Re: [PATCH net-next v9 06/12] net: Document PCS subsystem

On 7/17/26 08:54, Christian Marangi wrote:

The .mac_select_pcs can be deprecated, with the .fill_available_pcs()
mecanism available, we can keep PCS implems inside the MAC driver when
it makes sense, no ?

If PCSs aren't described in firmware (i.e. DT), we have to use .fill_available_pcs()
without using the fwnode API if I get your code right.

The 'legacy' part is the only remark I have, the rest is all good :)

Maxime

+
+Looking up PCS Devices (fwnode implementation)
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+The lookup of a PCS device follows the common producer/consumer implementation
+used by similar subsystems with a ``#pcs-cells`` on the producer and a
+``pcs-handle`` property on the consumer::
+
+    pcs: pcs {
+        // ...
+        #pcs-cells = <0>;
+    };
+
+    ethernet-controller {
+        // ...
+        pcs-handle = <&pcs>;
+    };
+
+On :c:func:`phylink_create`, phylink will use the ``num_possible_pcs``
+value and ``fill_available_pcs`` helper function in
+:c:struct:`phylink_config` to compose the list of available PCS that can be
+used for the phylink instance.
+
+Phylink will then internally handle the selection of the correct PCS for
+the requested interface mode based on the interface modes configured in
+``pcs_interfaces`` in :c:struct:`phylink_config` struct and
+``supported_interfaces`` in :c:struct:`phylink_pcs` struct.
+
+A PCS is considered eligible when the requested interface mode is present
+in both ``pcs_interfaces`` in :c:struct:`phylink_config` struct and
+``supported_interfaces`` in :c:struct:`phylink_pcs` struct.
+
+``supported_interfaces`` describes all interface modes supported by the MAC,
+whereas ``pcs_interfaces`` identifies the subset that require PCS selection.
+
+For the special implementation where the PCS is internal or part of the MAC
+and a dedicated driver is not needed, it's possible to leave the implementation
+of the PCS to the MAC driver and just implement the ``num_possible_pcs``
+value and ``fill_available_pcs`` helper  function in
+:c:struct:`phylink_config` referencing the local :c:struct:`phylink_pcs`
+struct allocated from the MAC driver.
+
+Using PCS Devices
+-----------------
+
+It's mandatory to either implement the ``mac_select_pcs`` callback
+of :c:struct:`phylink_mac_ops` or ``num_possible_pcs`` and ``fill_available_pcs``
+of :c:struct:`phylink_config` to use a PCS for a MAC.
+
+The fwnode implementation exposes simple helpers to parse the PCS from
+the fwnode :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_count` and
+:c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_parse`. The :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_count` helper
+takes the fwnode where the ``pcs-handle`` should be parsed and return the
+number of PCS entries described in the fwnode.
+The :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_parse` helper takes three arguments,
+the fwnode where the ``pcs-handle`` should be parsed, an allocated array
+of :c:struct:`phylink_pcs` pointer where to put the parsed PCS from the fwnode
+and the maximum number of PCS to parse.
+Contrary to :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_count`, :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_parse`
+helper fills the allocated array with ONLY the available PCS and return the
+number of available PCS found. PCS that returns -ENODEV will be skipped and
+won't be inserted in the allocated array.
+
+A phylink instance may use multiple PCS devices. The maximum number is reported
+through ``num_possible_pcs``.
+
+It's mandatory to specify for what interface a PCS is needed. This can be done
+by filling the ``pcs_interfaces`` in :c:struct:`phylink_config` struct.
+If the requested interface mode is not present in this bitmask, phylink does
+not search for a PCS for  that specific mode. (example MAC doesn't need a PCS
+for SGMII but require one for USXGMII)
+
+With the use of the :c:func:`fwnode_phylink_pcs_parse` a common implementation
+is the following::
+
+   static int mac_fill_available_pcs(struct phylink_config *config,
+   				                      struct phylink_pcs **available_pcs,
+					                      unsigned int num_possible_pcs)
+   {
+   	struct device *dev = config->dev;
+
+   	return fwnode_phylink_pcs_parse(dev_fwnode(dev), available_pcs,
+						                    num_possible_pcs);
+   }
+
+   static int mac_setup_phylink(struct net_device *netdev)
