Re: [PATCH v15 0/6] usb: misc: Add onboard_usb_hub driver

[Dmitry Baryshkov]

On Tue, 27 Jul 2021 at 03:41, Matthias Kaehlcke <mka@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> This series adds:
> - the onboard_usb_hub_driver
> - glue in the xhci-plat driver to create and destroy the
>   onboard_usb_hub platform devices if needed
> - a device tree binding for the Realtek RTS5411 USB hub controller
> - device tree changes that add RTS5411 entries for the QCA SC7180
>   based boards trogdor and lazor
> - a couple of stubs for platform device functions to avoid
>   unresolved symbols with certain kernel configs
>
> The main issue the driver addresses is that a USB hub needs to be
> powered before it can be discovered. For discrete onboard hubs (an
> example for such a hub is the Realtek RTS5411) this is often solved
> by supplying the hub with an 'always-on' regulator, which is kind
> of a hack. Some onboard hubs may require further initialization
> steps, like changing the state of a GPIO or enabling a clock, which
> requires even more hacks. This driver creates a platform device
> representing the hub which performs the necessary initialization.
> Currently it only supports switching on a single regulator, support
> for multiple regulators or other actions can be added as needed.
> Different initialization sequences can be supported based on the
> compatible string.

I have the feeling that you might want to check if you can use pwrseq
subsystem being proposed at
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-arm-msm/20211006035407.1147909-1-dmitry.baryshkov@xxxxxxxxxx/.
It has been created for exactly the same reason of handling complex
power up/down requirements in a bus-neutral way. So instead of
creating an onboard-usb-hub, you might want to populate the hub node
with the reference to pwrseq device and make usb core call into
pwrseq. How does that sound to you?

>
> Besides performing the initialization the driver can be configured
> to power the hub off during system suspend. This can help to extend
> battery life on battery powered devices which have no requirements
> to keep the hub powered during suspend. The driver can also be
> configured to leave the hub powered when a wakeup capable USB device
> is connected when suspending, and power it off otherwise.


-- 
With best wishes
Dmitry