Linux Documentation
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: Ekansh Gupta <ekansh.gupta@oss.qualcomm.com>
To: "Oded Gabbay" <ogabbay@kernel.org>,
	"Jonathan Corbet" <corbet@lwn.net>,
	"Shuah Khan" <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>,
	"Randy Dunlap" <rdunlap@infradead.org>,
	"Nathan Chancellor" <nathan@kernel.org>,
	"Nick Desaulniers" <ndesaulniers@google.com>,
	"Bill Wendling" <morbo@google.com>,
	"Justin Stitt" <justinstitt@google.com>,
	"Joerg Roedel (AMD)" <joro@8bytes.org>,
	"Will Deacon" <will@kernel.org>,
	"Robin Murphy" <robin.murphy@arm.com>,
	"Maarten Lankhorst" <maarten.lankhorst@linux.intel.com>,
	"Maxime Ripard" <mripard@kernel.org>,
	"Thomas Zimmermann" <tzimmermann@suse.de>,
	"David Airlie" <airlied@gmail.com>,
	"Simona Vetter" <simona@ffwll.ch>,
	"Sumit Semwal" <sumit.semwal@linaro.org>,
	"Christian König" <christian.koenig@amd.com>
Cc: Bharath Kumar <quic_bkumar@quicinc.com>,
	Chenna Kesava Raju <quic_chennak@quicinc.com>,
	srinivas.kandagatla@oss.qualcomm.com,
	dmitry.baryshkov@oss.qualcomm.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
	dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-arm-msm@vger.kernel.org, llvm@lists.linux.dev,
	iommu@lists.linux.dev, linux-media@vger.kernel.org,
	linaro-mm-sig@lists.linaro.org,
	Ekansh Gupta <ekansh.gupta@oss.qualcomm.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 02/15] accel/qda: Add QDA driver documentation
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:17:37 +0530	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260817-qda-v2-v2-2-69a02e9090d4@oss.qualcomm.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260817-qda-v2-v2-0-69a02e9090d4@oss.qualcomm.com>

Add documentation for the Qualcomm DSP Accelerator (QDA) driver under
Documentation/accel/qda/. The documentation covers the driver
architecture, GEM-based buffer management, IOMMU context bank
isolation, and the RPMsg transport layer.

The user-space API section describes the DRM IOCTLs for session
management, GEM buffer allocation, and remote procedure invocation via
the FastRPC protocol, along with a typical application lifecycle
example. Sections for dynamic debug and basic testing are also
included.

