1 Dynamic DMA mapping using the generic device
2 ============================================
4 James E.J. Bottomley <James.Bottomley@HansenPartnership.com>
6 This document describes the DMA API. For a more gentle introduction
7 phrased in terms of the pci_ equivalents (and actual examples) see
10 This API is split into two pieces. Part I describes the API and the
11 corresponding pci_ API. Part II describes the extensions to the API
12 for supporting non-consistent memory machines. Unless you know that
13 your driver absolutely has to support non-consistent platforms (this
14 is usually only legacy platforms) you should only use the API
17 Part I - pci_ and dma_ Equivalent API
18 -------------------------------------
20 To get the pci_ API, you must #include <linux/pci.h>
21 To get the dma_ API, you must #include <linux/dma-mapping.h>
24 Part Ia - Using large dma-coherent buffers
25 ------------------------------------------
28 dma_alloc_coherent(struct device *dev, size_t size,
29 dma_addr_t *dma_handle, int flag)
31 pci_alloc_consistent(struct pci_dev *dev, size_t size,
32 dma_addr_t *dma_handle)
34 Consistent memory is memory for which a write by either the device or
35 the processor can immediately be read by the processor or device
36 without having to worry about caching effects. (You may however need
37 to make sure to flush the processor's write buffers before telling
38 devices to read that memory.)
40 This routine allocates a region of <size> bytes of consistent memory.
41 it also returns a <dma_handle> which may be cast to an unsigned
42 integer the same width as the bus and used as the physical address
45 Returns: a pointer to the allocated region (in the processor's virtual
46 address space) or NULL if the allocation failed.
48 Note: consistent memory can be expensive on some platforms, and the
49 minimum allocation length may be as big as a page, so you should
50 consolidate your requests for consistent memory as much as possible.
51 The simplest way to do that is to use the dma_pool calls (see below).
53 The flag parameter (dma_alloc_coherent only) allows the caller to
54 specify the GFP_ flags (see kmalloc) for the allocation (the
55 implementation may chose to ignore flags that affect the location of
56 the returned memory, like GFP_DMA). For pci_alloc_consistent, you
57 must assume GFP_ATOMIC behaviour.
60 dma_free_coherent(struct device *dev, size_t size, void *cpu_addr
61 dma_addr_t dma_handle)
63 pci_free_consistent(struct pci_dev *dev, size_t size, void *cpu_addr
64 dma_addr_t dma_handle)
66 Free the region of consistent memory you previously allocated. dev,
67 size and dma_handle must all be the same as those passed into the
68 consistent allocate. cpu_addr must be the virtual address returned by
69 the consistent allocate
72 Part Ib - Using small dma-coherent buffers
73 ------------------------------------------
75 To get this part of the dma_ API, you must #include <linux/dmapool.h>
77 Many drivers need lots of small dma-coherent memory regions for DMA
78 descriptors or I/O buffers. Rather than allocating in units of a page
79 or more using dma_alloc_coherent(), you can use DMA pools. These work
80 much like a struct kmem_cache, except that they use the dma-coherent allocator
81 not __get_free_pages(). Also, they understand common hardware constraints
82 for alignment, like queue heads needing to be aligned on N byte boundaries.
86 dma_pool_create(const char *name, struct device *dev,
87 size_t size, size_t align, size_t alloc);
90 pci_pool_create(const char *name, struct pci_device *dev,
91 size_t size, size_t align, size_t alloc);
93 The pool create() routines initialize a pool of dma-coherent buffers
94 for use with a given device. It must be called in a context which
97 The "name" is for diagnostics (like a struct kmem_cache name); dev and size
98 are like what you'd pass to dma_alloc_coherent(). The device's hardware
99 alignment requirement for this type of data is "align" (which is expressed
100 in bytes, and must be a power of two). If your device has no boundary
101 crossing restrictions, pass 0 for alloc; passing 4096 says memory allocated
102 from this pool must not cross 4KByte boundaries.
