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authorJeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>2007-05-28 08:17:06 -0400
committerJeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>2007-07-09 12:17:33 -0400
commita09060ffe516a0e55f29c89b7da2da760c9487d7 (patch)
tree806801905926d8f9b1854b51c5fe88fb037b223a /drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c
parentdf69c9c5438b4e396a64d42608b2a6c48a3e7475 (diff)
[libata] sata_sx4, sata_via: minor documentation updates
sata_sx4: - describe overall driver theory of operation - add a few constants that will be used in the future sata_via: - remove mention of an old-EH function that is going away Signed-off-by: Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c')
-rw-r--r--drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c51
1 files changed, 51 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c b/drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c
index ff0a78dc8b86..3d83ee273388 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/sata_sx4.c
@@ -30,6 +30,54 @@
*
*/
+/*
+ Theory of operation
+ -------------------
+
+ The SX4 (PDC20621) chip features a single Host DMA (HDMA) copy
+ engine, DIMM memory, and four ATA engines (one per SATA port).
+ Data is copied to/from DIMM memory by the HDMA engine, before
+ handing off to one (or more) of the ATA engines. The ATA
+ engines operate solely on DIMM memory.
+
+ The SX4 behaves like a PATA chip, with no SATA controls or
+ knowledge whatsoever, leading to the presumption that
+ PATA<->SATA bridges exist on SX4 boards, external to the
+ PDC20621 chip itself.
+
+ The chip is quite capable, supporting an XOR engine and linked
+ hardware commands (permits a string to transactions to be
+ submitted and waited-on as a single unit), and an optional
+ microprocessor.
+
+ The limiting factor is largely software. This Linux driver was
+ written to multiplex the single HDMA engine to copy disk
+ transactions into a fixed DIMM memory space, from where an ATA
+ engine takes over. As a result, each WRITE looks like this:
+
+ submit HDMA packet to hardware
+ hardware copies data from system memory to DIMM
+ hardware raises interrupt
+
+ submit ATA packet to hardware
+ hardware executes ATA WRITE command, w/ data in DIMM
+ hardware raises interrupt
+
+ and each READ looks like this:
+
+ submit ATA packet to hardware
+ hardware executes ATA READ command, w/ data in DIMM
+ hardware raises interrupt
+
+ submit HDMA packet to hardware
+ hardware copies data from DIMM to system memory
+ hardware raises interrupt
+
+ This is a very slow, lock-step way of doing things that can
+ certainly be improved by motivated kernel hackers.
+
+ */
+
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <linux/pci.h>
@@ -58,6 +106,8 @@ enum {
PDC_INT_SEQMASK = 0x40, /* Mask of asserted SEQ INTs */
PDC_HDMA_CTLSTAT = 0x12C, /* Host DMA control / status */
+ PDC_CTLSTAT = 0x60, /* IDEn control / status */
+
PDC_20621_SEQCTL = 0x400,
PDC_20621_SEQMASK = 0x480,
PDC_20621_GENERAL_CTL = 0x484,
@@ -89,6 +139,7 @@ enum {
PDC_MASK_INT = (1 << 10), /* HDMA/ATA mask int */
PDC_RESET = (1 << 11), /* HDMA/ATA reset */
+ PDC_DMA_ENABLE = (1 << 7), /* DMA start/stop */
PDC_MAX_HDMA = 32,
PDC_HDMA_Q_MASK = (PDC_MAX_HDMA - 1),