Re: [PATCH v4 09/12] dt-bindings: PM / OPP: add opp-throttlers property

[Rob Herring]

On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 2:03 PM Matthias Kaehlcke <mka@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 11:50:37AM -0700, Matthias Kaehlcke wrote:
> > Hi Rob,
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 09:33:41AM -0600, Rob Herring wrote:
> > > On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 06:52:34PM -0700, Matthias Kaehlcke wrote:
> > > > The optional opp-throttlers property is used to configure the throttlers
> > > > (see drivers/misc/throttler/*) that use a given OPP to throttle the
> > > > corresponding device(s).
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Matthias Kaehlcke <mka@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > > Reviewed-by: Brian Norris <briannorris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > > ---
> > > > Changes in v4:
> > > > - added 'Reviewed-by: Brian Norris <briannorris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>' tag
> > > >
> > > > Changes in v3:
> > > > - none
> > > >
> > > > Changes in v2:
> > > > - patch added to series
> > > > ---
> > > >  Documentation/devicetree/bindings/opp/opp.txt | 3 +++
> > > >  1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)
> > > >
> > > > diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/opp/opp.txt b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/opp/opp.txt
> > > > index c396c4c0af92..747e79740c75 100644
> > > > --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/opp/opp.txt
> > > > +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/opp/opp.txt
> > > > @@ -170,6 +170,9 @@ Optional properties:
> > > >    functioning of the current device at the current OPP (where this property is
> > > >    present).
> > > >
> > > > +- opp-throttlers: Array with phandles of throttlers that use this OPP to
> > > > +  throttle the corresponding device(s).
> > > > +
> > >
> > > I think it would be better to make this a boolean for each OPP entry and
> > > then add "operating-points-v2" property to the EC node to point to the
> > > OPP table.
> >
> > Thanks for your suggestion. "operating-points-v2" would have to be an
> > array of phandles, a single thottler can have multiple throttling
> > devices.

I don't see any issue with allowing that.

> > > Unless there is some need for a different throttler for each OPP entry?
> >
> > Having the option to use different OPPs per throttler would be my
> > preference. E.g. there could be configurations where one throttler
> > only interacts with certain throttling devices and another one
> > with others.

Your terminology is confusing. By "throttling device", you mean an OPP
table (or OPP entry) which is not a device. OPPs are just a table of
state information.

> > I see another option to achieve this, if you don't like the reference
> > to the throttlers in the OPPs. The throttler could have a list of OPPs
> > (as phandles, not frequencies as in v1). The main inconvenient I see
> > here is that the used OPPs would need a label, which they usually
> > don't have. Maybe this is no soooo bad, since the label could be added
> > at device level, only on devices that use a throttler, so it wouldn't
> > clutter the platform .dts files.
> >
> > This could be a single array with all OPPs from different devices,
> > or multiple arrays, one for each throttling device:
> >
> > throttler-opps-0 = <&cpu0_opp_03 &cpu0_opp_05>;
> > throttler-opps-1 = <&gpu_opp_02 &gpu_opp_04>;
> >
> > My preference would be multiple arrays, because it's easier to read.
>
> I take the preference back. The OPPs for each device (group) can be
> clustered within the single array and if needed clarifying comments
> can be added:
>
> throttler-opps = <&cpu0_opp_03 &cpu0_opp_05  /* CPU0 */
>                   &gpu_opp_02 &gpu_opp_04>;  /* GPU */
>
> This is simpler algorithmically and there is no need for an additional
> property indicating the number of OPP groups or probing.

I'm still trying to understand why you would have say throttler-A
wanting to set cpu freq to X and throttler-B wanting to set cpu freq
to Y. There's both the question of why/when would you have 2 or more
throttlers (in DT) and how would you resolve multiple requests.

The whole design of a throttler directly dealing with OPPs especially
for non-cpu devices seems like it is missing some level of
abstraction. What if you want to throttle by some means other than
frequency such as idling cores? I guess abstraction would make it hard
to make things optimal for every platform when in the end you just
want to set specific frequencies on a number of devices. It seems like
a similar situation as early big.LITTLE designs vs. EAS.

Rob