[PATCH v10 07/10] Documentation: PCI: endpoint: Document vNTB DMA export

From: Koichiro Den

Date: Fri Nov 13 2026 - 14:23:12 EST


Document the dma_bar attribute and the requirements for exporting
endpoint DMA channels. Also document how the selected BAR may be shared
with an MW.

Reviewed-by: Frank Li <Frank.Li@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Koichiro Den <den@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
Changes in v10:
- Remove the IRQ-allocation fallback description now that DMA uses slot 1.
R-b tag is kept. Only patch 9 should need another review.
- Link to v9: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20261110082459.1798763-8-den@xxxxxxxxxxxxx/

Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst | 33 +++++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst b/Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst
index 3679f5c30254..f53cd0fe91b0 100644
--- a/Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst
+++ b/Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst
@@ -90,9 +90,9 @@ of the function device and is populated with the following NTB specific
attributes that can be configured by the user::

# ls functions/pci_epf_vntb/func1/pci_epf_vntb.0/
- ctrl_bar db_count mw1_bar mw2_bar mw3_bar mw4_bar spad_count
- db_bar mw1 mw2 mw3 mw4 num_mws vbus_number
- vntb_vid vntb_pid
+ ctrl_bar dma_bar mw2 mw3_bar num_mws vntb_pid
+ db_bar mw1 mw2_bar mw4 spad_count vntb_vid
+ db_count mw1_bar mw3 mw4_bar vbus_number

A sample configuration for NTB function is given below::

@@ -105,6 +105,33 @@ By default, each construct is assigned a BAR, as needed and in order.
Should a specific BAR setup be required by the platform, BAR may be assigned
to each construct using the related ``XYZ_bar`` entry.

+To export DMA channels, set ``dma_bar`` before binding the function.
+For example::
+
+ # echo 5 > functions/pci_epf_vntb/func1/pci_epf_vntb.0/dma_bar
+
+This currently supports the unrolled DesignWare eDMA layout. The EPC must
+support subrange and dynamic inbound mappings.
+
+``dma_bar`` cannot select the control or doorbell BAR.
+Any rounded-up BAR tail is scratch-backed.
+
+Leaving ``dma_bar`` unassigned disables DMA export.
+With a separate DMA BAR, an older ``ntb_hw_epf`` peer can ignore the extension
+and continue without DMA. A peer that understands the extension also continues
+without DMA if the advertised type is unavailable.
+
+If no spare BAR is available, ``dma_bar`` can select the BAR of one MW instead.
+DMA resources then follow that MW. In this configuration:
+
+* The configured MW size must be a power of two and meet the EPC's alignment
+ requirement. Without the fallback described below, the MW translation must
+ cover that full size. Smaller requests are rejected, including those caused
+ by the host's ``max_mw_size`` setting for ``ntb_transport``.
+* Older peers treat the whole BAR as an MW. The function detects this at
+ link-up and then exposes the whole BAR as the MW, so NTB still works
+ without DMA.
+
A sample configuration for virtual NTB driver for virtual PCI bus::

# echo 0x1957 > functions/pci_epf_vntb/func1/pci_epf_vntb.0/vntb_vid
--
2.54.0