Re: [PATCH v10 07/21] gpu: nova-core: mm: Add TLB flush support

Joel Fernandes
2026-04-06T22:10:16Z

On 4/6/2026 5:24 PM, Joel Fernandes wrote:
>
>
> On 4/2/2026 1:59 AM, Matthew Brost wrote:
>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2026 at 05:20:34PM -0400, Joel Fernandes wrote:
>>> Add TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer) flush support for GPU MMU.
>>>
>>> After modifying page table entries, the GPU's TLB must be invalidated
>>> to ensure the new mappings take effect. The Tlb struct provides flush
>>> functionality through BAR0 registers.
>>>
>>> The flush operation writes the page directory base address and triggers
>>> an invalidation, polling for completion with a 2 second timeout matching
>>> the Nouveau driver.
>>>
>>> Cc: Nikola Djukic <ndjukic@nvidia.com>
>>> Signed-off-by: Joel Fernandes <joelagnelf@nvidia.com>
>>> ---
>>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm.rs | 1 +
>>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm/tlb.rs | 95 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/regs.rs | 42 +++++++++++++++
>>> 3 files changed, 138 insertions(+)
>>> create mode 100644 drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm/tlb.rs
>>>
>>> diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm.rs
>>> index 8f3089a5fa88..cfe9cbe11d57 100644
>>> --- a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm.rs
>>> +++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm.rs
>>> @@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
>>> #![expect(dead_code)]
>>>
>>> pub(crate) mod pramin;
>>> +pub(crate) mod tlb;
>>>
>>> use kernel::sizes::SZ_4K;
>>>
>>> diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm/tlb.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm/tlb.rs
>>> new file mode 100644
>>> index 000000000000..cd3cbcf4c739
>>> --- /dev/null
>>> +++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/mm/tlb.rs
>>> @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
>>> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>>> +
>>> +//! TLB (Translation Lookaside Buffer) flush support for GPU MMU.
>>> +//!
>>> +//! After modifying page table entries, the GPU's TLB must be flushed to
>>> +//! ensure the new mappings take effect. This module provides TLB flush
>>> +//! functionality for virtual memory managers.
>>> +//!
>>> +//! # Example
>>> +//!
>>> +//! ```ignore
>>> +//! use crate::mm::tlb::Tlb;
>>> +//!
>>> +//! fn page_table_update(tlb: &Tlb, pdb_addr: VramAddress) -> Result<()> {
>>> +//! // ... modify page tables ...
>>> +//!
>>> +//! // Flush TLB to make changes visible (polls for completion).
>>> +//! tlb.flush(pdb_addr)?;
>>> +//!
>>> +//! Ok(())
>>> +//! }
>>> +//! ```
>>> +
>>> +use kernel::{
>>> + devres::Devres,
>>> + io::poll::read_poll_timeout,
>>> + io::Io,
>>> + new_mutex,
>>> + prelude::*,
>>> + sync::{
>>> + Arc,
>>> + Mutex, //
>>> + },
>>> + time::Delta, //
>>> +};
>>> +
>>> +use crate::{
>>> + driver::Bar0,
>>> + mm::VramAddress,
>>> + regs, //
>>> +};
>>> +
>>> +/// TLB manager for GPU translation buffer operations.
>>> +#[pin_data]
>>> +pub(crate) struct Tlb {
>>> + bar: Arc<Devres<Bar0>>,
>>> + /// TLB flush serialization lock: This lock is acquired during the
>>> + /// DMA fence signalling critical path. It must NEVER be held across any
>>> + /// reclaimable CPU memory allocations because the memory reclaim path can
>>> + /// call `dma_fence_wait()`, which would deadlock with this lock held.
>>> + #[pin]
>>> + lock: Mutex<()>,
>>> +}
>>> +
>>> +impl Tlb {
>>> + /// Create a new TLB manager.
>>> + pub(super) fn new(bar: Arc<Devres<Bar0>>) -> impl PinInit<Self> {
>>> + pin_init!(Self {
>>> + bar,
>>> + lock <- new_mutex!((), "tlb_flush"),
>>> + })
>>> + }
>>> +
>>> + /// Flush the GPU TLB for a specific page directory base.
>>> + ///
>>> + /// This invalidates all TLB entries associated with the given PDB address.
>>> + /// Must be called after modifying page table entries to ensure the GPU sees
>>> + /// the updated mappings.
>>> + pub(crate) fn flush(&self, pdb_addr: VramAddress) -> Result {
>>
>> This landed on my list randomly, so I took a look.
>>
>> Wouldn’t you want to virtualize the invalidation based on your device?
>> For example, what if you need to register interface changes on future hardware?
>
> Good point, for future hardware it indeed makes sense. I will do that.
Actually, at least in the future as far as I can see, the register definitions
are the same for TLB invalidation are the same, so we are good and I will not be
making any change in this regard.

But, thanks for raising the point and forcing me to double check!

--
Joel Fernandes