Re: [PATCH v13 3/4] gpio: rpmsg: add generic rpmsg GPIO driver

Shenwei Wang
2026-04-29T18:36:03Z

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Padhi, Beleswar <b-padhi@ti.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 1:07 PM
> To: Mathieu Poirier <mathieu.poirier@linaro.org>; Shenwei Wang
> <shenwei.wang@nxp.com>
> Cc: Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>; Linus Walleij <linusw@kernel.org>; Bartosz
> Golaszewski <brgl@kernel.org>; Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>; Rob Herring
> <robh@kernel.org>; Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk+dt@kernel.org>; Conor Dooley
> <conor+dt@kernel.org>; Bjorn Andersson <andersson@kernel.org>; Frank Li
> <frank.li@nxp.com>; Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>; Shuah Khan
> <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>; linux-gpio@vger.kernel.org; linux-
> doc@vger.kernel.org; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; Pengutronix Kernel Team
> <kernel@pengutronix.de>; Fabio Estevam <festevam@gmail.com>; Peng Fan
> <peng.fan@nxp.com>; devicetree@vger.kernel.org; linux-
> remoteproc@vger.kernel.org; imx@lists.linux.dev; linux-arm-
> kernel@lists.infradead.org; dl-linux-imx <linux-imx@nxp.com>; Bartosz
> Golaszewski <brgl@bgdev.pl>
> Subject: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v13 3/4] gpio: rpmsg: add generic rpmsg GPIO driver
> Hi Mathieu,
>
> On 4/29/2026 11:03 PM, Mathieu Poirier wrote:
> > On Wed, 29 Apr 2026 at 10:53, Shenwei Wang <shenwei.wang@nxp.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Mathieu Poirier <mathieu.poirier@linaro.org>
> >>> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 10:42 AM
> >>> To: Shenwei Wang <shenwei.wang@nxp.com>
> >>> Cc: Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>; Padhi, Beleswar <b-padhi@ti.com>;
> >>> Linus Walleij <linusw@kernel.org>; Bartosz Golaszewski
> >>> <brgl@kernel.org>; Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>; Rob Herring
> >>> <robh@kernel.org>; Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk+dt@kernel.org>; Conor
> >>> Dooley <conor+dt@kernel.org>; Bjorn Andersson
> >>> <andersson@kernel.org>; Frank Li <frank.li@nxp.com>; Sascha Hauer
> >>> <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>; Shuah Khan <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>;
> >>> linux- gpio@vger.kernel.org; linux-doc@vger.kernel.org;
> >>> linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; Pengutronix Kernel Team
> >>> <kernel@pengutronix.de>; Fabio Estevam <festevam@gmail.com>; Peng
> >>> Fan <peng.fan@nxp.com>; devicetree@vger.kernel.org;
> >>> linux-remoteproc@vger.kernel.org; imx@lists.linux.dev;
> >>> linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org; dl-linux-imx <linux-
> >>> imx@nxp.com>; Bartosz Golaszewski <brgl@bgdev.pl>
> >>> Subject: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v13 3/4] gpio: rpmsg: add generic rpmsg
> >>> GPIO driver On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 03:24:59PM +0000, Shenwei Wang
> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>>> From: Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>
> >>>>> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2026 3:49 PM
> >>>>> To: Shenwei Wang <shenwei.wang@nxp.com>
> >>>>> Cc: Padhi, Beleswar <b-padhi@ti.com>; Linus Walleij
> >>>>> <linusw@kernel.org>; Bartosz Golaszewski <brgl@kernel.org>;
> >>>>> Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>; Rob Herring <robh@kernel.org>;
> >>>>> Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk+dt@kernel.org>; Conor Dooley
> >>>>> <conor+dt@kernel.org>; Bjorn Andersson <andersson@kernel.org>;
> >>>>> Mathieu Poirier <mathieu.poirier@linaro.org>; Frank Li
> >>>>> <frank.li@nxp.com>; Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>; Shuah
> >>>>> Khan <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>; linux-gpio@vger.kernel.org;
