Re: [PATCH v2 2/6] dt-bindings: riscv: Add Zawrs ISA extension description

Charlie Jenkins
2024-04-19T16:40:15Z

On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 04:19:52PM +0100, Conor Dooley wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 05:16:05PM +0200, Andrew Jones wrote:
> > On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 03:45:46PM +0100, Conor Dooley wrote:
> > > On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 03:53:24PM +0200, Andrew Jones wrote:
> > > > Add description for the Zawrs (Wait-on-Reservation-Set) ISA extension
> > > > which was ratified in commit 98918c844281 of riscv-isa-manual.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Andrew Jones <ajones@ventanamicro.com>
> > > > ---
> > > > .../devicetree/bindings/riscv/extensions.yaml | 12 ++++++++++++
> > > > 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)
> > > >
> > > > diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/riscv/extensions.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/riscv/extensions.yaml
> > > > index 468c646247aa..584da2f539e5 100644
> > > > --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/riscv/extensions.yaml
> > > > +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/riscv/extensions.yaml
> > > > @@ -177,6 +177,18 @@ properties:
> > > > is supported as ratified at commit 5059e0ca641c ("update to
> > > > ratified") of the riscv-zacas.
> > > >
> > > > + - const: zawrs
> > > > + description: |
> > > > + The Zawrs extension for entering a low-power state or for trapping
> > > > + to a hypervisor while waiting on a store to a memory location, as
> > > > + ratified in commit 98918c844281 ("Merge pull request #1217 from
> > > > + riscv/zawrs") of riscv-isa-manual.
> > >
> > > This part is fine...
> > >
> > >
> > > > Linux assumes that WRS.NTO will
> > > > + either always eventually terminate the stall due to the reservation
> > > > + set becoming invalid, implementation-specific other reasons, or
> > > > + because a higher privilege level has configured it to cause an
> > > > + illegal instruction exception after an implementation-specific
> > > > + bounded time limit.
> > >
> > > ...but I don't like this bit. The binding should just describe what the
> > > property means for the hardware, not discuss specifics about a
> > > particular OS.
> > >
> > > And with my dt-bindings hat off and my kernel hat on, I think that if we
> > > want to have more specific requirements than the extension provides we
> > > either need to a) document that zawrs means that it will always
> > > terminate or b) additionally document a "zawrs-always-terminates" that
> > > has that meaning and look for it to enable the behaviour.
> >
> > IIUC, the text above mostly just needs to remove 'Linux assumes' in order
> > to provide what we want for (a)? I'm not sure about (b). If Zawrs is
> > unusable as is, then we should probably just go back to the specs and get
> > a new standard extension name for a new version which includes the changes
> > we need.
>
> An (official) new name for the behaviour that you actually want, especially
> if the patchset sent the other day does not have the more stringent
> requirement (I won't even pretend to understand Zawrs well enough to know
> whether it does or not), sounds like the ideal outcome. That way you're
> also sorted on the ACPI side.

What would be the purpose of a vendor implementing WRS.NTO (and putting
it in the DT) that never terminates? The spec says "Then a subsequent
WRS.NTO instruction would cause the hart to temporarily stall execution
in a low- power state until a store occurs to the reservation set or an
interrupt is observed." Why is this wording for WRS.NTO not sufficient
to assume that an implementation of this instruction would eventually
terminate?

- Charlie