Given that PCI was introduced more than two decades ago and that PCI Express was introduced more than ten years ago, one might think that the Linux plumbing already did everything possible to support PCI.

One would be quite wrong.

One issue with current PCI support is that resource allocation is handled on a per-architecture basis, leading to duplicate code, and, worse yet, duplicate bugs. This microconference will therefore look into possible consolidation of this code.

Another issue is integration of PCI’s message-signaled interrupts (MSI) into the kernel’s core interrupt code. Whilst the device tree bindings and relative core code for MSI management have just been integrated, legacy code needs more work, including architecture-specific code and PCI legacy host controller drivers. In addition, attention should be paid to the ACPI bindings, to the related ACPI kernel core code, and to the MSI passthrough usage in virtualized environments.

Advances in Virtualization technologies, System I/O devices and their memory management through IOMMU components are driving features in the PCI Express specifications (Address Translation Services (ATS) and Page Request Interface (PRI)). This microconference will also foster debate on the best way to integrate these features in the kernel in a seamless way for different architectures.

Of course, no discussion of PCI would be complete without considering firmware issues, hardware quirks, power management, and the interplay between device tree and ACPI.

Join us for an important new-to-Plumbers PCI discussion!