[RFC PATCH v4 3/6] i2c: add docs to clarify DMA handling

[Wolfram Sang]

Signed-off-by: Wolfram Sang <wsa+renesas at sang-engineering.com>
---
 Documentation/i2c/DMA-considerations | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/i2c/DMA-considerations

diff --git a/Documentation/i2c/DMA-considerations b/Documentation/i2c/DMA-considerations
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a4b4a107102452
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+++ b/Documentation/i2c/DMA-considerations
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+Linux I2C and DMA
+-----------------
+
+Given that I2C is a low-speed bus where largely small messages are transferred,
+it is not considered a prime user of DMA access. At this time of writing, only
+10% of I2C bus master drivers have DMA support implemented. And the vast
+majority of transactions are so small that setting up DMA for it will likely
+add more overhead than a plain PIO transfer.
+
+Therefore, it is *not* mandatory that the buffer of an I2C message is DMA safe.
+It does not seem reasonable to apply additional burdens when the feature is so
+rarely used. However, it is recommended to use a DMA-safe buffer if your
+message size is likely applicable for DMA. Most drivers have this threshold
+around 8 bytes (as of today, this is mostly an educated guess, however). For
+any message of 16 byte or larger, it is probably a really good idea.
+
+If you use such a buffer in a i2c_msg, set the I2C_M_DMA_SAFE flag with it.
+Then, the I2C core and drivers know they can safely operate DMA on it. Note
+that setting this flag makes only sense in kernel space. User space data is
+copied into kernel space anyhow. The I2C core makes sure the destination
+buffers in kernel space are always DMA capable.
+
+FIXME: Need to implement i2c_master_{send|receive}_dma and proper buffers for i2c_smbus_xfer_emulated.
+
+Drivers wishing to implement DMA can use helper functions from the I2C core.
+One gives you a DMA-safe buffer for a given i2c_msg as long as a certain
+threshold is met.
+
+	dma_buf = i2c_get_dma_safe_msg_buf(msg, threshold_in_byte);
+
+If a buffer is returned, it either msg->buf for the I2C_M_DMA_SAFE case or a
+bounce buffer. But you don't need to care about that detail. If NULL is
+returned, the threshold was not met or a bounce buffer could not be allocated.
+Fall back to PIO in that case.
+
+In any case, a buffer obtained from above needs to be released. It ensures data
+is copied back to the message and a potentially used bounce buffer is freed.
+
+	i2c_release_dma_safe_msg_buf(msg, dma_buf);
+
+The bounce buffer handling from the core is generic and simple. It will always
+allocate a new bounce buffer. If you want a more sophisticated handling (e.g.
+reusing pre-allocated buffers), you are free to implement your own.
+
+Please also check the in-kernel documentation for details. The i2c-sh_mobile
+driver can be used as a reference example how to use the above helpers.
+
+Final note: If you plan to use DMA with I2C (or with anything else, actually)
+make sure you have CONFIG_DMA_API_DEBUG enabled during development. It can help
+you find various issues which can be complex to debug otherwise.
-- 
2.11.0