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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+=====
+spufs
+=====
+
+Name
+====
+
+ spufs - the SPU file system
+
+
+Description
+===========
+
+ The SPU file system is used on PowerPC machines that implement the Cell
+ Broadband Engine Architecture in order to access Synergistic Processor
+ Units (SPUs).
+
+ The file system provides a name space similar to posix shared memory or
+ message queues. Users that have write permissions on the file system
+ can use spu_create(2) to establish SPU contexts in the spufs root.
+
+ Every SPU context is represented by a directory containing a predefined
+ set of files. These files can be used for manipulating the state of the
+ logical SPU. Users can change permissions on those files, but not actu-
+ ally add or remove files.
+
+
+Mount Options
+=============
+
+ uid=<uid>
+ set the user owning the mount point, the default is 0 (root).
+
+ gid=<gid>
+ set the group owning the mount point, the default is 0 (root).
+
+
+Files
+=====
+
+ The files in spufs mostly follow the standard behavior for regular sys-
+ tem calls like read(2) or write(2), but often support only a subset of
+ the operations supported on regular file systems. This list details the
+ supported operations and the deviations from the behaviour in the
+ respective man pages.
+
+ All files that support the read(2) operation also support readv(2) and
+ all files that support the write(2) operation also support writev(2).
+ All files support the access(2) and stat(2) family of operations, but
+ only the st_mode, st_nlink, st_uid and st_gid fields of struct stat
+ contain reliable information.
+
+ All files support the chmod(2)/fchmod(2) and chown(2)/fchown(2) opera-
+ tions, but will not be able to grant permissions that contradict the
+ possible operations, e.g. read access on the wbox file.
+
+ The current set of files is:
+
+
+ /mem
+ the contents of the local storage memory of the SPU. This can be
+ accessed like a regular shared memory file and contains both code and
+ data in the address space of the SPU. The possible operations on an
+ open mem file are:
+
+ read(2), pread(2), write(2), pwrite(2), lseek(2)
+ These operate as documented, with the exception that seek(2),
+ write(2) and pwrite(2) are not supported beyond the end of the
+ file. The file size is the size of the local storage of the SPU,
+ which normally is 256 kilobytes.
+
+ mmap(2)
+ Mapping mem into the process address space gives access to the
+ SPU local storage within the process address space. Only
+ MAP_SHARED mappings are allowed.
+
+
+ /mbox
+ The first SPU to CPU communication mailbox. This file is read-only and
+ can be read in units of 32 bits. The file can only be used in non-
+ blocking mode and it even poll() will not block on it. The possible
+ operations on an open mbox file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, read returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. If there is no data available in the mail
+ box, the return value is set to -1 and errno becomes EAGAIN.
+ When data has been read successfully, four bytes are placed in
+ the data buffer and the value four is returned.
+
+
+ /ibox
+ The second SPU to CPU communication mailbox. This file is similar to
+ the first mailbox file, but can be read in blocking I/O mode, and the
+ poll family of system calls can be used to wait for it. The possible
+ operations on an open ibox file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, read returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. If there is no data available in the mail
+ box and the file descriptor has been opened with O_NONBLOCK, the
+ return value is set to -1 and errno becomes EAGAIN.
+
+ If there is no data available in the mail box and the file
+ descriptor has been opened without O_NONBLOCK, the call will
+ block until the SPU writes to its interrupt mailbox channel.
+ When data has been read successfully, four bytes are placed in
+ the data buffer and the value four is returned.
+
+ poll(2)
+ Poll on the ibox file returns (POLLIN | POLLRDNORM) whenever
+ data is available for reading.
+
+
+ /wbox
+ The CPU to SPU communation mailbox. It is write-only and can be written
+ in units of 32 bits. If the mailbox is full, write() will block and
+ poll can be used to wait for it becoming empty again. The possible
+ operations on an open wbox file are: write(2) If a count smaller than
+ four is requested, write returns -1 and sets errno to EINVAL. If there
+ is no space available in the mail box and the file descriptor has been
+ opened with O_NONBLOCK, the return value is set to -1 and errno becomes
+ EAGAIN.
+
+ If there is no space available in the mail box and the file descriptor
+ has been opened without O_NONBLOCK, the call will block until the SPU
+ reads from its PPE mailbox channel. When data has been read success-
+ fully, four bytes are placed in the data buffer and the value four is
+ returned.
+
+ poll(2)
+ Poll on the ibox file returns (POLLOUT | POLLWRNORM) whenever
+ space is available for writing.
