Re: [RFC v2 1/1] fpga-region: Add generic IOCTL interface for runtime FPGA programming

[Xu Yilun]

> >> I'm currently working on an RFC to propose a rework of the fpga
> >> subsystem in order to make it more aligned with the device model. One of
> >> the ideas I'm experimenting with is having a bus (struct bus_type) for
> >> fpga regions (devices) so that we can have region drivers that could
> >> handle internal device enumeration/management whenever a new region is
> >> configured on the fabric. Does this make sense in your opinions?
> > 
> > mm.. I didn't fully understand the need to have a region driver, what's
> > the issue to solve?
> > 
> 
> Sorry for the late reply. The general idea is to handle regions in a way
> that is more aligned with the device model without having to resort to
> extra ops and additional devices.
> 
> Having an fpga bus would allow us to handle enumeration using proper
> region drivers (in the device model sense of the term, i.e., struct
> device_driver) instead of derived region devices.
> 
> On second thought, I think having a reconfiguration interface at the
> fpga manager level is sounder than having it at the region level (one
> for each region).

I don't think so. A firmware image may contain enumeration info, e.g.
of-fpga-region. And I think the fpga-region should parse these
enumeration info rather than fpga manager. fpga manager should only deal
with content writing stuff and not be exposed to user.

> 
> With that in place, the fpga manager could request a firmware image,
> parse it, write the content into the fpga configuration memory, and then
> instantiate the region devices and add them to its fpga bus. Then, if

I think an fpga-region is always there no matter it is cleared, being
reprogrammed, or working. So I don't think an fpga-region needs to be
re-instantated. The sub devices inside fpga-region needs
re-instantating. That's also why I'm hesitating to fpga bus.

Thanks,
Yilun

> there is a match, a specific region driver can handle the enumeration
> within the new region.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> Thanks,
> Marco
>