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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@g5.osdl.org>2006-06-25 10:09:31 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@g5.osdl.org>2006-06-25 10:09:31 -0700
commit25581ad107be24b89d805da51a03d616f8f3d1be (patch)
tree36e2bd32667b5dd5a39e1939c1c5162f18967715 /Documentation/video4linux/cx2341x/fw-dma.txt
parent72cf2709bf8e0410800f118c4298bfbf8715b303 (diff)
parent7477ddaa4d2d69bbcd49e12990af158dbb03f2f2 (diff)
Merge master.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/v4l-dvb
* master.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/v4l-dvb: (244 commits) V4L/DVB (4210b): git-dvb: tea575x-tuner build fix V4L/DVB (4210a): git-dvb versus matroxfb V4L/DVB (4209): Added some BTTV PCI IDs for newer boards Fixes some sync issues between V4L/DVB development and GIT V4L/DVB (4206): Cx88-blackbird: always set encoder height based on tvnorm->id V4L/DVB (4205): Merge tda9887 module into tuner. V4L/DVB (4203): Explicitly set the enum values. V4L/DVB (4202): allow selecting CX2341x port mode V4L/DVB (4200): Disable bitrate_mode when encoding mpeg-1. V4L/DVB (4199): Add cx2341x-specific control array to cx2341x.c V4L/DVB (4198): Avoid newer usages of obsoleted experimental MPEGCOMP API V4L/DVB (4197): Port new MPEG API to saa7134-empress with saa6752hs V4L/DVB (4196): Port cx88-blackbird to the new MPEG API. V4L/DVB (4193): Update cx2341x fw encoding API doc. V4L/DVB (4192): Use control helpers for saa7115, cx25840, msp3400. V4L/DVB (4191): Add CX2341X MPEG encoder module. V4L/DVB (4190): Add helper functions for control processing to v4l2-common. V4L/DVB (4189): Add videodev support for VIDIOC_S/G/TRY_EXT_CTRLS. V4L/DVB (4188): Add new MPEG control/ioctl definitions to videodev2.h V4L/DVB (4186): Add support for the DNTV Live! mini DVB-T card. ...
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+This page describes the structures and procedures used by the cx2341x DMA
+engine.
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+The cx2341x PCI interface is busmaster capable. This means it has a DMA
+engine to efficiently transfer large volumes of data between the card and main
+memory without requiring help from a CPU. Like most hardware, it must operate
+on contiguous physical memory. This is difficult to come by in large quantities
+on virtual memory machines.
+
+Therefore, it also supports a technique called "scatter-gather". The card can
+transfer multiple buffers in one operation. Instead of allocating one large
+contiguous buffer, the driver can allocate several smaller buffers.
+
+In practice, I've seen the average transfer to be roughly 80K, but transfers
+above 128K were not uncommon, particularly at startup. The 128K figure is
+important, because that is the largest block that the kernel can normally
+allocate. Even still, 128K blocks are hard to come by, so the driver writer is
+urged to choose a smaller block size and learn the scatter-gather technique.
+
+Mailbox #10 is reserved for DMA transfer information.
+
+Flow
+====
+
+This section describes, in general, the order of events when handling DMA
+transfers. Detailed information follows this section.
+
+- The card raises the Encoder interrupt.
+- The driver reads the transfer type, offset and size from Mailbox #10.
+- The driver constructs the scatter-gather array from enough free dma buffers
+ to cover the size.
+- The driver schedules the DMA transfer via the ScheduleDMAtoHost API call.
+- The card raises the DMA Complete interrupt.
+- The driver checks the DMA status register for any errors.
+- The driver post-processes the newly transferred buffers.
+
+NOTE! It is possible that the Encoder and DMA Complete interrupts get raised
+simultaneously. (End of the last, start of the next, etc.)
+
+Mailbox #10
+===========
+
+The Flags, Command, Return Value and Timeout fields are ignored.
+
+Name: Mailbox #10
+Results[0]: Type: 0: MPEG.
+Results[1]: Offset: The position relative to the card's memory space.
+Results[2]: Size: The exact number of bytes to transfer.
+
+My speculation is that since the StartCapture API has a capture type of "RAW"
+available, that the type field will have other values that correspond to YUV
+and PCM data.
+
+Scatter-Gather Array
+====================
+
+The scatter-gather array is a contiguously allocated block of memory that
+tells the card the source and destination of each data-block to transfer.
+Card "addresses" are derived from the offset supplied by Mailbox #10. Host
+addresses are the physical memory location of the target DMA buffer.
+
+Each S-G array element is a struct of three 32-bit words. The first word is
+the source address, the second is the destination address. Both take up the
+entire 32 bits. The lowest 16 bits of the third word is the transfer byte
+count. The high-bit of the third word is the "last" flag. The last-flag tells
+the card to raise the DMA_DONE interrupt. From hard personal experience, if
+you forget to set this bit, the card will still "work" but the stream will
+most likely get corrupted.
+
+The transfer count must be a multiple of 256. Therefore, the driver will need
+to track how much data in the target buffer is valid and deal with it
+accordingly.
+
+Array Element:
+
+- 32-bit Source Address
+- 32-bit Destination Address
+- 16-bit reserved (high bit is the last flag)
+- 16-bit byte count
+
+DMA Transfer Status
+===================
+
+Register 0x0004 holds the DMA Transfer Status:
+
+Bit
+4 Scatter-Gather array error
+3 DMA write error
+2 DMA read error
+1 write completed
+0 read completed