Wire the new documentation into the Compute Accelerators index at
Documentation/accel/index.rst.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-5
Signed-off-by: Ekansh Gupta <ekansh.gupta@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
Changes in v2:
- Explain implicit per-invocation mapping vs persistent REMOTE_MAP
  (Dmitry Baryshkov)
- Add a GPUVM section explaining why gpuvm is not used
  (Dmitry Baryshkov)
- Expand the memory management section to describe GEM usage and PRIME
  interoperability (Dmitry Baryshkov)
- Add links to the open-source user-space library and QAIC compiler, and
  document how to build them (Dmitry Baryshkov, Tomeu Vizoso)
---
 Documentation/accel/index.rst     |   1 +
 Documentation/accel/qda/index.rst |  13 +++
 Documentation/accel/qda/qda.rst   | 191 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 205 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/accel/index.rst b/Documentation/accel/index.rst
index cbc7d4c3876a..5901ea7f784c 100644
--- a/Documentation/accel/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/accel/index.rst
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ Compute Accelerators
    introduction
    amdxdna/index
    qaic/index
+   qda/index
    rocket/index
diff --git a/Documentation/accel/qda/index.rst b/Documentation/accel/qda/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..013400cf9c25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/accel/qda/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+==================================
+accel/qda Qualcomm DSP Accelerator
+==================================
+
+The QDA driver provides a DRM accel based interface for Qualcomm DSP offload.
+It uses the FastRPC protocol and integrates with DRM and GEM infrastructure
+for device and buffer management.
+
+.. toctree::
+
+   qda
diff --git a/Documentation/accel/qda/qda.rst b/Documentation/accel/qda/qda.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3a9ba4a90803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/accel/qda/qda.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+=====================================
+Qualcomm DSP Accelerator (QDA) Driver
+=====================================
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+The QDA driver is a DRM accel driver for Qualcomm's DSPs. It provides a
+DRM accel based interface for Qualcomm DSP offload, supporting workloads
+such as AI inference, computer vision, audio processing, and sensor offload
+on Qualcomm SoCs. It uses the FastRPC protocol and integrates with DRM and
+GEM infrastructure for device and buffer management.
+
+Key Features
+============
+
+*   **DRM accel Interface**: Exposes a standard character device node
+    (e.g., ``/dev/accel/accel0``) via the DRM accel subsystem.
+*   **FastRPC Protocol**: Implements the FastRPC protocol for communication
+    between the application processor and the DSP.
+*   **GEM Buffer Management**: Uses the DRM GEM interface for buffer
+    allocation, lifecycle management, and DMA-BUF import/export.
+*   **IOMMU Isolation**: Uses IOMMU context banks to enforce memory isolation
+    between different DSP user sessions.
+*   **Modular Design**: Clean separation between the core DRM logic, the
+    memory manager, and the RPMsg-based transport layer.
+
+Architecture
+============
+
+The QDA driver consists of several functional blocks:
+
+1.  **Core Driver (``qda_drv``)**: Manages device registration, file operations,
+    and DRM accel integration.
+2.  **Memory Manager (``qda_memory_manager``)**: A flexible memory management
+    layer that handles IOMMU context banks. It supports pluggable backends
+    (such as DMA-coherent) to adapt to different SoC memory architectures.
+3.  **GEM Subsystem**: Implements the DRM GEM interface for buffer management:
+
+    * **``qda_gem``**: Core GEM object management, including allocation, mmap
+      operations, and buffer lifecycle management.
+    * **``qda_prime``**: PRIME import functionality for DMA-BUF interoperability
+      with other kernel subsystems.
+
+4.  **Transport Layer (``qda_rpmsg``)**: Abstraction over the RPMsg framework
+    to handle low-level message passing with the DSP firmware.
+5.  **Compute Bus (``qda_compute_bus``)**: A virtual bus that enumerates the
+    compute context banks described in the device tree. IOMMU context banks are
+    synthetic constructs rather than real platform devices, so a dedicated bus
+    is a better fit than a platform driver, and it makes context bank lifetime
+    explicitly subordinate to the parent QDA device.
+6.  **FastRPC Core (``qda_fastrpc``)**: Implements the protocol logic for
+    marshalling arguments and handling remote invocations.
+
+User-Space API
+==============
+
+The driver exposes a set of DRM-compliant IOCTLs:
+
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_QUERY``: Query DSP parameters, such as the DSP name and
+    hardware capabilities, based on a user-specified ``query_type``.
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_SESSION_CREATE``: Initialize a new process context
+    on the DSP.
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_INVOKE``: Submit a remote method invocation (the
+    primary execution unit).
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_GEM_CREATE``: Allocate a GEM buffer object for DSP usage.
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_GEM_MMAP_OFFSET``: Retrieve mmap offsets for memory mapping.
+*   ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_MAP`` / ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_MUNMAP``: Map or unmap
+    buffers into the DSP's virtual address space. Each accepts a ``request``
+    field selecting between a legacy operation (``QDA_MAP_REQUEST_LEGACY`` /
+    ``QDA_MUNMAP_REQUEST_LEGACY``) and an attribute-based operation
+    (``QDA_MAP_REQUEST_ATTR`` / ``QDA_MUNMAP_REQUEST_ATTR``).
+
+    Note that ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_INVOKE`` will automatically perform
+    dynamic, short-lived mappings for buffer arguments on the fly during a
+    single invocation. However, for performance-critical or frequently
+    used buffers, explicitly mapping them persistently via
+    ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_MAP`` bypasses this dynamic pin/map/unmap overhead
+    on subsequent invocations.
+
+Usage Example
+=============
+
+A typical lifecycle for a user-space application:
+
+1.  **Discovery**: Open ``/dev/accel/accel*`` and use
+    ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_QUERY`` to identify the DSP domain served by that
+    device node.
+2.  **Initialization**: Call ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_SESSION_CREATE`` to
+    establish a session and create a process context on the DSP.
+3.  **Memory**: Allocate buffers via ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_GEM_CREATE`` or import
+    DMA-BUFs (PRIME fd) from other drivers using ``DRM_IOCTL_PRIME_FD_TO_HANDLE``.
+4.  **Execution**: Use ``DRM_IOCTL_QDA_REMOTE_INVOKE`` to pass arguments and
+    execute functions on the DSP.
+5.  **Cleanup**: Close file descriptors to automatically release resources and
+    detach the session.
+
+Internal Implementation
+=======================
+
+Memory Management & GEM Usage
+-----------------------------
+The QDA driver uses the standard DRM GEM framework to manage memory buffers.
+Native buffers are allocated from coherent DMA memory and represented as GEM
+objects.
+
+The memory manager creates virtual "IOMMU devices" that map to hardware
+context banks, giving each user session an isolated address space. The
+DMA-coherent backend keeps data consistent between the CPU and DSP without
+manual cache maintenance.
+
+PRIME Interoperability
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+By integrating with the DRM GEM PRIME interfaces, the QDA driver supports
+zero-copy sharing of memory buffers (DMA-BUFs) with other multimedia and
+compute subsystems on the SoC.
+
+GPUVM
+~~~~~
+While the DRM core provides the ``gpuvm`` helper framework to manage virtual
+address spaces, the QDA driver does not utilize it. This is because the DSP
+virtual address allocation and page table updates are managed entirely by the
+secure kernel running on the Hexagon DSP. The AP-side driver's responsibility
+is strictly limited to mapping physical pages into the SMMU context bank;
+therefore, the extra layer of AP-side VM tracking provided by GPUVM is redundant.
+
+Debugging
+=========
+Diagnostic messages are emitted through dynamic debug. Enable them for the
+whole driver with:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    echo "module qda +p" > /sys/kernel/debug/dynamic_debug/control
+
+Testing
+=======
+The QDA driver can be exercised using the ``fastrpc_test`` utility from the
+open-source FastRPC userspace library available at `qualcomm/fastrpc
+<https://github.com/qualcomm/fastrpc>`_.
+
+Building Userspace & Tests
+--------------------------
+To satisfy the DRM accel requirement for a fully open-source userspace toolchain,
+the compiler, userspace library, and test suite must be set up using standard
+open-source tools:
+
+1. **Install Compiler**: Install the latest LLVM.
+2. **QAIC Compiler**: The Qualcomm IDL Compiler (QAIC) is fully open-source and
+   available at `qualcomm/QAIC <https://github.com/qualcomm/QAIC>`_.
+3. **Build FastRPC Userspace Library**: Clone and compile the library:
+
+   .. code-block:: bash
+
+       git clone https://github.com/qualcomm/fastrpc.git
+       cd fastrpc
+       ./gitcompile --host=aarch64-linux-gnu
+       make
+       sudo make install
+
+Running the Test Application
+----------------------------
+Once installed, run the test utility on the target device:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    fastrpc_test -d 3 -U 1 -t linux -a v68
+
+**Options**
+
+``-d domain``
+    Select the DSP domain to run on:
+
+    * ``0`` — ADSP
+    * ``1`` — MDSP
+    * ``2`` — SDSP
+    * ``3`` — CDSP *(default on targets with CDSP)*
+
+``-U unsigned_PD``
+    Select signed or unsigned protection domain:
+
+    * ``0`` — signed PD
+    * ``1`` — unsigned PD *(default)*
+
+``-t target``
+    Target platform: ``android`` or ``linux`` *(default: linux)*
+
+``-a arch_version``
+    DSP architecture version, e.g. ``v68``, ``v75`` *(default: v68)*

