Re: [PATCH 1/2] dt-bindings: phy: spacemit: add regulator support to K1 USB2 PHY

["Ze Huang" <huang.ze@linux.dev>]

On Sat Feb 7, 2026 at 6:48 PM CST, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 06, 2026 at 06:00:08PM +0800, Chukun Pan wrote:
>> Add an optional phy-supply property to describe the regulator
>> supplying for USB VBUS.
>
> Why wasn't it there before? USB did not have VBUS?

Previously, the VBUS regulator was defined as regulator-always-on in
the device tree as a workaround.

>
> Explanation is so incomplete I suspect you are patching broken things,
> so as well this could be completely different hardware (e.g. there is no
> regulator for this block but e.g. connector).
>

usb ports under usb hub node can describe the topology well, but
still regulator always-on is necessary as no driver toggles it.

    usb3 {
     dr_mode = "host";
     #address-cells = <1>;
     #size-cells = <0>;
     status = "okay";

     hub_2_0: hub@1 {
      compatible = "usb2109,2817";
      reg = <0x1>;
      #address-cells = <1>;
      #size-cells = <0>;
      vdd-supply = <&usb3_vhub>;
      peer-hub = <&hub_3_0>;
      reset-gpios = <&gpio K1_GPIO(124) GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

      port@1 {
       reg = <1>;
       vbus-supply = <&usb3_vbus>;
      };

      port@2 {
       reg = <2>;
       vbus-supply = <&usb3_vbus>;
      };

      ...

      hub_3_0: hub@2 {
        ...
      };
    };

Here is the diagram for the USB2, USB3 controller on K1 Jupiter board [1] (page 21)

    +-----------------------+
    |        K1 SoC         |
    |                       |
    |  +-----------------+  |   (USB 3.0)
    |  | USB3 Controller |--|---------------------------------->+--------------------------+
    |  +-----------------+  |                                   |        VL817 Hub         |
    |                       |                                   |                          |---> [USB3 Ports]
    |      HUB_PWREN        |                                   | +----------------------+ |     ^
    |       (GPIO)  --------|---------------------------------->| | Enable Chip Power    | |     |
    |                       |                                   | +----------------------+ |     |
    |                       |                                   +--------------------------+     |
    |      USB3_PWREN       |                                                                    |
    |       (GPIO)   -------|----------------------------------------------------------> [VBUS of USB3 Ports]
    |                       |
    |                       |
    |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    |                       |
    |  +-----------------+  |   (USB 2.0)
    |  | USB2 Controller |--|---------------------------------->+--------------------------+
    |  +-----------------+  |                                   |      FE1_1S Hub          |---> [USB2 Ports]
    |                       |                                   +--------------------------+     ^
    |   USB_HOST_PWREN_H    |                                                                    |
    |       (GPIO)      ----|-----------------------------------------------------------> [VBUS of USB2 Ports]
    |                       |
    |                       |
    +-----------------------+

[1] https://github.com/milkv-jupiter/jupiter-files/blob/main/hardware/v1_0/jupiter-sch-v1_0.pdf

>
>> 
>> Signed-off-by: Chukun Pan <amadeus@jmu.edu.cn>
>> ---
>>  Documentation/devicetree/bindings/phy/spacemit,usb2-phy.yaml | 4 ++++
>>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
>> 
>> diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/phy/spacemit,usb2-phy.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/phy/spacemit,usb2-phy.yaml
>> index 43eaca90d88c..74a1cd5bcdbe 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/phy/spacemit,usb2-phy.yaml
>> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/phy/spacemit,usb2-phy.yaml
>> @@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ properties:
>>    clocks:
>>      maxItems: 1
>>  
>> +  phy-supply:
>> +    description:
>> +      Phandle to a regulator that provides power to VBUS.
>

"vbus-supply" should be more accurate.

> Drop redundant part. This cannot be anything else than phandle and
> regulator.
>
> "VBUS power supply" for example.
>

> But anyway, I don't have certainty that
> this is correct hardware representation. It's your task to provide that.
>
> Best regards,
> Krzysztof

I initially considered handling VBUS via the onboard_usb_dev driver, as
we discussed previously for the BananaPi-F3 board (which uses a VL817
Hub) [2]. I was waiting for Marco Felsch's patch series "onboard-dev USB
hub host managed vbus" to land [3].

[2] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-riscv/aWJAT3n_KcND8bOz@monica.localdomain/
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250911-v6-16-topic-usb-onboard-dev-v4-0-1af288125d74@pengutronix.de/

I am not certain if managing VBUS in the PHY driver (e.g.,
phy-stm32-usbphyc.c and phy-rockchip-usb.c) is the standard method.
I would not insist on the "onboard_usb_dev managed vbus" if this patch
(PHY managed) is considered proper way.