticcall
const_array_finalize	index(constant)	0xFFDF	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall
const_array_get	index(constant)	0xFFDE	-	offset	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall
return_forward	0	0xFFDB	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	generates a return forwarding the active pointer
revert_forward	0	0xFFDA	-	0	0xFFFF to prevent optimizing out by Yul	0	0		staticcall	generates a revert forwarding the active pointer

Requirements for calling system contracts

By default, all system contracts up to the address 0xFFFF require that the call was done via system call (i.e. call_flags&2 != 0 .

Exceptions:

• BOOTLOADER_FORMAL address as the users need to be able to send money there.

Meaning of ABI params:

• MSG_VALUE_SIMULATOR: extra_abi_data_1 = value || whether_the_call_is_system, where || denotes the concatenation, value should occupy first 128 bits, while whether_the_call_is_system is a 1-bit flag that denotes whether the call should be a system call. extra_abi_data_2 is the address of the callee.

• No meaning for the rest