-- 
2.34.1


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-08-17  4:48 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 18+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-08-17  4:47 [PATCH v2 00/15] accel/qda: Qualcomm DSP Accelerator driver Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 01/15] MAINTAINERS: Add entry for Qualcomm DSP Accelerator (QDA) driver Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` Ekansh Gupta [this message]
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 03/15] accel/qda: Add initial QDA DRM accelerator driver Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 04/15] accel/qda: Add compute bus for QDA context banks Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 05/15] iommu: Add QDA compute context bank bus to iommu_buses Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  7:01   ` Joerg Roedel (AMD)
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 06/15] accel/qda: Create compute context bank devices on QDA compute bus Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 07/15] accel/qda: Add memory manager for CB devices Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  6:52   ` Dmitry Baryshkov
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 08/15] accel/qda: Add QUERY IOCTL and QDA UAPI header Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  6:58   ` Dmitry Baryshkov
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 09/15] accel/qda: Add DMA-backed GEM objects and memory manager integration Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 10/15] accel/qda: Add GEM_CREATE and GEM_MMAP_OFFSET IOCTLs Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 11/15] accel/qda: Add PRIME DMA-BUF import support Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 12/15] accel/qda: Add FastRPC invocation support Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 13/15] accel/qda: Add DSP process creation and release Ekansh Gupta
2026-08-17  4:47 ` [PATCH v2 14/15] accel/qda: Add remote memory mapping to DSP address space Ekansh Gupta

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=20260817-qda-v2-v2-2-69a02e9090d4@oss.qualcomm.com \
    --to=ekansh.gupta@oss.qualcomm.com \
    --cc=airlied@gmail.com \
    --cc=christian.koenig@amd.com \
    --cc=corbet@lwn.net \
    --cc=dmitry.baryshkov@oss.qualcomm.com \
    --cc=dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org \
    --cc=iommu@lists.linux.dev \
    --cc=joro@8bytes.org \
    --cc=justinstitt@google.com \
    --cc=linaro-mm-sig@lists.linaro.org \
    --cc=linux-arm-msm@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-doc@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-media@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=llvm@lists.linux.dev \
    --cc=maarten.lankhorst@linux.intel.com \
    --cc=morbo@google.com \
    --cc=mripard@kernel.org \
    --cc=nathan@kernel.org \
    --cc=ndesaulniers@google.com \
    --cc=ogabbay@kernel.org \
    --cc=quic_bkumar@quicinc.com \
    --cc=quic_chennak@quicinc.com \
    --cc=rdunlap@infradead.org \
    --cc=robin.murphy@arm.com \
    --cc=simona@ffwll.ch \
    --cc=skhan@linuxfoundation.org \
    --cc=srinivas.kandagatla@oss.qualcomm.com \
    --cc=sumit.semwal@linaro.org \
    --cc=tzimmermann@suse.de \
    --cc=will@kernel.org \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox