linux-kernel - Re: [RFC 2/6] dmaengine: xilinx_dma: Pass AXI4-Stream control words to netdev dma client

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Message-ID: <20180424035548.GA6014@localhost>
Date:   Tue, 24 Apr 2018 09:25:49 +0530
From:   Vinod Koul <vinod.koul@...el.com>
To:     Peter Ujfalusi <peter.ujfalusi@...com>
Cc:     Lars-Peter Clausen <lars@...afoo.de>,
        Radhey Shyam Pandey <radheys@...inx.com>,
        "michal.simek@...inx.com" <michal.simek@...inx.com>,
        "linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        "dmaengine@...r.kernel.org" <dmaengine@...r.kernel.org>,
        "dan.j.williams@...el.com" <dan.j.williams@...el.com>,
        Appana Durga Kedareswara Rao <appanad@...inx.com>,
        "linux-arm-kernel@...ts.infradead.org" 
        <linux-arm-kernel@...ts.infradead.org>
Subject: Re: [RFC 2/6] dmaengine: xilinx_dma: Pass AXI4-Stream control words
 to netdev dma client

On Thu, Apr 19, 2018 at 02:40:26PM +0300, Peter Ujfalusi wrote:
> 
> On 2018-04-18 16:06, Lars-Peter Clausen wrote:
> >> Hrm, true, but it is hardly the metadata use case. It is more like
> >> different DMA transfer type.
> > 
> > When I look at this with my astronaut architect view from high high up above
> > I do not see a difference between metadata and multi-planar data.
> 
> I tend to disagree.

and we will love to hear more :)

> > Both split the data that is sent to the peripheral into multiple
> > sub-streams, each carrying part of the data. I'm sure there are peripherals
> > that interleave data and metadata on the same data stream. Similar to how we
> > have left and right channel interleaved in a audio stream.
> 
> Slimbus, S/PDIF?
> 
> > What about metadata that is not contiguous and split into multiple segments.
> > How do you handle passing a sgl to the metadata interface? And then it
> > suddenly looks quite similar to the normal DMA descriptor interface.
> 
> Well, the metadata is for the descriptor. The descriptor describe the
> data transfer _and_ can convey additional information. Nothing is
> interleaved, the data and the descriptor are different things. It is
> more like TCP headers detached from the data (but pointing to it).
> 
> > But maybe that's just one abstraction level to high.
> 
> I understand your point, but at the end the metadata needs to end up in
> the descriptor which is describing the data that is going to be moved.
> 
> The descriptor is not sent as a separate DMA trasnfer, it is part of the
> DMA transfer, it is handled internally by the DMA.

That is bit confusing to me. I thought DMA was transparent to meta data and
would blindly collect and transfer along with the descriptor. So at high
level we are talking about two transfers (probably co-joined at hip and you
want to call one transfer) but why can't we visualize this as just a DMA
transfers. maybe you want to signal/attach to transfer, cant we do that with
additional flag DMA_METADATA etc..?

-- 
~Vinod