Re: [PATCH v2 2/3] docs: i2c: i2c-topology: reorder sections more logically

[Peter Rosin]

2022-08-22 at 11:10, luca.ceresoli@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> From: Luca Ceresoli <luca.ceresoli@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> The sequence of sections is a bit confusing here:
> 
>  * we list the mux locking scheme for existing drivers before introducing
>    what mux locking schemes are
>  * we list the caveats for each locking scheme (which are tricky) before
>    the example of the simple use case
> 
> Restructure it entirely with the following logic:
> 
>  * Intro ("I2C muxes and complex topologies")
>  * Locking
>    - mux-locked
>      - example
>      - caveats
>    - parent-locked
>      - example
>      - caveats
>  * Complex examples
>  * Mux type of existing device drivers
> 
> While there, also apply some other improvements:
> 
>  * convert the caveat list from a table (with only one column carrying
>    content) to a bullet list.

I want to be able to refer to a specific caveat if/when someone has
questions, so I prefer to have the caveats "named". Not that this is
very frequent, but if we do remove the tags now I'm sure I'm going
to need them a few minutes later...

>  * add a small introductory text to bridge the gap from listing the use
>    cases to telling about the hardware components to handle them and then
>    the device drivers that implement those.
>  * make empty lines usage more uniform
> 
> Signed-off-by: Luca Ceresoli <luca.ceresoli@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> ---
> 
> Changed in v2: none
> ---
>  Documentation/i2c/i2c-topology.rst | 206 +++++++++++++++--------------
>  1 file changed, 109 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/i2c/i2c-topology.rst b/Documentation/i2c/i2c-topology.rst
> index 1b11535c8946..6f2da7f386fd 100644
> --- a/Documentation/i2c/i2c-topology.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/i2c/i2c-topology.rst
> @@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ Some example use cases are:
>     from the I2C bus, at least most of the time, and sits behind a gate
>     that has to be operated before the device can be accessed.
>  
> -These constructs are represented as I2C adapter trees by Linux, where
> +Several types of hardware components such as I2C muxes, I2C gates and I2C
> +arbitrators allow to handle such needs.
> +
> +These components are represented as I2C adapter trees by Linux, where
>  each adapter has a parent adapter (except the root adapter) and zero or
>  more child adapters. The root adapter is the actual adapter that issues
>  I2C transfers, and all adapters with a parent are part of an "i2c-mux"
> @@ -34,46 +37,7 @@ Locking
>  =======
>  
>  There are two variants of locking available to I2C muxes, they can be
> -mux-locked or parent-locked muxes. As is evident from below, it can be
> -useful to know if a mux is mux-locked or if it is parent-locked. The
> -following list was correct at the time of writing:
> -
> -In drivers/i2c/muxes/:
> -
> -======================    =============================================
> -i2c-arb-gpio-challenge    Parent-locked
> -i2c-mux-gpio              Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> -                          all involved gpio pins are controlled by the
> -                          same I2C root adapter that they mux.
> -i2c-mux-gpmux             Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> -                          specified in device-tree.
> -i2c-mux-ltc4306           Mux-locked
> -i2c-mux-mlxcpld           Parent-locked
> -i2c-mux-pca9541           Parent-locked
> -i2c-mux-pca954x           Parent-locked
> -i2c-mux-pinctrl           Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> -                          all involved pinctrl devices are controlled
> -                          by the same I2C root adapter that they mux.
> -i2c-mux-reg               Parent-locked
> -======================    =============================================
> -
> -In drivers/iio/:
> -
> -======================    =============================================
> -gyro/mpu3050              Mux-locked
> -imu/inv_mpu6050/          Mux-locked
> -======================    =============================================
> -
> -In drivers/media/:
> -
> -=======================   =============================================
> -dvb-frontends/lgdt3306a   Mux-locked
> -dvb-frontends/m88ds3103   Parent-locked
> -dvb-frontends/rtl2830     Parent-locked
> -dvb-frontends/rtl2832     Mux-locked
> -dvb-frontends/si2168      Mux-locked
> -usb/cx231xx/              Parent-locked
> -=======================   =============================================
> +mux-locked or parent-locked muxes.
>  
>  
>  Mux-locked muxes
> @@ -88,40 +52,8 @@ full transaction, unrelated I2C transfers may interleave the different
>  stages of the transaction. This has the benefit that the mux driver
>  may be easier and cleaner to implement, but it has some caveats.
>  
> -==== =====================================================================
> -ML1. If you build a topology with a mux-locked mux being the parent
> -     of a parent-locked mux, this might break the expectation from the
> -     parent-locked mux that the root adapter is locked during the
> -     transaction.
> -
> -ML2. It is not safe to build arbitrary topologies with two (or more)
> -     mux-locked muxes that are not siblings, when there are address
> -     collisions between the devices on the child adapters of these
> -     non-sibling muxes.
> -
> -     I.e. the select-transfer-deselect transaction targeting e.g. device
> -     address 0x42 behind mux-one may be interleaved with a similar
