From: "Russell King (Oracle)" <rmk+kernel@armlinux.org.uk>
To: Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>, Heiner Kallweit <hkallweit1@gmail.com>
Cc: Alexandre Torgue <alexandre.torgue@foss.st.com>,
Andrew Lunn <andrew+netdev@lunn.ch>, Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>,
"David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
Drew Fustini <fustini@kernel.org>,
Emil Renner Berthing <kernel@esmil.dk>,
Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
Fabio Estevam <festevam@gmail.com>, Fu Wei <wefu@redhat.com>,
Guo Ren <guoren@kernel.org>,
imx@lists.linux.dev, Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
Jernej Skrabec <jernej.skrabec@gmail.com>,
linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org,
linux-riscv@lists.infradead.org,
linux-stm32@st-md-mailman.stormreply.com,
linux-sunxi@lists.linux.dev,
Maxime Chevallier <maxime.chevallier@bootlin.com>,
Maxime Coquelin <mcoquelin.stm32@gmail.com>,
Minda Chen <minda.chen@starfivetech.com>,
Mohd Ayaan Anwar <mohd.anwar@oss.qualcomm.com>,
netdev@vger.kernel.org, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
Pengutronix Kernel Team <kernel@pengutronix.de>,
Samuel Holland <samuel@sholland.org>,
Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>,
Shawn Guo <shawnguo@kernel.org>,
Vladimir Zapolskiy <vz@mleia.com>
Subject: [PATCH net-next 01/10] net: stmmac: rework mac_interface and phy_interface documentation
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2025 16:12:01 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <E1uytpB-00000006H23-0pRi@rmk-PC.armlinux.org.uk> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <aMrPpc8oRxqGtVPJ@shell.armlinux.org.uk>
Based on new research, it has come to light that the comment that I
added in a014c35556b9 ("net: stmmac: clarify difference between
"interface" and "phy_interface"") is not fully correct.
Update the comment to properly describe the difference between the two.
All of the DTS files in the kernel tree do not mention the "mac-mode"
property, which results in mac_interface and phy_interface being the
same. Also, none of the platform glue drivers set mac_interface to
anything but PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_NA. This means that for all the
platforms known to mainline, mac_interface is either the same as
phy_interface, or it is PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_NA.
Thus, updating the definition for mac_interface in stmmac.h has no
material effect on current uses known to mainline, but the change opens
the door to cleaning up all uses.
Signed-off-by: Russell King (Oracle) <rmk+kernel@armlinux.org.uk>
---
include/linux/stmmac.h | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++--------
1 file changed, 22 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/stmmac.h b/include/linux/stmmac.h
index e284f04964bf..f14f34ec6d5e 100644
--- a/include/linux/stmmac.h
+++ b/include/linux/stmmac.h
@@ -190,18 +190,32 @@ struct plat_stmmacenet_data {
int bus_id;
int phy_addr;
/* MAC ----- optional PCS ----- SerDes ----- optional PHY ----- Media
- * ^ ^
- * mac_interface phy_interface
+ * ^ ^
+ * mac_interface phy_interface
*
- * mac_interface is the MAC-side interface, which may be the same
- * as phy_interface if there is no intervening PCS. If there is a
- * PCS, then mac_interface describes the interface mode between the
- * MAC and PCS, and phy_interface describes the interface mode
- * between the PCS and PHY.
+ * The Synopsys dwmac core only covers the MAC and an optional
+ * integrated PCS. Where the integrated PCS is used with a SerDes,
+ * e.g. for 1000base-X or Cisco SGMII, the connection between the
+ * PCS and SerDes will be TBI.
+ *
+ * Where the Synopsys dwmac core has been instantiated with multiple
+ * interface modes, these are selected via core-external configuration
+ * which is sampled when the dwmac core is reset. How this is done is
+ * platform glue specific, but this defines the interface used from
+ * the Synopsys dwmac core to the rest of the SoC.
+ *
+ * Where PCS other than the optional integrated Synopsys dwmac PCS
+ * is used, this counts as "the rest of the SoC" in the above
+ * paragraph.
+ *
+ * Thus, mac_interface is of little use inside the stmmac code;
+ * please do not use unless there is a definite requirement, and
+ * make sure to gain review feedback first.
*/
phy_interface_t mac_interface;
/* phy_interface is the PHY-side interface - the interface used by
- * an attached PHY.
+ * an attached PHY or SFP etc. This is equivalent to the interface
+ * that phylink uses.
*/
phy_interface_t phy_interface;
struct stmmac_mdio_bus_data *mdio_bus_data;
--
2.47.3
_______________________________________________
linux-riscv mailing list
linux-riscv@lists.infradead.org
http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-riscv
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2025-09-17 15:12 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 14+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-09-17 15:11 [PATCH net-next 00/10] net: stmmac: remove mac_interface Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` Russell King (Oracle) [this message]
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 02/10] net: stmmac: use phy_interface in stmmac_check_pcs_mode() Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 03/10] net: stmmac: imx: convert to use phy_interface Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 04/10] net: stmmac: ingenic: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 05/10] net: stmmac: socfpga: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 06/10] net: stmmac: starfive: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 07/10] net: stmmac: stm32: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 08/10] net: stmmac: sun8i: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:25 ` Chen-Yu Tsai
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 09/10] net: stmmac: thead: " Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-17 15:12 ` [PATCH net-next 10/10] net: stmmac: remove mac_interface Russell King (Oracle)
2025-09-18 20:11 ` Vladimir Zapolskiy
2025-09-20 0:30 ` [PATCH net-next 00/10] " patchwork-bot+netdevbpf
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=E1uytpB-00000006H23-0pRi@rmk-PC.armlinux.org.uk \
--to=rmk+kernel@armlinux.org.uk \
--cc=alexandre.torgue@foss.st.com \
--cc=andrew+netdev@lunn.ch \
--cc=andrew@lunn.ch \
--cc=davem@davemloft.net \
--cc=edumazet@google.com \
--cc=festevam@gmail.com \
--cc=fustini@kernel.org \
--cc=guoren@kernel.org \
--cc=hkallweit1@gmail.com \
--cc=imx@lists.linux.dev \
--cc=jernej.skrabec@gmail.com \
--cc=kernel@esmil.dk \
--cc=kernel@pengutronix.de \
--cc=kuba@kernel.org \
--cc=linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org \
--cc=linux-riscv@lists.infradead.org \
--cc=linux-stm32@st-md-mailman.stormreply.com \
--cc=linux-sunxi@lists.linux.dev \
--cc=maxime.chevallier@bootlin.com \
--cc=mcoquelin.stm32@gmail.com \
--cc=minda.chen@starfivetech.com \
--cc=mohd.anwar@oss.qualcomm.com \
--cc=netdev@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=pabeni@redhat.com \
--cc=s.hauer@pengutronix.de \
--cc=samuel@sholland.org \
--cc=shawnguo@kernel.org \
--cc=vz@mleia.com \
--cc=wefu@redhat.com \
--cc=wens@csie.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