linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 00/16] Intel FPGA Device Drivers

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Date:   Tue, 25 Apr 2017 21:02:25 +0100
From:   One Thousand Gnomes <gnomes@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>
To:     Jerome Glisse <jglisse@...hat.com>
Cc:     Alan Tull <atull@...nel.org>,
        "Luebbers, Enno" <enno.luebbers@...el.com>,
        Moritz Fischer <moritz.fischer@...us.com>,
        Wu Hao <hao.wu@...el.com>, linux-fpga@...r.kernel.org,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        "Kang, Luwei" <luwei.kang@...el.com>,
        "Zhang, Yi Z" <yi.z.zhang@...el.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 00/16] Intel FPGA Device Drivers

> That is where we disagree. I do not see bitstream as firmware. For instance
> now you can run OpenCL on some FPGA, so this is exactly like GPU we should
> request open source stack from OpenCL down to bitstream.

It's an accelerator with a bunch of firmwares where you load the right
one. We've got lots of those in Linux already. Your GPU probably needs
firmware as well in just the same way.

> For me this is not enough (tool to load bitstream).

Unfortunately that isn't likely to change for any major FPGA device in
the near future. If you could load arbitrary bit patterns into an FPGA
then in most cases that also means you could physically destroy the
hardware.

Alan