> -     operation targeting device address 0x42 behind mux-two. The
> -     intension with such a topology would in this hypothetical example
> -     be that mux-one and mux-two should not be selected simultaneously,
> -     but mux-locked muxes do not guarantee that in all topologies.
> -
> -ML3. A mux-locked mux cannot be used by a driver for auto-closing
> -     gates/muxes, i.e. something that closes automatically after a given
> -     number (one, in most cases) of I2C transfers. Unrelated I2C transfers
> -     may creep in and close prematurely.
> -
> -ML4. If any non-I2C operation in the mux driver changes the I2C mux state,
> -     the driver has to lock the root adapter during that operation.
> -     Otherwise garbage may appear on the bus as seen from devices
> -     behind the mux, when an unrelated I2C transfer is in flight during
> -     the non-I2C mux-changing operation.
> -==== =====================================================================
> -
> -
>  Mux-locked Example
> -------------------
> -
> +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  
>  ::
>  
> @@ -152,6 +84,39 @@ This means that accesses to D2 are lockout out for the full duration
>  of the entire operation. But accesses to D3 are possibly interleaved
>  at any point.
>  
> +Mux-locked caveats
> +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> +
> +When using a mux-locked mux, be aware of the following restrictions:
> +
> +* If you build a topology with a mux-locked mux being the parent
> +  of a parent-locked mux, this might break the expectation from the
> +  parent-locked mux that the root adapter is locked during the
> +  transaction.
> +
> +* It is not safe to build arbitrary topologies with two (or more)
> +  mux-locked muxes that are not siblings, when there are address
> +  collisions between the devices on the child adapters of these
> +  non-sibling muxes.
> +
> +  I.e. the select-transfer-deselect transaction targeting e.g. device
> +  address 0x42 behind mux-one may be interleaved with a similar
> +  operation targeting device address 0x42 behind mux-two. The
> +  intension with such a topology would in this hypothetical example
> +  be that mux-one and mux-two should not be selected simultaneously,
> +  but mux-locked muxes do not guarantee that in all topologies.
> +
> +* A mux-locked mux cannot be used by a driver for auto-closing
> +  gates/muxes, i.e. something that closes automatically after a given
> +  number (one, in most cases) of I2C transfers. Unrelated I2C transfers
> +  may creep in and close prematurely.
> +
> +* If any non-I2C operation in the mux driver changes the I2C mux state,
> +  the driver has to lock the root adapter during that operation.
> +  Otherwise garbage may appear on the bus as seen from devices
> +  behind the mux, when an unrelated I2C transfer is in flight during
> +  the non-I2C mux-changing operation.
> +
>  
>  Parent-locked muxes
>  -------------------
> @@ -160,28 +125,10 @@ Parent-locked muxes lock the parent adapter during the full select-
>  transfer-deselect transaction. The implication is that the mux driver
>  has to ensure that any and all I2C transfers through that parent
>  adapter during the transaction are unlocked I2C transfers (using e.g.
> -__i2c_transfer), or a deadlock will follow. There are a couple of
> -caveats.
> -
> -==== ====================================================================
> -PL1. If you build a topology with a parent-locked mux being the child
> -     of another mux, this might break a possible assumption from the
> -     child mux that the root adapter is unused between its select op
> -     and the actual transfer (e.g. if the child mux is auto-closing
> -     and the parent mux issues I2C transfers as part of its select).
> -     This is especially the case if the parent mux is mux-locked, but
> -     it may also happen if the parent mux is parent-locked.
> -
> -PL2. If select/deselect calls out to other subsystems such as gpio,
> -     pinctrl, regmap or iio, it is essential that any I2C transfers
> -     caused by these subsystems are unlocked. This can be convoluted to
> -     accomplish, maybe even impossible if an acceptably clean solution
> -     is sought.
> -==== ====================================================================
> -
> +__i2c_transfer), or a deadlock will follow.
>  
>  Parent-locked Example
> ----------------------
> +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  
>  ::
>  
> @@ -211,10 +158,29 @@ When there is an access to D1, this happens:
>   9.  M1 unlocks its parent adapter.
>   10. M1 unlocks muxes on its parent.
>  
> -
>  This means that accesses to both D2 and D3 are locked out for the full
>  duration of the entire operation.
>  
> +Parent-locked Caveats
> +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> +
> +When using a parent-locked mux, be aware of the following restrictions:
> +
> +* If you build a topology with a parent-locked mux being the child
> +  of another mux, this might break a possible assumption from the
> +  child mux that the root adapter is unused between its select op
> +  and the actual transfer (e.g. if the child mux is auto-closing
> +  and the parent mux issues I2C transfers as part of its select).
> +  This is especially the case if the parent mux is mux-locked, but
> +  it may also happen if the parent mux is parent-locked.
> +
> +* If select/deselect calls out to other subsystems such as gpio,
> +  pinctrl, regmap or iio, it is essential that any I2C transfers
> +  caused by these subsystems are unlocked. This can be convoluted to
> +  accomplish, maybe even impossible if an acceptably clean solution
> +  is sought.
> +
> +
>  

