1========================
2Linux Switchtec Support
3========================
4
5Microsemi's "Switchtec" line of PCI switch devices is already
6supported by the kernel with standard PCI switch drivers. However, the
7Switchtec device advertises a special management endpoint which
8enables some additional functionality. This includes:
9
10* Packet and Byte Counters
11* Firmware Upgrades
12* Event and Error logs
13* Querying port link status
14* Custom user firmware commands
15
16The switchtec kernel module implements this functionality.
17
18
19Interface
20=========
21
22The primary means of communicating with the Switchtec management firmware is
23through the Memory-mapped Remote Procedure Call (MRPC) interface.
24Commands are submitted to the interface with a 4-byte command
25identifier and up to 1KB of command specific data. The firmware will
26respond with a 4 bytes return code and up to 1KB of command specific
27data. The interface only processes a single command at a time.
28
29
30Userspace Interface
31===================
32
33The MRPC interface will be exposed to userspace through a simple char
34device: /dev/switchtec#, one for each management endpoint in the system.
35
36The char device has the following semantics:
37
38* A write must consist of at least 4 bytes and no more than 1028 bytes.
39  The first four bytes will be interpreted as the command to run and
40  the remainder will be used as the input data. A write will send the
41  command to the firmware to begin processing.
42
43* Each write must be followed by exactly one read. Any double write will
44  produce an error and any read that doesn't follow a write will
45  produce an error.
46
47* A read will block until the firmware completes the command and return
48  the four bytes of status plus up to 1024 bytes of output data. (The
49  length will be specified by the size parameter of the read call --
50  reading less than 4 bytes will produce an error.
51
52* The poll call will also be supported for userspace applications that
53  need to do other things while waiting for the command to complete.
54
55The following IOCTLs are also supported by the device:
56
57* SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_FLASH_INFO - Retrieve firmware length and number
58  of partitions in the device.
59
60* SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_FLASH_PART_INFO - Retrieve address and lengeth for
61  any specified partition in flash.
62
63* SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_EVENT_SUMMARY - Read a structure of bitmaps
64  indicating all uncleared events.
65
66* SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_EVENT_CTL - Get the current count, clear and set flags
67  for any event. This ioctl takes in a switchtec_ioctl_event_ctl struct
68  with the event_id, index and flags set (index being the partition or PFF
69  number for non-global events). It returns whether the event has
70  occurred, the number of times and any event specific data. The flags
71  can be used to clear the count or enable and disable actions to
72  happen when the event occurs.
73  By using the SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_EVENT_FLAG_EN_POLL flag,
74  you can set an event to trigger a poll command to return with
75  POLLPRI. In this way, userspace can wait for events to occur.
76
77* SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_PFF_TO_PORT and SWITCHTEC_IOCTL_PORT_TO_PFF convert
78  between PCI Function Framework number (used by the event system)
79  and Switchtec Logic Port ID and Partition number (which is more
80  user friendly).
81
82
83Non-Transparent Bridge (NTB) Driver
84===================================
85
86An NTB driver is provided for the switchtec hardware in switchtec_ntb.
87Currently, it only supports switches configured with exactly 2
88partitions. It also requires the following configuration settings:
89
90* Both partitions must be able to access each other's GAS spaces.
91  Thus, the bits in the GAS Access Vector under Management Settings
92  must be set to support this.
93