Re: [RFC PATCH net-next] dt-bindings: dpll: Add per-channel Ethernet reference property

[Rob Herring]

On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 04:47:35PM +0200, Ivan Vecera wrote:
> In case of SyncE scenario a DPLL channels generates a clean frequency
> synchronous Ethernet clock (SyncE) and feeds it into the NIC transmit
> path. The DPLL channel can be locked either to the recovered clock
> from the NIC's PHY (Loop timing scenario) or to some external signal
> source (e.g. GNSS) (Externally timed scenario).
> 
> The example shows both situations. NIC1 recovers the input SyncE signal
> that is used as an input reference for DPLL channel 1. The channel locks
> to this signal, filters jitter/wander and provides holdover. On output
> the channel feeds a stable, phase-aligned clock back into the NIC1.
> In the 2nd case the DPLL channel 2 locks to a master clock from GNSS and
> feeds a clean SyncE signal into the NIC2.
> 
> 		   +-----------+
> 		+--|   NIC 1   |<-+
> 		|  +-----------+  |
> 		|                 |
> 		| RxCLK     TxCLK |
> 		|                 |
> 		|  +-----------+  |
> 		+->| channel 1 |--+
> +------+	   |-- DPLL ---|
> | GNSS |---------->| channel 2 |--+
> +------+  RefCLK   +-----------+  |
> 				  |
> 			    TxCLK |
> 				  |
> 		   +-----------+  |
> 		   |   NIC 2   |<-+
> 		   +-----------+
> 
> In the situations above the DPLL channels should be registered into
> the DPLL sub-system with the same Clock Identity as PHCs present
> in the NICs (for the example above DPLL channel 1 uses the same
> Clock ID as NIC1's PHC and the channel 2 as NIC2's PHC).
> 
> Because a NIC PHC's Clock ID is derived from the NIC's MAC address,
> add a per-channel property 'ethernet-handle' that specifies a reference
> to a node representing an Ethernet device that uses this channel
> to synchronize its hardware clock. Additionally convert existing
> 'dpll-types' list property to 'dpll-type' per-channel property.
> 
> Suggested-by: Andrew Lunn <andrew@xxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Ivan Vecera <ivecera@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  .../devicetree/bindings/dpll/dpll-device.yaml | 40 ++++++++++++++++---
>  .../bindings/dpll/microchip,zl30731.yaml      | 29 +++++++++++++-
>  2 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/dpll/dpll-device.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/dpll/dpll-device.yaml
> index fb8d7a9a3693f..798c5484657cf 100644
> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/dpll/dpll-device.yaml
> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/dpll/dpll-device.yaml
> @@ -27,11 +27,41 @@ properties:
>    "#size-cells":
>      const: 0
>  
> -  dpll-types:
> -    description: List of DPLL channel types, one per DPLL instance.
> -    $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/non-unique-string-array
> -    items:
> -      enum: [pps, eec]

Dropping this is an ABI change. You can't do that unless you are 
confident there are no users both in existing DTs and OSs.

> +  channels:
> +    type: object
> +    description: DPLL channels
> +    unevaluatedProperties: false
> +
> +    properties:
> +      "#address-cells":
> +        const: 1
> +      "#size-cells":
> +        const: 0
> +
> +    patternProperties:
> +      "^channel@[0-9a-f]+$":
> +        type: object
> +        description: DPLL channel
> +        unevaluatedProperties: false
> +
> +        properties:
> +          reg:
> +            description: Hardware index of the DPLL channel
> +            maxItems: 1
> +
> +          dpll-type:
> +            description: DPLL channel type
> +            $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/string
> +            enum: [pps, eec]
> +
> +          ethernet-handle:
> +            description:
> +              Specifies a reference to a node representing an Ethernet device
> +              that uses this channel to synchronize its hardware clock.
> +            $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/phandle

Seems a bit odd to me that the ethernet controller doesn't have a link 
to this node instead. 

Rob