Re: [RFC PATCH 00/25] NTB/PCI: Add DW eDMA intr fallback and BAR MW offsets

[Jerome Brunet <jbrunet@baylibre.com>]

On Thu 23 Oct 2025 at 16:18, Koichiro Den <den@valinux.co.jp> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Motivation
> ==========
>
> On Renesas R-Car S4 the PCIe Endpoint is DesignWare-based and the platform
> does not allow mapping GITS_TRANSLATER as an inbound iATU target. As a
> result, forwarding MSI writes from the Root Complex (RC) to the Endpoint
> (EP) is not possible even if we would add implementation to create a MSI
> domain for the vNTB device to use existing drivers/ntb/msi.c, and NTB
> traffic must fall back to doorbells (polling). In addition, BAR resources
> are scarce, which makes it difficult to dedicate a BAR solely to an
> NTB/msi window.
>
> This RFC introduces a generic interrupt backend for NTB. The existing MSI
> path is converted to a backend, and a new DW eDMA test-interrupt backend
> provides an RC-to-EP interrupt fallback when MSI cannot be used. In
> parallel, EPC/DWC gains inbound subrange mapping so multiple NTB memory
> windows (MWs) can share a single BAR at arbitrary offsets (via mwN_offset).
> The vNTB EPF and ntb_transport are taught about offsets.
>
> Backend selection is automatic: if MSI is available we use the MSI backend.
> Otherwise, if enabled, the DW eDMA backend is used. If neither is
> available, we continue to use doorbells. Existing systems remain unaffected
> unless use_intr=1 is set.
>
> Example layout (R-Car S4):
>
>   BAR0: Config/Spad
>   BAR2 [0x00000-0xF0000]: MW1 (data)
>   BAR2 [0xF0000-0xF8000]: MW2 (interrupts)
>   BAR4: Doorbell

Have you considered putting the doorbell in BAR0 along Config/SPAD
instead ? Doorbells already have an offset in the config and it would
allow the following setup

BAR0 : Config/Spad/Doorbell
BAR2 : MW1
BAR4 : MW2

If MW2 handle the IRQs, I suppose the size requirement is rather
limited so it should fit ?

The modification to allow this setup is minimal and you would not need
all the offset related changes below ... This is something I
was experimenting on. I can share that if you are interested.

>
>   # The corresponding configfs settings (see Patch #25):
>   echo 0xF0000 > ./mw1
>   echo 0x8000  > ./mw2
>   echo 0xF0000 > ./mw2_offset
>   echo 2       > ./mw1_bar
>   echo 2       > ./mw2_bar
>
> Summary of changes
> ==================
>
> * NTB core/transport
>   - Introduce struct ntb_intr_backend and convert MSI to the new backend.
>   - Add DW eDMA interrupt backend (CONFIG_NTB_DW_EDMA) as MSI-less fallback.
>   - Rename module parameter to use_intr (keep use_msi as deprecated alias).
>   - Support offsetted partial MWs in ntb_transport.
>   - Hardening for peer-reported interrupt values and minor cleanups.
>
> * PCI Endpoint core and DWC EP controller
>   - Add EPC ops map_inbound()/unmap_inbound() for BAR subrange mapping.
>   - Implement inbound mapping for DesignWare EP (Address Match mode), with
>     tracking of multiple inbound iATU entries per BAR and proper teardown.
>
> * EPF vNTB
>   - Add mwN_offset configfs attributes and propagate offsets to inbound maps.

... then you would not need this with and it would remove significant
part of the necessary changes below

>   - Prefer pci_epc_map_inbound() when supported. Otherwise fall back to
>     set_bar().
>   - Provide .get_pci_epc() so backends can locate the common eDMA instance.
>
> * DW eDMA
>   - Add self-interrupt registration and expose test-IRQ register offsets.
>   - Provide dw_edma_find_by_child().
>
> * Renesas R-Car
>   - Place MW2 in BAR2 to host the interrupt window alongside the data MW.
>
> * Documentation
>
> Patch layout
> ============
>
> * Patches 01-11 : BAR subrange and MW offsets (EPC/DWC EP, vNTB, core helpers)
> * Patches 12-14 : Interrupt handling hardening in ntb_transport/MSI
> * Patches 15-17 : DW eDMA: self-IRQ API, offsets, lookup helper
> * Patches 18-19 : NTB/EPF glue (.get_pci_epc())
> * Patch 20      : Module param name change (use_msi->use_intr, alias preserved)
> * Patches 21-23 : Generic interrupt backend + MSI conversion + DW eDMA backend
> * Patch 24      : R-Car: add MW2 in BAR2 for interrupts
> * Patch 25      : Documentation updates
>
> Tested on
> =========
>
> * Renesas R-Car S4 Spider
> * Kernel base: commit 68113d260674 ("NTB/msi: Remove unused functions") (ntb-driver-core/ntb-next)
>
> Performance measurement
> =======================
>
> Even without the DMA acceleration patches for R-Car S4 (which I keep
> separate from this RFC patch series), enabling RC-to-EP interrupts
> dramatically improves NTB latency on R-Car S4:
>
> * Before this patch series (NB. use_msi doesn't work on R-Car S4)
>
>   # Server: sockperf server -i 0.0.0.0
>   # Client: sockperf ping-pong -i $SERVER_IP
>   ========= Printing statistics for Server No: 0
>   [Valid Duration] RunTime=0.540 sec; SentMessages=45; ReceivedMessages=45
>   ====> avg-latency=5995.680 (std-dev=70.258, mean-ad=57.478, median-ad=85.978,\
>         siqr=59.698, cv=0.012, std-error=10.473, 99.0% ci=[5968.702, 6022.658])
>   # dropped messages = 0; # duplicated messages = 0; # out-of-order messages = 0
>   Summary: Latency is 5995.680 usec
>   Total 45 observations; each percentile contains 0.45 observations
>   ---> <MAX> observation = 6121.137
>   ---> percentile 99.999 = 6121.137
>   ---> percentile 99.990 = 6121.137
>   ---> percentile 99.900 = 6121.137
>   ---> percentile 99.000 = 6121.137
>   ---> percentile 90.000 = 6099.178
>   ---> percentile 75.000 = 6054.418
>   ---> percentile 50.000 = 5993.040
>   ---> percentile 25.000 = 5935.021
>   ---> <MIN> observation = 5883.362
>
> * With this series (use_intr=1)
>
>   # Server: sockperf server -i 0.0.0.0
>   # Client: sockperf ping-pong -i $SERVER_IP
>   ========= Printing statistics for Server No: 0
>   [Valid Duration] RunTime=0.550 sec; SentMessages=2145; ReceivedMessages=2145
>   ====> avg-latency=127.677 (std-dev=21.719, mean-ad=11.759, median-ad=3.779,\
>         siqr=2.699, cv=0.170, std-error=0.469, 99.0% ci=[126.469, 128.885])
>   # dropped messages = 0; # duplicated messages = 0; # out-of-order messages = 0
>   Summary: Latency is 127.677 usec
>   Total 2145 observations; each percentile contains 21.45 observations
>   ---> <MAX> observation =  446.691
>   ---> percentile 99.999 =  446.691
>   ---> percentile 99.990 =  446.691
>   ---> percentile 99.900 =  291.234
>   ---> percentile 99.000 =  221.515
>   ---> percentile 90.000 =  149.277
>   ---> percentile 75.000 =  124.497
>   ---> percentile 50.000 =  121.137
>   ---> percentile 25.000 =  119.037
>   ---> <MIN> observation =  113.637
>
> Feedback welcome on both the approach and the splitting/routing preference.
>
> (The series spans NTB, PCI EP/DWC and dmaengine/dw-edma. I'm happy to split
> later if preferred.)
>
> Thanks for reviewing.
>
>
> Koichiro Den (25):
>   PCI: endpoint: pci-epf-vntb: Use array_index_nospec() on mws_size[]
>     access
>   PCI: endpoint: pci-epf-vntb: Add mwN_offset configfs attributes
>   NTB: epf: Handle mwN_offset for inbound MW regions
>   PCI: endpoint: Add inbound mapping ops to EPC core
>   PCI: dwc: ep: Implement EPC inbound mapping support
>   PCI: endpoint: pci-epf-vntb: Use pci_epc_map_inbound() for MW mapping
>   NTB: Add offset parameter to MW translation APIs
>   PCI: endpoint: pci-epf-vntb: Propagate MW offset from configfs when
>     present
>   NTB: ntb_transport: Support offsetted partial memory windows
>   NTB/msi: Support offsetted partial memory window for MSI
>   NTB/msi: Do not force MW to its maximum possible size
>   NTB: ntb_transport: Stricter checks for peer-reported interrupt values
>   NTB/msi: Skip mw_set_trans() if already configured
>   NTB/msi: Add a inner loop for PCI-MSI cases
>   dmaengine: dw-edma: Add self-interrupt registration API
>   dmaengine: dw-edma: Expose self-IRQ register offsets
>   dmaengine: dw-edma: Add dw_edma_find_by_child() helper
>   NTB: core: Add .get_pci_epc() to ntb_dev_ops
>   NTB: epf: vntb: Implement .get_pci_epc() callback
>   NTB: ntb_transport: Rename use_msi to use_intr (keep alias)
>   NTB: Introduce generic interrupt backend abstraction and convert MSI
>   NTB: ntb_transport: Rename MSI symbols to generic interrupt form
>   NTB: intr_dw_edma: Add DW eDMA emulated interrupt backend
>   NTB: epf: Add MW2 for interrupt use on Renesas R-Car
>   Documentation: PCI: endpoint: pci-epf-vntb: Update and add mwN_offset
>     usage
>
>  Documentation/PCI/endpoint/pci-vntb-howto.rst |  16 +-
>  drivers/dma/dw-edma/dw-edma-core.c            | 109 ++++++++
>  drivers/dma/dw-edma/dw-edma-core.h            |  18 ++
>  drivers/dma/dw-edma/dw-edma-v0-core.c         |  15 ++
>  drivers/ntb/Kconfig                           |  15 ++
>  drivers/ntb/Makefile                          |   6 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/amd/ntb_hw_amd.c               |   6 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/epf/ntb_hw_epf.c               |  46 ++--
>  drivers/ntb/hw/idt/ntb_hw_idt.c               |   3 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/intel/ntb_hw_gen1.c            |   6 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/intel/ntb_hw_gen1.h            |   2 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/intel/ntb_hw_gen3.c            |   3 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/intel/ntb_hw_gen4.c            |   6 +-
>  drivers/ntb/hw/mscc/ntb_hw_switchtec.c        |   6 +-
>  drivers/ntb/intr_common.c                     |  61 +++++
>  drivers/ntb/intr_dw_edma.c                    | 253 ++++++++++++++++++
>  drivers/ntb/msi.c                             | 186 +++++++------
>  drivers/ntb/ntb_transport.c                   | 155 ++++++-----
>  drivers/ntb/test/ntb_msi_test.c               |  26 +-
>  drivers/ntb/test/ntb_perf.c                   |   4 +-
>  drivers/ntb/test/ntb_tool.c                   |   6 +-
>  .../pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware-ep.c   | 242 +++++++++++++++--
>  drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.c  |   1 +
>  drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.h  |   2 +
>  drivers/pci/endpoint/functions/pci-epf-vntb.c | 197 ++++++++++++--
>  drivers/pci/endpoint/pci-epc-core.c           |  44 +++
>  include/linux/dma/edma.h                      |  31 +++
>  include/linux/ntb.h                           | 134 +++++++---
>  include/linux/pci-epc.h                       |  11 +
>  29 files changed, 1310 insertions(+), 300 deletions(-)
>  create mode 100644 drivers/ntb/intr_common.c
>  create mode 100644 drivers/ntb/intr_dw_edma.c

-- 
Jerome