Re: [PATCH 1/2] Add a common struct clk

[Russell King - ARM Linux]

On Fri, Jan 07, 2011 at 08:10:20AM +0800, Jeremy Kerr wrote:
> Hi Richard,
> 
> > > > +struct clk {
> > > > +	const struct clk_ops	*ops;
> > > > +	unsigned int		enable_count;
> > > > +	int			flags;
> > > > +	union {
> > > > +		struct mutex	mutex;
> > > > +		spinlock_t	spinlock;
> > > > +	} lock;
> > > > +};
> > > 
> > > Here you have a "polymorphic" lock, where the clock instance knows
> > > which type it is supposed to be.  I got flak from David Miller and
> > > 
> > > others trying to do the same thing with the mdio_bus:
> > >    http://kerneltrap.org/mailarchive/linux-netdev/2010/7/6/6280618
> > > 
> > > The criticism, applied to your case, is that the clk_enable() caller
> > > cannot know whether it is safe to make the call or not. I was told,
> > > "there has got to be a better way."
> > 
> > Note that this is not "new".  Currently there is no convention available
> > if clk_enable sleeps or not.  See e.g.
> > http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.arm.kernel/100744
> 
> As Uwe says, the common clock does not change these semantics; I would prefer 
> to keep the driver API changes at a minimum with these patches.
> 
> But yes, it would be a good idea to:
> 
>  * introduce clk_enable_atomic, which requires clk->flags & CLK_ATOMIC
> 
>  * add might_sleep to clk_enable(), encouraging clk uses in atomic contexts
>    to switch to clk_enable_atomic.
> 
> We'd still be able to handle CLK_ATOMIC clocks in clk_enable(), so the 
> enforcement only needs to be one-way.

I think the atomic stuff should be the norm through and through - otherwise
we're going to end up with problems in drivers where they use the _atomic()
stuff, but the clocks behind are coded to sleep.

I hate the GPIO APIs for doing this _cansleep crap as the decision of
whether to use the _cansleep or normal APIs normally can't be made at
the time when the API is used, but sometime later.  Many people just use
the non-_cansleep versions irrespective of the context they're in -
which is unnecessarily restrictive - consider what happens if you then
have that driver use a GPIO on an I2C peripheral...

By inventing two interfaces, you're asking for the same thing to happen
with clocks.
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