+   {
+      struct phylink_config *config;
+
+      // ...
+
+      config->dev = &netdev->dev;
+
+      // ...
+
+      // Parse possible PCS and fill num_possible_pcs.
+      config->num_possible_pcs = fwnode_phylink_pcs_count(dev_fwnode(&netdev->dev));
+      config->fill_available_pcs = mac_fill_available_pcs;
+
+      __set_bit(PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_INTERNAL, config->supported_interfaces);
+      __set_bit(PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_SGMII, config->supported_interfaces);
+      __set_bit(PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_1000BASEX, config->supported_interfaces);
+      __set_bit(PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_USXGMII, config->supported_interfaces);
+
+      // PCS required only for USXGMII
+      __set_bit(PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_USXGMII, config->pcs_interfaces);
+
+      phylink = phylink_create(config, //...
+
+It's worth to mention that it's phylink code that takes care of allocating
+the array of :c:struct:`phylink_pcs` pointer for ``fill_available_pcs``
+callback based on the value set in ``num_possible_pcs`` for
+:c:struct:`phylink_config` struct.
+
+The ``fill_available_pcs`` callback must not write more than
+``num_possible_pcs`` entries. The third argument may be used to validate
+that there is enough space to fill all the available PCS in the passed array
+of :c:struct:`phylink_pcs` pointer.
+
+The ``fill_available_pcs`` callback is called only on :c:func:`phylink_create`
+and is used only to compose the initial available PCS list. Ownership of PCS
+is held by phylink and :c:func:`phylink_release_pcs` should be used to release
+them.
+
+Writing PCS Drivers
+-------------------
+
+To write a PCS driver, first implement :c:struct:`phylink_pcs_ops`. Then,
+register your PCS in your probe function using :c:func:`fwnode_pcs_add_provider`.
+The :c:func:`fwnode_pcs_add_provider` takes three arguments, the fwnode where
+the PCS provider should be registered to, a get function to return the requested
+PCS based on ``#pcs-cells`` and a pointer to reference private data for the get
+function.
+
+The PCS will then be registered to a global list of PCS provider that the
+PCS fwnode implementation will use to parse it.
+
+For the simple case where the PCS driver expose a single PCS,
+:c:func:`fwnode_pcs_simple_get` can be used as the get function.
+
+You must call :c:func:`fwnode_pcs_del_provider` from your remove function and
+release the PCS from any phylink instance under RTNL lock with
+:c:func:`phylink_release_pcs`::
+
+   fwnode_pcs_del_provider(dev_fwnode(&pdev->dev));
+
+	rtnl_lock();
+
+	for (i = 0; i < data->num_port; i++) {
+		struct pcs_port *port = &priv->ports[i];
+
+		phylink_release_pcs(&port->pcs);
+	}
+
+	rtnl_unlock();
+
+Late PCS registration handling
+------------------------------
+
+It's possible that a PCS becomes available after the MAC finished probing.
+Contrary to the usual producer/consumer implementation, when a PCS is not
+registered and can't be found, the fwnode parser helper returns ``-ENODEV``
+instead of ``-EPROBE_DEFER``.
+
+This is to prevent race condition with particular devices that register
+MAC and PCS with USB or PCIe and require the MAC to be registered before
+the PCS.
+
+The phylink logic correctly handle this special case and keep the phylink
+instance in a fail condition.
+
+The PCS fwnode implementation provides a notifier to which each phylink
+instance with a non-empty ``pcs_interfaces`` in :c:type:`phylink_config`
+registers. When a new PCS provider is registered, the notifier is called
+triggering the :c:func:`pcs_provider_notify` function.
+
+Function :c:func:`pcs_provider_notify` will check if the just added PCS
+should be used by the phylink instance. If it should be used then,
+it's added to the internal list of available PCS and a phylink major
+config is forced.
+
+If a phylink instance was in a failure state, with the just added PCS
+now part of the available PCS internal phylink list, provided all other
+conditions are satisfied, the configuration is retried and the failure
+condition is cleared.
+
+API Reference
+-------------
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/phylink.h
+   :identifiers: phylink_pcs
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/pcs/pcs.h
+   :internal:
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/pcs/pcs-provider.h
+   :internal: