drm/i915: Introduce the i915_user_extension_method

An idea for extending uABI inspired by Vulkan's extension chains.
Instead of expanding the data struct for each ioctl every time we need
to add a new feature, define an extension chain instead. As we add
optional interfaces to control the ioctl, we define a new extension
struct that can be linked into the ioctl data only when required by the
user. The key advantage being able to ignore large control structs for
optional interfaces/extensions, while being able to process them in a
consistent manner.

In comparison to other extensible ioctls, the key difference is the
use of a linked chain of extension structs vs an array of tagged
pointers. For example,

struct drm_amdgpu_cs_chunk {
        __u32           chunk_id;
        __u32           length_dw;
        __u64           chunk_data;
};

struct drm_amdgpu_cs_in {
        __u32           ctx_id;
        __u32           bo_list_handle;
        __u32           num_chunks;
        __u32           _pad;
        __u64           chunks;
};

allows userspace to pass in array of pointers to extension structs, but
must therefore keep constructing that array along side the command stream.
In dynamic situations like that, a linked list is preferred and does not
similar from extra cache line misses as the extension structs themselves
must still be loaded separate to the chunks array.

v2: Apply the tail call optimisation directly to nip the worry of stack
overflow in the bud.
v3: Defend against recursion.
v4: Fixup local types to match new uabi

Opens:
- do we include the result as an out-field in each chain?
struct i915_user_extension {
	__u64 next_extension;
	__u64 name;
	__s32 result;
	__u32 mbz; /* reserved for future use */
};
* Undecided, so provision some room for future expansion.

Signed-off-by: Chris Wilson <chris@chris-wilson.co.uk>
Cc: Tvrtko Ursulin <tvrtko.ursulin@intel.com>
Cc: Joonas Lahtinen <joonas.lahtinen@linux.intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Tvrtko Ursulin <tvrtko.ursulin@intel.com>
Link: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/msgid/20190322092325.5883-1-chris@chris-wilson.co.uk

1 files changed, 22 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h b/include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h
index aa2d4c73a97d..1c69ed16a923 100644
--- a/include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h
+++ b/include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h
@@ -63,6 +63,28 @@ extern "C" {
 #define I915_RESET_UEVENT		"RESET"
 
 /*
+ * i915_user_extension: Base class for defining a chain of extensions
+ *
+ * Many interfaces need to grow over time. In most cases we can simply
+ * extend the struct and have userspace pass in more data. Another option,
+ * as demonstrated by Vulkan's approach to providing extensions for forward
+ * and backward compatibility, is to use a list of optional structs to
+ * provide those extra details.
+ *
+ * The key advantage to using an extension chain is that it allows us to
+ * redefine the interface more easily than an ever growing struct of
+ * increasing complexity, and for large parts of that interface to be
+ * entirely optional. The downside is more pointer chasing; chasing across
+ * the __user boundary with pointers encapsulated inside u64.
+ */
+struct i915_user_extension {
+	__u64 next_extension;
+	__u32 name;
+	__u32 flags; /* All undefined bits must be zero. */
+	__u32 rsvd[4]; /* Reserved for future use; must be zero. */
+};
+
+/*
  * MOCS indexes used for GPU surfaces, defining the cacheability of the
  * surface data and the coherency for this data wrt. CPU vs. GPU accesses.
  */