Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: [PATCH RFC 0/2] Generate device tree node for pci devices | From | Tom Rix <> | Date | Sat, 17 Sep 2022 11:36:24 -0700 |
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Frank,
On 9/16/22 7:23 PM, Frank Rowand wrote: > On 9/13/22 16:02, Lizhi Hou wrote: >> On 9/13/22 10:41, Frank Rowand wrote: >>> On 9/13/22 12:10, Lizhi Hou wrote: >>>> On 9/13/22 00:00, Frank Rowand wrote: >>>>> On 8/29/22 16:43, Lizhi Hou wrote: >>>>>> This patch series introduces OF overlay support for PCI devices which >>>>>> primarily addresses two use cases. First, it provides a data driven method >>>>>> to describe hardware peripherals that are present in a PCI endpoint and >>>>>> hence can be accessed by the PCI host. An example device is Xilinx/AMD >>>>>> Alveo PCIe accelerators. Second, it allows reuse of a OF compatible >>>>>> driver -- often used in SoC platforms -- in a PCI host based system. An >>>>>> example device is Microchip LAN9662 Ethernet Controller. >>>>>> >>>>>> This patch series consolidates previous efforts to define such an >>>>>> infrastructure: >>>>>> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220305052304.726050-1-lizhi.hou@xilinx.com/ >>>>>> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220427094502.456111-1-clement.leger@bootlin.com/ >>>>>> >>>>>> Normally, the PCI core discovers PCI devices and their BARs using the >>>>>> PCI enumeration process. However, the process does not provide a way to >>>>>> discover the hardware peripherals that are present in a PCI device, and >>>>>> which can be accessed through the PCI BARs. Also, the enumeration process >>>>>> does not provide a way to associate MSI-X vectors of a PCI device with the >>>>>> hardware peripherals that are present in the device. PCI device drivers >>>>>> often use header files to describe the hardware peripherals and their >>>>>> resources as there is no standard data driven way to do so. This patch >>>>>> series proposes to use flattened device tree blob to describe the >>>>>> peripherals in a data driven way. Based on previous discussion, using >>>>>> device tree overlay is the best way to unflatten the blob and populate >>>>>> platform devices. To use device tree overlay, there are three obvious >>>>>> problems that need to be resolved. >>>>>> >>>>>> First, we need to create a base tree for non-DT system such as x86_64. A >>>>>> patch series has been submitted for this: >>>>>> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220624034327.2542112-1-frowand.list@gmail.com/ >>>>>> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220216050056.311496-1-lizhi.hou@xilinx.com/ >>>>>> >>>>>> Second, a device tree node corresponding to the PCI endpoint is required >>>>>> for overlaying the flattened device tree blob for that PCI endpoint. >>>>>> Because PCI is a self-discoverable bus, a device tree node is usually not >>>>>> created for PCI devices. This series adds support to generate a device >>>>>> tree node for a PCI device which advertises itself using PCI quirks >>>>>> infrastructure. >>>>>> >>>>>> Third, we need to generate device tree nodes for PCI bridges since a child >>>>>> PCI endpoint may choose to have a device tree node created. >>>>>> >>>>>> This patch series is made up of two patches. >>>>>> >>>>>> The first patch is adding OF interface to allocate an OF node. It is copied >>>>>> from: >>>>>> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220620104123.341054-5-clement.leger@bootlin.com/ >>>>>> >>>>>> The second patch introduces a kernel option, CONFIG_PCI_OF. When the option >>>>>> is turned on, the kernel will generate device tree nodes for all PCI >>>>>> bridges unconditionally. The patch also shows how to use the PCI quirks >>>>>> infrastructure, DECLARE_PCI_FIXUP_FINAL to generate a device tree node for >>>>>> a device. Specifically, the patch generates a device tree node for Xilinx >>>>>> Alveo U50 PCIe accelerator device. The generated device tree nodes do not >>>>>> have any property. Future patches will add the necessary properties. >>>>>> >>>>>> Clément Léger (1): >>>>>> of: dynamic: add of_node_alloc() >>>>>> >>>>>> Lizhi Hou (1): >>>>>> pci: create device tree node for selected devices >>>>>> >>>>>> drivers/of/dynamic.c | 50 +++++++++++++---- >>>>>> drivers/pci/Kconfig | 11 ++++ >>>>>> drivers/pci/bus.c | 2 + >>>>>> drivers/pci/msi/irqdomain.c | 6 +- >>>>>> drivers/pci/of.c | 106 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >>>>>> drivers/pci/pci-driver.c | 3 +- >>>>>> drivers/pci/pci.h | 16 ++++++ >>>>>> drivers/pci/quirks.c | 11 ++++ >>>>>> drivers/pci/remove.c | 1 + >>>>>> include/linux/of.h | 7 +++ >>>>>> 10 files changed, 200 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-) >>>>>> >>>>> The patch description leaves out the most important piece of information. >>>>> >>>>> The device located at the PCI endpoint is implemented via FPGA >>>>> - which is programmed after Linux boots (or somewhere late in the boot process) >>>>> - (A) and thus can not be described by static data available pre-boot because >>>>> it is dynamic (and the FPGA program will often change while the Linux >>>>> kernel is already booted >>>>> - (B) can be described by static data available pre-boot because the FPGA >>>>> program will always be the same for this device on this system >>>>> >>>>> I am not positive what part of what I wrote above is correct and would appreciate >>>>> some confirmation of what is correct or incorrect. >>>> There are 2 series devices rely on this patch: >>>> >>>> 1) Xilinx Alveo Accelerator cards (FPGA based device) >>>> >>>> 2) lan9662 PCIe card >>>> >>>> please see: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220427094502.456111-1-clement.leger@bootlin.com/ >>> Thanks. Please include this information in future versions of the patch series. >>> >>> For device 2 I have strongly recommended using pre-boot apply of the overlay to the base >>> device tree. I realize that this suggestion is only a partial solution if one wants to >>> use hotplug to change system configuration (as opposed to using hotplug only to replace >>> an existing device (eg a broken device) with another instance of the same device). I >>> also realize that this increased the system administration overhead. On the other hand >>> an overlay based solution is likely to be fragile and possibly flaky. >> Can you clarify the pre-boot apply approach? How will it work for PCI devices? >>>> For Xilinx Alveo device, it is (A). The FPGA partitions can be programmed dynamically after boot. >>> I looked at the Xilinx Alveo web page, and there are a variety of types of Alveo cards >>> available. So the answer to my next question may vary by type of card. >>> >>> Is it expected that the fpga program on a given card will change frequently (eg multiple >>> times per day), where the changed program results in a new device that would require a >>> different hardware description in the device tree? >> Different images may be loaded to a FPGA partition several times a >> day. The PCI topology (Device IDs, BARs, MSIx, etc) does not change. >> New IPs may appear (and old IPs may disappear) on the BARs when a new >> image is loaded. We would like to use flattened device tree to >> describe the IPs on the BARs. > That was kind of a non-answer. I know that images _may_ change at > some frequency. I was trying to get a sense of whether the images > were _likely_ to be changing on a frequent basis for these types > of boards, or whether frequent image changes are likely to be a > rare edge use case. > > If there is a good design for the 99.999% use case that does not > support the 0.001% use case then it may be better to not create > an inferior design that also supports the 0.001% use case. > > I hope that gives a better idea of the reason why I was asking the > question and how the answer could impact design and implementation > decisions. > > As a point of reference, some other fpga users have indicated a > desire to change images many times per second. The current driver > and overlay architecture did not seem to me to be a good match to > that use case (depending on the definition of "many").
I would rather we cover 99.999% now.
My understanding is that the subdevices are flexible but fairly static and the frequency Lizhi mentions would cover development uses.
In production I would expect the image to change about once a year with the same order of magnitude as firmware.
Can you point me to a reference of a user case with high frequency images changing that also depends on pci io device changing?
Tom
> -Frank > >> Thanks, >> >> Lizhi >> >>> Or is the fpga program expected to change on an infrequent basis (eg monthly, quarterly, >>> annually), in the same way as device firmware and operating systems are updated on a regular >>> basis for bug fixes and new functionality? >>> >>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> Lzhi >>>> >>>>> -Frank
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