> >>>>> linux- doc@vger.kernel.org; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org;
> >>>>> Pengutronix Kernel Team <kernel@pengutronix.de>; Fabio Estevam
> >>>>> <festevam@gmail.com>; Peng Fan <peng.fan@nxp.com>;
> >>>>> devicetree@vger.kernel.org; linux- remoteproc@vger.kernel.org;
> >>>>> imx@lists.linux.dev; linux-arm- kernel@lists.infradead.org;
> >>>>> dl-linux-imx <linux-imx@nxp.com>; Bartosz Golaszewski
> >>>>> <brgl@bgdev.pl>
> >>>>> Subject: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v13 3/4] gpio: rpmsg: add generic rpmsg
> >>>>> GPIO driver
> >>>>>>> struct virtio_gpio_response {
> >>>>>>> __u8 status;
> >>>>>>> __u8 value;
> >>>>>>> };
> >>>>>> It is the same message format. Please see the message definition
> >>>>> (GET_DIRECTION) below:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> + +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
> >>>>>> + |0x00 |0x01 |0x02 |0x03 |0x04 |0x05|
> >>>>>> + | 1 | 2 |port |line | err | dir|
> >>>>>> + +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
> >>>>> Sorry, but i don't see how two u8 vs six u8 are the same message format.
> >>>>>
> >>>> Some changes to the message format are necessary.
> >>>>
> >>>> Virtio uses two communication channels (virtqueues): one for
> >>>> requests and
> >>> replies, and a second one for events.
> >>>> In contrast, rpmsg provides only a single communication channel, so
> >>>> a type field is required to distinguish between different kinds of messages.
> >>>>
> >>>> Since rpmsg replies and events share the same message format, an
> >>>> additional
> >>> line is introduced to handle both cases.
> >>>> Finally, rpmsg supports multiple GPIO controllers, so a port field
> >>>> is added to
> >>> uniquely identify the target controller.
> >>>
> >>> I have commented on this before - RPMSG is already providing
> >>> multiplexing capability by way of endpoints. There is no need for a
> >>> port field. One endpoint, one GPIO controller.
> >>>
> >> You still need a way to let the remote side know which port the
> >> endpoint maps to, either by embedding the port information in the
> >> message (the current way), or by sending it separately.
> >>
> > An endpoint is created with every namespace request. There should be
> > one namespace request for every GPIO controller, which yields a unique
> > endpoint for each controller and eliminates the need for an extra
> > field to identify them.
>
>
> Right, but this can still be done by just having one namespace request.
> We can create new endpoints bound to an existing namespace/channel by
> invoking rpmsg_create_ept(). This is what I suggested here too:
> https://lore.kernel/
> .org%2Fall%2F29485742-6e49-482e-b73d-
> 228295daaeec%40ti.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cshenwei.wang%40nxp.com%7
> Caba62d7a899849fd57f708dea61a1d8b%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c3016
> 35%7C0%7C0%7C639130828278097401%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFb
> XB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpb
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> SKgC%2Fme3FoUNqqEGBOIY2k%3D&reserved=0
>
> My mental model looks like this for the complete picture:
>
> 1. namespace/channel#1 = rpmsg-io
> a. ept1 -> gpio-controller@1
> b. ept2 -> gpio-controller@2
>
> 2. namespace/channel#2 = rpmsg-i2c
> a. ept1 -> i2c@1
> b. ept2 -> i2c@2
> c. ept3 -> i2c@3
>

The GPIO nodes will act as providers.
Mapping the port index into the service name is a possible solution, but I don't believe it's better than
embedding that information in the message. A stateless approach feels simpler and cleaner overall.

Thanks,
Shenwei

> etc...
>
> This way device groups are isolated with each channel/namespace, and instances
> within each device groups are also respected with specific endpoints.
>
> Thanks,
> Beleswar