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diff --git a/Documentation/DMA-attributes.txt b/Documentation/DMA-attributes.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..5c72eed8 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/DMA-attributes.txt @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ + DMA attributes + ============== + +This document describes the semantics of the DMA attributes that are +defined in linux/dma-attrs.h. + +DMA_ATTR_WRITE_BARRIER +---------------------- + +DMA_ATTR_WRITE_BARRIER is a (write) barrier attribute for DMA. DMA +to a memory region with the DMA_ATTR_WRITE_BARRIER attribute forces +all pending DMA writes to complete, and thus provides a mechanism to +strictly order DMA from a device across all intervening busses and +bridges. This barrier is not specific to a particular type of +interconnect, it applies to the system as a whole, and so its +implementation must account for the idiosyncracies of the system all +the way from the DMA device to memory. + +As an example of a situation where DMA_ATTR_WRITE_BARRIER would be +useful, suppose that a device does a DMA write to indicate that data is +ready and available in memory. The DMA of the "completion indication" +could race with data DMA. Mapping the memory used for completion +indications with DMA_ATTR_WRITE_BARRIER would prevent the race. + +DMA_ATTR_WEAK_ORDERING +---------------------- + +DMA_ATTR_WEAK_ORDERING specifies that reads and writes to the mapping +may be weakly ordered, that is that reads and writes may pass each other. + +Since it is optional for platforms to implement DMA_ATTR_WEAK_ORDERING, +those that do not will simply ignore the attribute and exhibit default +behavior. + +DMA_ATTR_WRITE_COMBINE +---------------------- + +DMA_ATTR_WRITE_COMBINE specifies that writes to the mapping may be +buffered to improve performance. + +Since it is optional for platforms to implement DMA_ATTR_WRITE_COMBINE, +those that do not will simply ignore the attribute and exhibit default +behavior. + +DMA_ATTR_NON_CONSISTENT +----------------------- + +DMA_ATTR_NON_CONSISTENT lets the platform to choose to return either +consistent or non-consistent memory as it sees fit. By using this API, +you are guaranteeing to the platform that you have all the correct and +necessary sync points for this memory in the driver. |