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authorAlan Tull <atull@kernel.org>2018-05-17 02:50:02 +0300
committerGreg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>2018-05-25 19:23:56 +0300
commit66c472cdb62d7b00de55722a772f7dfecf88abd1 (patch)
treeb4dd1b7498ff16e1eb48dedfb66a7ad1bbb8c7ea /Documentation/driver-api/fpga/intro.rst
parent917a4304fe48c12d346f038c7d64da3f51bce53a (diff)
downloadlinux-66c472cdb62d7b00de55722a772f7dfecf88abd1.tar.xz
Documentation: fpga: move fpga overview to driver-api
Start of moving Documentation/fpga/*.txt to driver-api, including: - Add new directory driver-api/fpga - Add new file driver-api/fpga/index.rst - Add driver-api/fpga to driver-api/index.rst - Move Documentation/fpga/overview.txt to driver-api/fpga/intro.rst - Formatting and rewrites so that intro.rst will build cleanly and form a good introduction to the rest of the docs to be added. Signed-off-by: Alan Tull <atull@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
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+Introduction
+============
+
+The FPGA subsystem supports reprogramming FPGAs dynamically under
+Linux. Some of the core intentions of the FPGA subsystems are:
+
+* The FPGA subsystem is vendor agnostic.
+
+* The FPGA subsystem separates upper layers (userspace interfaces and
+ enumeration) from lower layers that know how to program a specific
+ FPGA.
+
+* Code should not be shared between upper and lower layers. This
+ should go without saying. If that seems necessary, there's probably
+ framework functionality that that can be added that will benefit
+ other users. Write the linux-fpga mailing list and maintainers and
+ seek out a solution that expands the framework for broad reuse.
+
+* Generally, when adding code, think of the future. Plan for re-use.
+
+The framework in the kernel is divided into:
+
+FPGA Manager
+------------
+
+If you are adding a new FPGA or a new method of programming a FPGA,
+this is the subsystem for you. Low level FPGA manager drivers contain
+the knowledge of how to program a specific device. This subsystem
+includes the framework in fpga-mgr.c and the low level drivers that
+are registered with it.
+
+FPGA Bridge
+-----------
+
+FPGA Bridges prevent spurious signals from going out of a FPGA or a
+region of a FPGA during programming. They are disabled before
+programming begins and re-enabled afterwards. An FPGA bridge may be
+actual hard hardware that gates a bus to a cpu or a soft ("freeze")
+bridge in FPGA fabric that surrounds a partial reconfiguration region
+of an FPGA. This subsystem includes fpga-bridge.c and the low level
+drivers that are registered with it.
+
+FPGA Region
+-----------
+
+If you are adding a new interface to the FPGA framework, add it on top
+of a FPGA region to allow the most reuse of your interface.
+
+The FPGA Region framework (fpga-region.c) associates managers and
+bridges as reconfigurable regions. A region may refer to the whole
+FPGA in full reconfiguration or to a partial reconfiguration region.
+
+The Device Tree FPGA Region support (of-fpga-region.c) handles
+reprogramming FPGAs when device tree overlays are applied.