linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v7 02/13] misc: bcm-vk: add Broadcom VK driver

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Message-ID: <4ffc8ed7-5b35-0867-d1c3-8ea7ac66d014@broadcom.com>
Date:   Thu, 19 Nov 2020 15:16:44 -0800
From:   Scott Branden <scott.branden@...adcom.com>
To:     Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>
Cc:     Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        Desmond Yan <desmond.yan@...adcom.com>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        bcm-kernel-feedback-list@...adcom.com,
        Olof Johansson <olof@...om.net>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v7 02/13] misc: bcm-vk: add Broadcom VK driver

Hi Pavel,

On 2020-11-19 2:42 p.m., Pavel Machek wrote:
> Hi!
>
>> Add initial version of Broadcom VK driver to enumerate PCI device IDs
>> of Valkyrie and Viper device IDs.
>>
>> VK based cards provide real-time high performance, high throughput,
>> low latency offload compute engine operations.
>> They are used for multiple parallel offload tasks as:
>> audio, video and image processing and crypto operations.
>>
>> Further commits add additional features to driver beyond probe/remove.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Scott Branden <scott.branden@...adcom.com>
>> +++ b/drivers/misc/bcm-vk/Kconfig
>> @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
>> +# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
>> +#
>> +# Broadcom VK device
>> +#
>> +config BCM_VK
>> +	tristate "Support for Broadcom VK Accelerators"
>> +	depends on PCI_MSI
>> +	help
>> +	  Select this option to enable support for Broadcom
>> +	  VK Accelerators.  VK is used for performing
>> +	  specific offload processing.
>> +	  This driver enables userspace programs to access these
>> +	  accelerators via /dev/bcm-vk.N devices.
>> +
>> +	  If unsure, say N.
> Could we
>
> a) align the text the usual way
Please explain what "the usual way" is?
>
> b) explain what the VK is here? What kind of offloads does it do? What
> does "VK" mean?
Sure I can add some more details to the menu.
Offloads such as many parallel crypto, video, compression, and transcode operations are some such offloads.
VK has no real meaning, it is just short for Valkyrie, the first device in the "VK" family.
>
> c) explain where such accelerators might be found.
Such accelerators won't be found in any consumer devices but in high compute data center type locations.
>
> (Is remoteproc framework unusable for this?)
remoteproc has been discussed previously [1] and doesn't suite this application.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAOesGMg6f2pK4ZZ8bz=0nMgCJG-8JhLZe41prZoGsBhgGs6_jA@mail.gmail.com/

>
> Thanks,
> 									Pavel


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