105 void *dma_pool_alloc(struct dma_pool *pool, int gfp_flags,
106 dma_addr_t *dma_handle);
108 void *pci_pool_alloc(struct pci_pool *pool, int gfp_flags,
109 dma_addr_t *dma_handle);
111 This allocates memory from the pool; the returned memory will meet the size
112 and alignment requirements specified at creation time. Pass GFP_ATOMIC to
113 prevent blocking, or if it's permitted (not in_interrupt, not holding SMP locks)
114 pass GFP_KERNEL to allow blocking. Like dma_alloc_coherent(), this returns
115 two values: an address usable by the cpu, and the dma address usable by the
119 void dma_pool_free(struct dma_pool *pool, void *vaddr,
122 void pci_pool_free(struct pci_pool *pool, void *vaddr,
125 This puts memory back into the pool. The pool is what was passed to
126 the pool allocation routine; the cpu and dma addresses are what
127 were returned when that routine allocated the memory being freed.
130 void dma_pool_destroy(struct dma_pool *pool);
132 void pci_pool_destroy(struct pci_pool *pool);
134 The pool destroy() routines free the resources of the pool. They must be
135 called in a context which can sleep. Make sure you've freed all allocated
136 memory back to the pool before you destroy it.
139 Part Ic - DMA addressing limitations
140 ------------------------------------
143 dma_supported(struct device *dev, u64 mask)
145 pci_dma_supported(struct device *dev, u64 mask)
147 Checks to see if the device can support DMA to the memory described by
150 Returns: 1 if it can and 0 if it can't.
152 Notes: This routine merely tests to see if the mask is possible. It
153 won't change the current mask settings. It is more intended as an
154 internal API for use by the platform than an external API for use by
158 dma_set_mask(struct device *dev, u64 mask)
160 pci_set_dma_mask(struct pci_device *dev, u64 mask)
162 Checks to see if the mask is possible and updates the device
165 Returns: 0 if successful and a negative error if not.
168 dma_get_required_mask(struct device *dev)
170 After setting the mask with dma_set_mask(), this API returns the
171 actual mask (within that already set) that the platform actually
172 requires to operate efficiently. Usually this means the returned mask
173 is the minimum required to cover all of memory. Examining the
174 required mask gives drivers with variable descriptor sizes the
175 opportunity to use smaller descriptors as necessary.
177 Requesting the required mask does not alter the current mask. If you
178 wish to take advantage of it, you should issue another dma_set_mask()
179 call to lower the mask again.
182 Part Id - Streaming DMA mappings
183 --------------------------------
186 dma_map_single(struct device *dev, void *cpu_addr, size_t size,
187 enum dma_data_direction direction)
189 pci_map_single(struct device *dev, void *cpu_addr, size_t size,
192 Maps a piece of processor virtual memory so it can be accessed by the
193 device and returns the physical handle of the memory.
195 The direction for both api's may be converted freely by casting.
196 However the dma_ API uses a strongly typed enumerator for its
199 DMA_NONE = PCI_DMA_NONE no direction (used for
201 DMA_TO_DEVICE = PCI_DMA_TODEVICE data is going from the
203 DMA_FROM_DEVICE = PCI_DMA_FROMDEVICE data is coming from
206 DMA_BIDIRECTIONAL = PCI_DMA_BIDIRECTIONAL direction isn't known
208 Notes: Not all memory regions in a machine can be mapped by this
209 API. Further, regions that appear to be physically contiguous in
210 kernel virtual space may not be contiguous as physical memory. Since
211 this API does not provide any scatter/gather capability, it will fail
212 if the user tries to map a non physically contiguous piece of memory.
213 For this reason, it is recommended that memory mapped by this API be
214 obtained only from sources which guarantee to be physically contiguous
217 Further, the physical address of the memory must be within the
218 dma_mask of the device (the dma_mask represents a bit mask of the
219 addressable region for the device. i.e. if the physical address of
220 the memory anded with the dma_mask is still equal to the physical
221 address, then the device can perform DMA to the memory). In order to
222 ensure that the memory allocated by kmalloc is within the dma_mask,
223 the driver may specify various platform dependent flags to restrict
224 the physical memory range of the allocation (e.g. on x86, GFP_DMA
225 guarantees to be within the first 16Mb of available physical memory,
226 as required by ISA devices).