Three empty lines is excessive and inconsistent with the other two
===-headers.

Cheers,
Peter

>  Complex Examples
>  ================
> @@ -260,8 +226,10 @@ This is a good topology::
>  When device D1 is accessed, accesses to D2 are locked out for the
>  full duration of the operation (muxes on the top child adapter of M1
>  are locked). But accesses to D3 and D4 are possibly interleaved at
> -any point. Accesses to D3 locks out D1 and D2, but accesses to D4
> -are still possibly interleaved.
> +any point.
> +
> +Accesses to D3 locks out D1 and D2, but accesses to D4 are still possibly
> +interleaved.
>  
>  
>  Mux-locked mux as parent of parent-locked mux
> @@ -393,3 +361,47 @@ This is a good topology::
>  When D1 or D2 are accessed, accesses to D3 and D4 are locked out while
>  accesses to D5 may interleave. When D3 or D4 are accessed, accesses to
>  all other devices are locked out.
> +
> +
> +Mux type of existing device drivers
> +===================================
> +
> +Whether a device is mux-locked or parent-locked depends on its
> +implementation. The following list was correct at the time of writing:
> +
> +In drivers/i2c/muxes/:
> +
> +======================    =============================================
> +i2c-arb-gpio-challenge    Parent-locked
> +i2c-mux-gpio              Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> +                          all involved gpio pins are controlled by the
> +                          same I2C root adapter that they mux.
> +i2c-mux-gpmux             Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> +                          specified in device-tree.
> +i2c-mux-ltc4306           Mux-locked
> +i2c-mux-mlxcpld           Parent-locked
> +i2c-mux-pca9541           Parent-locked
> +i2c-mux-pca954x           Parent-locked
> +i2c-mux-pinctrl           Normally parent-locked, mux-locked iff
> +                          all involved pinctrl devices are controlled
> +                          by the same I2C root adapter that they mux.
> +i2c-mux-reg               Parent-locked
> +======================    =============================================
> +
> +In drivers/iio/:
> +
> +======================    =============================================
> +gyro/mpu3050              Mux-locked
> +imu/inv_mpu6050/          Mux-locked
> +======================    =============================================
> +
> +In drivers/media/:
> +
> +=======================   =============================================
> +dvb-frontends/lgdt3306a   Mux-locked
> +dvb-frontends/m88ds3103   Parent-locked
> +dvb-frontends/rtl2830     Parent-locked
> +dvb-frontends/rtl2832     Mux-locked
> +dvb-frontends/si2168      Mux-locked
> +usb/cx231xx/              Parent-locked
> +=======================   =============================================