xref: /linux/Documentation/gpu/nova/core/todo.rst (revision 72a723df8decf70e04f799a6defda8bb62d41848)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0+ OR MIT)
2
3=========
4Task List
5=========
6
7Tasks may have the following fields:
8
9- ``Complexity``: Describes the required familiarity with Rust and / or the
10  corresponding kernel APIs or subsystems. There are four different complexities,
11  ``Beginner``, ``Intermediate``, ``Advanced`` and ``Expert``.
12- ``Reference``: References to other tasks.
13- ``Link``: Links to external resources.
14- ``Contact``: The person that can be contacted for further information about
15  the task.
16
17A task might have `[ABCD]` code after its name. This code can be used to grep
18into the code for `TODO` entries related to it.
19
20Enablement (Rust)
21=================
22
23Tasks that are not directly related to nova-core, but are preconditions in terms
24of required APIs.
25
26FromPrimitive API [FPRI]
27------------------------
28
29Sometimes the need arises to convert a number to a value of an enum or a
30structure.
31
32A good example from nova-core would be the ``Chipset`` enum type, which defines
33the value ``AD102``. When probing the GPU the value ``0x192`` can be read from a
34certain register indication the chipset AD102. Hence, the enum value ``AD102``
35should be derived from the number ``0x192``. Currently, nova-core uses a custom
36implementation (``Chipset::from_u32`` for this.
37
38Instead, it would be desirable to have something like the ``FromPrimitive``
39trait [1] from the num crate.
40
41Having this generalization also helps with implementing a generic macro that
42automatically generates the corresponding mappings between a value and a number.
43
44FromPrimitive support has been worked on in the past, but hasn't been followed
45since then [1].
46
47There also have been considerations of ToPrimitive [2].
48
49| Complexity: Beginner
50| Link: https://docs.rs/num/latest/num/trait.FromPrimitive.html
51| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/cover.1750689857.git.y.j3ms.n@gmail.com/ [1]
52| Link: https://rust-for-linux.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/288089-General/topic/Implement.20.60FromPrimitive.60.20trait.20.2B.20derive.20macro.20for.20nova-core/with/541971854 [2]
53
54Numerical operations [NUMM]
55---------------------------
56
57Nova uses integer operations that are not part of the standard library (or not
58implemented in an optimized way for the kernel). These include:
59
60- The "Find Last Set Bit" (`fls` function of the C part of the kernel)
61  operation.
62
63A `num` core kernel module is being designed to provide these operations.
64
65| Complexity: Intermediate
66| Contact: Alexandre Courbot
67
68Page abstraction for foreign pages
69----------------------------------
70
71Rust abstractions for pages not created by the Rust page abstraction without
72direct ownership.
73
74There is active onging work from Abdiel Janulgue [1] and Lina [2].
75
76| Complexity: Advanced
77| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/20241119112408.779243-1-abdiel.janulgue@gmail.com/ [1]
78| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/rust-for-linux/20250202-rust-page-v1-0-e3170d7fe55e@asahilina.net/ [2]
79
80PCI MISC APIs
81-------------
82
83Extend the existing PCI device / driver abstractions by SR-IOV, capability, MSI
84API abstractions.
85
86SR-IOV [1] is work in progress.
87
88| Complexity: Beginner
89| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251119-rust-pci-sriov-v1-0-883a94599a97@redhat.com/ [1]
90
91GPU (general)
92=============
93
94Initial Devinit support
95-----------------------
96
97Implement BIOS Device Initialization, i.e. memory sizing, waiting, PLL
98configuration.
99
100| Contact: Dave Airlie
101| Complexity: Beginner
102
103MMU / PT management
104-------------------
105
106Work out the architecture for MMU / page table management.
107
108We need to consider that nova-drm will need rather fine-grained control,
109especially in terms of locking, in order to be able to implement asynchronous
110Vulkan queues.
111
112While generally sharing the corresponding code is desirable, it needs to be
113evaluated how (and if at all) sharing the corresponding code is expedient.
114
115| Complexity: Expert
116
117VRAM memory allocator
118---------------------
119
120Investigate options for a VRAM memory allocator.
121
122Some possible options:
123  - Rust abstractions for
124    - RB tree (interval tree) / drm_mm
125    - maple_tree
126  - native Rust collections
127
128There is work in progress for using drm_buddy [1].