228 Note also that the above constraints on physical contiguity and
229 dma_mask may not apply if the platform has an IOMMU (a device which
230 supplies a physical to virtual mapping between the I/O memory bus and
231 the device). However, to be portable, device driver writers may *not*
232 assume that such an IOMMU exists.
234 Warnings: Memory coherency operates at a granularity called the cache
235 line width. In order for memory mapped by this API to operate
236 correctly, the mapped region must begin exactly on a cache line
237 boundary and end exactly on one (to prevent two separately mapped
238 regions from sharing a single cache line). Since the cache line size
239 may not be known at compile time, the API will not enforce this
240 requirement. Therefore, it is recommended that driver writers who
241 don't take special care to determine the cache line size at run time
242 only map virtual regions that begin and end on page boundaries (which
243 are guaranteed also to be cache line boundaries).
245 DMA_TO_DEVICE synchronisation must be done after the last modification
246 of the memory region by the software and before it is handed off to
247 the driver. Once this primitive is used. Memory covered by this
248 primitive should be treated as read only by the device. If the device
249 may write to it at any point, it should be DMA_BIDIRECTIONAL (see
252 DMA_FROM_DEVICE synchronisation must be done before the driver
253 accesses data that may be changed by the device. This memory should
254 be treated as read only by the driver. If the driver needs to write
255 to it at any point, it should be DMA_BIDIRECTIONAL (see below).
257 DMA_BIDIRECTIONAL requires special handling: it means that the driver
258 isn't sure if the memory was modified before being handed off to the
259 device and also isn't sure if the device will also modify it. Thus,
260 you must always sync bidirectional memory twice: once before the
261 memory is handed off to the device (to make sure all memory changes
262 are flushed from the processor) and once before the data may be
263 accessed after being used by the device (to make sure any processor
264 cache lines are updated with data that the device may have changed.
267 dma_unmap_single(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t dma_addr, size_t size,
268 enum dma_data_direction direction)
270 pci_unmap_single(struct pci_dev *hwdev, dma_addr_t dma_addr,
271 size_t size, int direction)
273 Unmaps the region previously mapped. All the parameters passed in
274 must be identical to those passed in (and returned) by the mapping
278 dma_map_page(struct device *dev, struct page *page,
279 unsigned long offset, size_t size,
280 enum dma_data_direction direction)
282 pci_map_page(struct pci_dev *hwdev, struct page *page,
283 unsigned long offset, size_t size, int direction)
285 dma_unmap_page(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t dma_address, size_t size,
286 enum dma_data_direction direction)
288 pci_unmap_page(struct pci_dev *hwdev, dma_addr_t dma_address,
289 size_t size, int direction)
291 API for mapping and unmapping for pages. All the notes and warnings
292 for the other mapping APIs apply here. Also, although the <offset>
293 and <size> parameters are provided to do partial page mapping, it is
294 recommended that you never use these unless you really know what the
298 dma_mapping_error(dma_addr_t dma_addr)
301 pci_dma_mapping_error(dma_addr_t dma_addr)
303 In some circumstances dma_map_single and dma_map_page will fail to create
304 a mapping. A driver can check for these errors by testing the returned
305 dma address with dma_mapping_error(). A non zero return value means the mapping
306 could not be created and the driver should take appropriate action (eg
307 reduce current DMA mapping usage or delay and try again later).
310 dma_map_sg(struct device *dev, struct scatterlist *sg,
311 int nents, enum dma_data_direction direction)
313 pci_map_sg(struct pci_dev *hwdev, struct scatterlist *sg,
314 int nents, int direction)
316 Maps a scatter gather list from the block layer.
318 Returns: the number of physical segments mapped (this may be shorted
319 than <nents> passed in if the block layer determines that some
320 elements of the scatter/gather list are physically adjacent and thus
321 may be mapped with a single entry).
