[PATCH v3 0/2] ptp: split non-host-disciplined PHC drivers into a dedicated subdirectory
From: Wen Gu <guwen@linux.alibaba.com>
Date: 2026-06-30 03:15:31
Also in:
linux-s390, lkml
Hi all,
This series follows the discussion in RFC [1-2], v1 [3] and v2 [4].
# Background
The PTP Hardware Clock (PHC) interface (/dev/ptpX and the standard PTP_*
ioctls) is used by two distinct classes of drivers in drivers/ptp/:
host-disciplined PHC drivers whose frequency and phase are adjusted by
the host's time synchronization stack, and non-host-disciplined PHC
drivers that expose an external precision time reference and are
read-only. Several non-host-disciplined PHC drivers already exist in
the kernel [5-9], and more are expected to appear [10-11].
During review of incoming non-host-disciplined PHC drivers, concerns
were raised that they may not be a good fit for the netdev maintainership
model [12], where all PTP/PHC drivers are currently maintained. This
leaves an unclear upstream home and maintainership model for this class
of drivers.
# Proposal
This series makes the separation explicit by reorganizing the drivers/ptp/
layout into the following groups:
- drivers/ptp/ : PTP core infrastructure and host-disciplined
PHC drivers.
- drivers/ptp/emulated/ : non-host-disciplined PHC drivers that expose
precision time from hypervisors, platforms,
or firmware. These clocks are read-only and
not adjusted by the host.
Patch 1 performs the directory reorganization: move drivers and split
Kconfig/Makefiles accordingly, without intended functional changes.
Patch 2 updates MAINTAINERS to match the new layout and adds a
dedicated entry for drivers/ptp/emulated/.
No userspace ABI changes are intended; this is a refactor and maintenance
metadata update only.
# Changes since v2:
- List David Woodhouse as the sole maintainer (M:) of emulated PTP
drivers as suggested by Jakub. Wen Gu and Xuan Zhuo are listed as
reviewers (R:).
- Updated the T: field to use David's tree:
git://git.infradead.org/linux-ptp.git
- Reworded commit messages to clarify the distinction between the two
groups as host-disciplined vs. read-only (devices that purport to know
real time better than the host).
# Changes since v1:
- List David Woodhouse as the maintainer of emulated PTP drivers.
- Adjust the directory layout: instead of creating both ieee1588/ and
emulated/ subdirectories, keep the network-oriented drivers in the
main drivers/ptp/ directory and only split out the emulated drivers.
# Changes since RFC v2:
- Keep ptp_ocp under the network-oriented PTP drivers as suggested
by Jakub.
Thanks for any input.
Regards.
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/0afe19db-9c7f-4228-9fc2-f7b34c4bc227@linux.alibaba.com/ (local)
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260227081934.96865-1-guwen@linux.alibaba.com/ (local)
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260318073330.115808-1-guwen@linux.alibaba.com/ (local)
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260407104802.34429-1-guwen@linux.alibaba.com/ (local)
[5] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=a0e136d436ded817c0aade72efdefa56a00b4e5e
[6] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7d10001e20e46ad6ad95622164686bc2cbfc9802
[7] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2d7de7a3010d713fb89b7ba99e6fdc14475ad106
[8] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=3716a49a81ba19dda7202633a68b28564ba95eb5
[9] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=9a17125a18f9ae1e1233a8e2d919059445b9d6fd
[10] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20251030121314.56729-1-guwen@linux.alibaba.com/ (local)
[11] https://lore.kernel.org/mhi/20250818-tsc_time_sync-v1-0-2747710693ba@oss.qualcomm.com/ (local)
[12] https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20251127083610.6b66a728@kernel.org/ (local)
Wen Gu (2):
ptp: move non-host-disciplined clock drivers into a dedicated
subdirectory
MAINTAINERS: update PTP maintainer entries after directory split
MAINTAINERS | 21 +++++--
drivers/ptp/Kconfig | 55 +------------------
drivers/ptp/Makefile | 11 ++--
drivers/ptp/emulated/Kconfig | 61 +++++++++++++++++++++
drivers/ptp/emulated/Makefile | 11 ++++
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_arm.c | 0
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_common.c | 0
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_x86.c | 0
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_s390.c | 0
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_vmclock.c | 0
drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_vmw.c | 0
11 files changed, 94 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 drivers/ptp/emulated/Kconfig
create mode 100644 drivers/ptp/emulated/Makefile
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_arm.c (100%)
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_common.c (100%)
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_kvm_x86.c (100%)
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_s390.c (100%)
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_vmclock.c (100%)
rename drivers/ptp/{ => emulated}/ptp_vmw.c (100%)
--
2.43.5