Re: [PATCH] of: Add generic device tree DMA helpers

[Grant Likely <grant.likely@secretlab.ca>]

On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:27:36 +0100, Thierry Reding <thierry.reding@avionic-design.de> wrote:
> * Arnd Bergmann wrote:
> > On Thursday 15 March 2012, Nicolas Ferre wrote:
> [...]
> > > +	i2c1: i2c@1 {
> > > +		...
> > > +		dma-request = <&sdma 2 &sdma 3>;
> > > +		dma-request-names = "tx", "rx";
> > > +		...
> > > +	};
> > 
> > This is slightly different from how the proposed pwm binding works that
> > Thierry is working on, which uses an arbitrary property name instead of
> > requiring the use of a specific property but then allowing to give names
> > in another property.
> > 
> > I don't care much which way it's done, but please try to agree on one
> > approach that is used for both.
> > 
> > The one you have here is already used by reg and irq, while the other
> > one is used in gpio.
> 
> I think we can just use pwm as the fixed property name. Or alternatively do
> something along the lines of the regulator bindings, where we use "-pwm" as
> the suffix for specifying PWM devices. For instance if a named PWM is
> requested, the OF support code would look for a <name>-pwm property, while
> requesting an unnamed PWM would simply look at the pwm property.
> 
> When it comes to the labelling of PWM devices, I don't think both variants
> are exclusive. Currently the PWM framework uses name of the user OF device
> node for the PWM label. That is, if I have the following in the DTS:
> 
> 	pwm {
> 		..
> 	};
> 
> 	backlight {
> 		compatible = "pwm-backlight";
> 		pwm = <&pwm 0 5000000>;
> 		...
> 	};
> 
> Then the PWM will be labelled "backlight":
> 
> 	$ cat cat /sys/kernel/debug/pwm
> 	platform/tegra-pwm, 4 PWM devices
> 	pwm-0   (backlight           ): requested enabled
> 	pwm-1   ((null)              ):
> 	pwm-2   ((null)              ):
> 	pwm-3   ((null)              ):
> 
> So if we decide to explicitly allow specifying names, then we can always add
> a pwm-names property (or <name>-pwm-names respectively) to use as label and
> fallback to the user OF device node name if that property is not present.

After implementing both schemes (ie. interrupts+interrupt-names && [*-]gpios)
I definitely prefer the fixed property name plus a separate names property.
It is easier to use common code with that scheme, and easier to statically
check for correctness.

g.