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authorIngo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>2014-12-12 09:09:03 +0100
committerIngo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>2014-12-12 09:09:03 +0100
commit3459f0d78ffe27a1b341c22eb158b622eaaea3fc (patch)
tree715b0575eec541d0181876ad367ca5480cdcecf3 /Documentation/arm64/legacy_instructions.txt
parent9fc81d87420d0d3fd62d5e5529972c0ad9eab9cc (diff)
parentbee2782f30f66898be3f74ad02e4d1f87a969694 (diff)
downloadtalos-obmc-linux-3459f0d78ffe27a1b341c22eb158b622eaaea3fc.tar.gz
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Merge branch 'linus' into perf/urgent, to pick up the upstream merged bits
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>
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+The arm64 port of the Linux kernel provides infrastructure to support
+emulation of instructions which have been deprecated, or obsoleted in
+the architecture. The infrastructure code uses undefined instruction
+hooks to support emulation. Where available it also allows turning on
+the instruction execution in hardware.
+
+The emulation mode can be controlled by writing to sysctl nodes
+(/proc/sys/abi). The following explains the different execution
+behaviours and the corresponding values of the sysctl nodes -
+
+* Undef
+ Value: 0
+ Generates undefined instruction abort. Default for instructions that
+ have been obsoleted in the architecture, e.g., SWP
+
+* Emulate
+ Value: 1
+ Uses software emulation. To aid migration of software, in this mode
+ usage of emulated instruction is traced as well as rate limited
+ warnings are issued. This is the default for deprecated
+ instructions, .e.g., CP15 barriers
+
+* Hardware Execution
+ Value: 2
+ Although marked as deprecated, some implementations may support the
+ enabling/disabling of hardware support for the execution of these
+ instructions. Using hardware execution generally provides better
+ performance, but at the loss of ability to gather runtime statistics
+ about the use of the deprecated instructions.
+
+The default mode depends on the status of the instruction in the
+architecture. Deprecated instructions should default to emulation
+while obsolete instructions must be undefined by default.
+
+Supported legacy instructions
+-----------------------------
+* SWP{B}
+Node: /proc/sys/abi/swp
+Status: Obsolete
+Default: Undef (0)
+
+* CP15 Barriers
+Node: /proc/sys/abi/cp15_barrier
+Status: Deprecated
+Default: Emulate (1)
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