129
130| Complexity: Advanced
131| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251219203805.1246586-4-joelagnelf@nvidia.com/ [1]
132
133Instance Memory
134---------------
135
136Implement support for instmem (bar2) used to store page tables.
137
138| Complexity: Intermediate
139| Contact: Dave Airlie
140
141GPU System Processor (GSP)
142==========================
143
144Export GSP log buffers
145----------------------
146
147Recent patches from Timur Tabi [1] added support to expose GSP-RM log buffers
148(even after failure to probe the driver) through debugfs.
149
150This is also an interesting feature for nova-core, especially in the early days.
151
152| Link: https://lore.kernel.org/nouveau/20241030202952.694055-2-ttabi@nvidia.com/ [1]
153| Reference: Debugfs abstractions
154| Complexity: Intermediate
155
156GSP firmware abstraction
157------------------------
158
159The GSP-RM firmware API is unstable and may incompatibly change from version to
160version, in terms of data structures and semantics.
161
162This problem is one of the big motivations for using Rust for nova-core, since
163it turns out that Rust's procedural macro feature provides a rather elegant way
164to address this issue:
165
1661. generate Rust structures from the C headers in a separate namespace per version
1672. build abstraction structures (within a generic namespace) that implement the
168   firmware interfaces; annotate the differences in implementation with version
169   identifiers
1703. use a procedural macro to generate the actual per version implementation out
171   of this abstraction
1724. instantiate the correct version type one on runtime (can be sure that all
173   have the same interface because it's defined by a common trait)
174
175There is a PoC implementation of this pattern, in the context of the nova-core
176PoC driver.
177
178This task aims at refining the feature and ideally generalize it, to be usable
179by other drivers as well.
180
181| Complexity: Expert
182
183GSP message queue
184-----------------
185
186Implement low level GSP message queue (command, status) for communication
187between the kernel driver and GSP.
188
189| Complexity: Advanced
190| Contact: Dave Airlie
191
192Bootstrap GSP
193-------------
194
195Call the boot firmware to boot the GSP processor; execute initial control
196messages.
197
198| Complexity: Intermediate
199| Contact: Dave Airlie
200
201Client / Device APIs
202--------------------
203
204Implement the GSP message interface for client / device allocation and the
205corresponding client and device allocation APIs.
206
207| Complexity: Intermediate
208| Contact: Dave Airlie
209
210Bar PDE handling
211----------------
212
213Synchronize page table handling for BARs between the kernel driver and GSP.
214
215| Complexity: Beginner
216| Contact: Dave Airlie
217
218FIFO engine
219-----------
220
221Implement support for the FIFO engine, i.e. the corresponding GSP message
222interface and provide an API for chid allocation and channel handling.
223
224| Complexity: Advanced
225| Contact: Dave Airlie
226
227GR engine
228---------
229
230Implement support for the graphics engine, i.e. the corresponding GSP message
231interface and provide an API for (golden) context creation and promotion.
232
233| Complexity: Advanced
234| Contact: Dave Airlie
235
236CE engine
237---------
238
239Implement support for the copy engine, i.e. the corresponding GSP message
240interface.
241
242| Complexity: Intermediate
243| Contact: Dave Airlie
244
245VFN IRQ controller
246------------------
247
248Support for the VFN interrupt controller.
249
250| Complexity: Intermediate
251| Contact: Dave Airlie
252
253External APIs
254=============
255
256nova-core base API
257------------------
258
259Work out the common pieces of the API to connect 2nd level drivers, i.e. vGPU
260manager and nova-drm.
261
262| Complexity: Advanced
263
264vGPU manager API
265----------------
266
267Work out the API parts required by the vGPU manager, which are not covered by
268the base API.
269
270| Complexity: Advanced
271
272nova-core C API
273---------------
274
275Implement a C wrapper for the APIs required by the vGPU manager driver.
276
277| Complexity: Intermediate
278
279Testing
280=======
281
282CI pipeline
283-----------
284
285Investigate option for continuous integration testing.
286
287This can go from as simple as running KUnit tests over running (graphics) CTS to
288booting up (multiple) guest VMs to test VFIO use-cases.
289
290It might also be worth to consider the introduction of a new test suite directly
291sitting on top of the uAPI for more targeted testing and debugging. There may be
292options for collaboration / shared code with the Mesa project.
293
294| Complexity: Advanced
295