Re: [PATCH v3 2/6] dmaengine: Add interleaved cyclic transaction type

[Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>]

Hello,

On Thu, Jan 23, 2020 at 10:51:42AM +0200, Peter Ujfalusi wrote:
> On 23/01/2020 10.43, Vinod Koul wrote:
> > On 23-01-20, 10:03, Peter Ujfalusi wrote:
> >> On 23/01/2020 4.29, Laurent Pinchart wrote:
> >>> The new interleaved cyclic transaction type combines interleaved and
> >>> cycle transactions. It is designed for DMA engines that back display
> >>> controllers, where the same 2D frame needs to be output to the display
> >>> until a new frame is available.
> >>>
> >>> Suggested-by: Vinod Koul <vkoul@kernel.org>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>
> >>> ---
> >>>  drivers/dma/dmaengine.c   |  8 +++++++-
> >>>  include/linux/dmaengine.h | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
> >>>  2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >>>
> >>> diff --git a/drivers/dma/dmaengine.c b/drivers/dma/dmaengine.c
> >>> index 03ac4b96117c..4ffb98a47f31 100644
> >>> --- a/drivers/dma/dmaengine.c
> >>> +++ b/drivers/dma/dmaengine.c
> >>> @@ -981,7 +981,13 @@ int dma_async_device_register(struct dma_device *device)
> >>>  			"DMA_INTERLEAVE");
> >>>  		return -EIO;
> >>>  	}
> >>> -
> >>> +	if (dma_has_cap(DMA_INTERLEAVE_CYCLIC, device->cap_mask) &&
> >>> +	    !device->device_prep_interleaved_cyclic) {
> >>> +		dev_err(device->dev,
> >>> +			"Device claims capability %s, but op is not defined\n",
> >>> +			"DMA_INTERLEAVE_CYCLIC");
> >>> +		return -EIO;
> >>> +	}
> >>>  
> >>>  	if (!device->device_tx_status) {
> >>>  		dev_err(device->dev, "Device tx_status is not defined\n");
> >>> diff --git a/include/linux/dmaengine.h b/include/linux/dmaengine.h
> >>> index 8fcdee1c0cf9..e9af3bf835cb 100644
> >>> --- a/include/linux/dmaengine.h
> >>> +++ b/include/linux/dmaengine.h
> >>> @@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ enum dma_transaction_type {
> >>>  	DMA_SLAVE,
> >>>  	DMA_CYCLIC,
> >>>  	DMA_INTERLEAVE,
> >>> +	DMA_INTERLEAVE_CYCLIC,
> >>>  /* last transaction type for creation of the capabilities mask */
> >>>  	DMA_TX_TYPE_END,
> >>>  };
> >>> @@ -701,6 +702,10 @@ struct dma_filter {
> >>>   *	The function takes a buffer of size buf_len. The callback function will
> >>>   *	be called after period_len bytes have been transferred.
> >>>   * @device_prep_interleaved_dma: Transfer expression in a generic way.
> >>> + * @device_prep_interleaved_cyclic: prepares an interleaved cyclic transfer.
> >>> + *	This is similar to @device_prep_interleaved_dma, but the transfer is
> >>> + *	repeated until a new transfer is issued. This transfer type is meant
> >>> + *	for display.
> >>
> >> I think capture (camera) is another potential beneficiary of this.

Possibly, although in the camera case I'd rather have the hardware stop
if there's no more buffer. Requiring a buffer to always be present is
annoying from a userspace point of view. For display it's different, if
userspace doesn't submit a new frame, the same frame should keep being
displayed on the screen.

> >> So you don't need to terminate the running interleaved_cyclic and start
> >> a new one, but prepare and issue a new one, which would
> >> terminate/replace the currently running cyclic interleaved DMA?

Correct.

> > Why not explicitly terminate the transfer and start when a new one is
> > issued. That can be common usage for audio and display..
> 
> Yes, this is what I'm asking. The cyclic transfer is running and in
> order to start the new transfer, the previous should stop. But in cyclic
> case it is not going to happen unless it is terminated.
> 
> When one would want to have different interleaved transfer the display
> (or capture )IP needs to be reconfigured as well. The the would need to
> be terminated anyways to avoid interpreting data in a wrong way.

The use case here is not to switch to a new configuration, but to switch
to a new buffer. If the transfer had to be terminated manually first,
the DMA engine would potentially miss a frame, which is not acceptable.
We need an atomic way to switch to the next transfer.

-- 
Regards,

Laurent Pinchart