+
+
+ /mbox_stat, /ibox_stat, /wbox_stat
+ Read-only files that contain the length of the current queue, i.e. how
+ many words can be read from mbox or ibox or how many words can be
+ written to wbox without blocking. The files can be read only in 4-byte
+ units and return a big-endian binary integer number. The possible
+ operations on an open ``*box_stat`` file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, read returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. Otherwise, a four byte value is placed in
+ the data buffer, containing the number of elements that can be
+ read from (for mbox_stat and ibox_stat) or written to (for
+ wbox_stat) the respective mail box without blocking or resulting
+ in EAGAIN.
+
+
+ /npc, /decr, /decr_status, /spu_tag_mask, /event_mask, /srr0
+ Internal registers of the SPU. The representation is an ASCII string
+ with the numeric value of the next instruction to be executed. These
+ can be used in read/write mode for debugging, but normal operation of
+ programs should not rely on them because access to any of them except
+ npc requires an SPU context save and is therefore very inefficient.
+
+ The contents of these files are:
+
+ =================== ===================================
+ npc Next Program Counter
+ decr SPU Decrementer
+ decr_status Decrementer Status
+ spu_tag_mask MFC tag mask for SPU DMA
+ event_mask Event mask for SPU interrupts
+ srr0 Interrupt Return address register
+ =================== ===================================
+
+
+ The possible operations on an open npc, decr, decr_status,
+ spu_tag_mask, event_mask or srr0 file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ When the count supplied to the read call is shorter than the
+ required length for the pointer value plus a newline character,
+ subsequent reads from the same file descriptor will result in
+ completing the string, regardless of changes to the register by
+ a running SPU task. When a complete string has been read, all
+ subsequent read operations will return zero bytes and a new file
+ descriptor needs to be opened to read the value again.
+
+ write(2)
+ A write operation on the file results in setting the register to
+ the value given in the string. The string is parsed from the
+ beginning to the first non-numeric character or the end of the
+ buffer. Subsequent writes to the same file descriptor overwrite
+ the previous setting.
+
+
+ /fpcr
+ This file gives access to the Floating Point Status and Control Regis-
+ ter as a four byte long file. The operations on the fpcr file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, read returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. Otherwise, a four byte value is placed in
+ the data buffer, containing the current value of the fpcr regis-
+ ter.
+
+ write(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, write returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. Otherwise, a four byte value is copied
+ from the data buffer, updating the value of the fpcr register.
+
+
+ /signal1, /signal2
+ The two signal notification channels of an SPU. These are read-write
+ files that operate on a 32 bit word. Writing to one of these files
+ triggers an interrupt on the SPU. The value written to the signal
+ files can be read from the SPU through a channel read or from host user
+ space through the file. After the value has been read by the SPU, it
+ is reset to zero. The possible operations on an open signal1 or sig-
+ nal2 file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, read returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. Otherwise, a four byte value is placed in
+ the data buffer, containing the current value of the specified
+ signal notification register.
+
+ write(2)
+ If a count smaller than four is requested, write returns -1 and
+ sets errno to EINVAL. Otherwise, a four byte value is copied
+ from the data buffer, updating the value of the specified signal
+ notification register. The signal notification register will
+ either be replaced with the input data or will be updated to the
+ bitwise OR or the old value and the input data, depending on the
+ contents of the signal1_type, or signal2_type respectively,
+ file.
+
+
+ /signal1_type, /signal2_type
+ These two files change the behavior of the signal1 and signal2 notifi-
+ cation files. The contain a numerical ASCII string which is read as
+ either "1" or "0". In mode 0 (overwrite), the hardware replaces the
+ contents of the signal channel with the data that is written to it. in
+ mode 1 (logical OR), the hardware accumulates the bits that are subse-
+ quently written to it. The possible operations on an open signal1_type
+ or signal2_type file are:
+
+ read(2)
+ When the count supplied to the read call is shorter than the
+ required length for the digit plus a newline character, subse-
+ quent reads from the same file descriptor will result in com-
+ pleting the string. When a complete string has been read, all
+ subsequent read operations will return zero bytes and a new file
+ descriptor needs to be opened to read the value again.
+
+ write(2)
+ A write operation on the file results in setting the register to
+ the value given in the string. The string is parsed from the
+ beginning to the first non-numeric character or the end of the
+ buffer. Subsequent writes to the same file descriptor overwrite
+ the previous setting.
+
+
+Examples
+========
+ /etc/fstab entry
+ none /spu spufs gid=spu 0 0
+
+
+Authors
+=======
+ Arnd Bergmann <arndb@de.ibm.com>, Mark Nutter <mnutter@us.ibm.com>,
+ Ulrich Weigand <Ulrich.Weigand@de.ibm.com>
+
+See Also
+========
+ capabilities(7), close(2), spu_create(2), spu_run(2), spufs(7)