323 Please note that the sg cannot be mapped again if it has been mapped once.
324 The mapping process is allowed to destroy information in the sg.
326 As with the other mapping interfaces, dma_map_sg can fail. When it
327 does, 0 is returned and a driver must take appropriate action. It is
328 critical that the driver do something, in the case of a block driver
329 aborting the request or even oopsing is better than doing nothing and
330 corrupting the filesystem.
332 With scatterlists, you use the resulting mapping like this:
334 int i, count = dma_map_sg(dev, sglist, nents, direction);
335 struct scatterlist *sg;
337 for (i = 0, sg = sglist; i < count; i++, sg++) {
338 hw_address[i] = sg_dma_address(sg);
339 hw_len[i] = sg_dma_len(sg);
342 where nents is the number of entries in the sglist.
344 The implementation is free to merge several consecutive sglist entries
345 into one (e.g. with an IOMMU, or if several pages just happen to be
346 physically contiguous) and returns the actual number of sg entries it
347 mapped them to. On failure 0, is returned.
349 Then you should loop count times (note: this can be less than nents times)
350 and use sg_dma_address() and sg_dma_len() macros where you previously
351 accessed sg->address and sg->length as shown above.
354 dma_unmap_sg(struct device *dev, struct scatterlist *sg,
355 int nhwentries, enum dma_data_direction direction)
357 pci_unmap_sg(struct pci_dev *hwdev, struct scatterlist *sg,
358 int nents, int direction)
360 unmap the previously mapped scatter/gather list. All the parameters
361 must be the same as those and passed in to the scatter/gather mapping
364 Note: <nents> must be the number you passed in, *not* the number of
365 physical entries returned.
368 dma_sync_single(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t dma_handle, size_t size,
369 enum dma_data_direction direction)
371 pci_dma_sync_single(struct pci_dev *hwdev, dma_addr_t dma_handle,
372 size_t size, int direction)
374 dma_sync_sg(struct device *dev, struct scatterlist *sg, int nelems,
375 enum dma_data_direction direction)
377 pci_dma_sync_sg(struct pci_dev *hwdev, struct scatterlist *sg,
378 int nelems, int direction)
380 synchronise a single contiguous or scatter/gather mapping. All the
381 parameters must be the same as those passed into the single mapping
384 Notes: You must do this:
386 - Before reading values that have been written by DMA from the device
387 (use the DMA_FROM_DEVICE direction)
388 - After writing values that will be written to the device using DMA
389 (use the DMA_TO_DEVICE) direction
390 - before *and* after handing memory to the device if the memory is
393 See also dma_map_single().
396 Part II - Advanced dma_ usage
397 -----------------------------
399 Warning: These pieces of the DMA API have no PCI equivalent. They
400 should also not be used in the majority of cases, since they cater for
401 unlikely corner cases that don't belong in usual drivers.
403 If you don't understand how cache line coherency works between a
404 processor and an I/O device, you should not be using this part of the
408 dma_alloc_noncoherent(struct device *dev, size_t size,
409 dma_addr_t *dma_handle, int flag)
411 Identical to dma_alloc_coherent() except that the platform will
412 choose to return either consistent or non-consistent memory as it sees
413 fit. By using this API, you are guaranteeing to the platform that you
414 have all the correct and necessary sync points for this memory in the
415 driver should it choose to return non-consistent memory.
417 Note: where the platform can return consistent memory, it will
418 guarantee that the sync points become nops.
420 Warning: Handling non-consistent memory is a real pain. You should
421 only ever use this API if you positively know your driver will be
422 required to work on one of the rare (usually non-PCI) architectures
423 that simply cannot make consistent memory.
426 dma_free_noncoherent(struct device *dev, size_t size, void *cpu_addr,
427 dma_addr_t dma_handle)
429 free memory allocated by the nonconsistent API. All parameters must
430 be identical to those passed in (and returned by
431 dma_alloc_noncoherent()).
434 dma_is_consistent(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t dma_handle)
436 returns true if the device dev is performing consistent DMA on the memory
437 area pointed to by the dma_handle.
440 dma_get_cache_alignment(void)
442 returns the processor cache alignment. This is the absolute minimum
443 alignment *and* width that you must observe when either mapping
444 memory or doing partial flushes.
446 Notes: This API may return a number *larger* than the actual cache
447 line, but it will guarantee that one or more cache lines fit exactly
448 into the width returned by this call. It will also always be a power
449 of two for easy alignment
452 dma_sync_single_range(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t dma_handle,
453 unsigned long offset, size_t size,
454 enum dma_data_direction direction)
456 does a partial sync. starting at offset and continuing for size. You
457 must be careful to observe the cache alignment and width when doing
458 anything like this. You must also be extra careful about accessing
459 memory you intend to sync partially.
462 dma_cache_sync(struct device *dev, void *vaddr, size_t size,
463 enum dma_data_direction direction)
465 Do a partial sync of memory that was allocated by
466 dma_alloc_noncoherent(), starting at virtual address vaddr and
467 continuing on for size. Again, you *must* observe the cache line
468 boundaries when doing this.
471 dma_declare_coherent_memory(struct device *dev, dma_addr_t bus_addr,
472 dma_addr_t device_addr, size_t size, int
476 Declare region of memory to be handed out by dma_alloc_coherent when
477 it's asked for coherent memory for this device.
479 bus_addr is the physical address to which the memory is currently
480 assigned in the bus responding region (this will be used by the
481 platform to perform the mapping)
483 device_addr is the physical address the device needs to be programmed
484 with actually to address this memory (this will be handed out as the
485 dma_addr_t in dma_alloc_coherent())
487 size is the size of the area (must be multiples of PAGE_SIZE).
489 flags can be or'd together and are
491 DMA_MEMORY_MAP - request that the memory returned from
492 dma_alloc_coherent() be directly writable.
494 DMA_MEMORY_IO - request that the memory returned from
495 dma_alloc_coherent() be addressable using read/write/memcpy_toio etc.
497 One or both of these flags must be present
499 DMA_MEMORY_INCLUDES_CHILDREN - make the declared memory be allocated by
500 dma_alloc_coherent of any child devices of this one (for memory residing
503 DMA_MEMORY_EXCLUSIVE - only allocate memory from the declared regions.
504 Do not allow dma_alloc_coherent() to fall back to system memory when
505 it's out of memory in the declared region.
507 The return value will be either DMA_MEMORY_MAP or DMA_MEMORY_IO and
508 must correspond to a passed in flag (i.e. no returning DMA_MEMORY_IO
509 if only DMA_MEMORY_MAP were passed in) for success or zero for
512 Note, for DMA_MEMORY_IO returns, all subsequent memory returned by
513 dma_alloc_coherent() may no longer be accessed directly, but instead
514 must be accessed using the correct bus functions. If your driver
515 isn't prepared to handle this contingency, it should not specify
516 DMA_MEMORY_IO in the input flags.
518 As a simplification for the platforms, only *one* such region of
519 memory may be declared per device.
521 For reasons of efficiency, most platforms choose to track the declared
522 region only at the granularity of a page. For smaller allocations,
523 you should use the dma_pool() API.
526 dma_release_declared_memory(struct device *dev)
528 Remove the memory region previously declared from the system. This
529 API performs *no* in-use checking for this region and will return
530 unconditionally having removed all the required structures. It is the
531 drivers job to ensure that no parts of this memory region are
535 dma_mark_declared_memory_occupied(struct device *dev,
536 dma_addr_t device_addr, size_t size)
538 This is used to occupy specific regions of the declared space
539 (dma_alloc_coherent() will hand out the first free region it finds).
541 device_addr is the *device* address of the region requested
543 size is the size (and should be a page sized multiple).
545 The return value will be either a pointer to the processor virtual
546 address of the memory, or an error (via PTR_ERR()) if any part of the