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Diffstat (limited to 'docs/memory.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/memory.txt | 64 |
1 files changed, 62 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/docs/memory.txt b/docs/memory.txt index 174c0d7b43..22eaec780e 100644 --- a/docs/memory.txt +++ b/docs/memory.txt @@ -52,6 +52,15 @@ MemoryRegion): hole". Aliases may point to any type of region, including other aliases, but an alias may not point back to itself, directly or indirectly. +It is valid to add subregions to a region which is not a pure container +(that is, to an MMIO, RAM or ROM region). This means that the region +will act like a container, except that any addresses within the container's +region which are not claimed by any subregion are handled by the +container itself (ie by its MMIO callbacks or RAM backing). However +it is generally possible to achieve the same effect with a pure container +one of whose subregions is a low priority "background" region covering +the whole address range; this is often clearer and is preferred. +Subregions cannot be added to an alias region. Region names ------------ @@ -85,6 +94,49 @@ you can use memory_region_add_subregion_overlap() both to specify a region that must sit 'above' any others (with a positive priority) and also a background region that sits 'below' others (with a negative priority). +If the higher priority region in an overlap is a container or alias, then +the lower priority region will appear in any "holes" that the higher priority +region has left by not mapping subregions to that area of its address range. +(This applies recursively -- if the subregions are themselves containers or +aliases that leave holes then the lower priority region will appear in these +holes too.) + +For example, suppose we have a container A of size 0x8000 with two subregions +B and C. B is a container mapped at 0x2000, size 0x4000, priority 1; C is +an MMIO region mapped at 0x0, size 0x6000, priority 2. B currently has two +of its own subregions: D of size 0x1000 at offset 0 and E of size 0x1000 at +offset 0x2000. As a diagram: + + 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 + |------|------|------|------|------|------|------|-------| + A: [ ] + C: [CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC] + B: [ ] + D: [DDDDD] + E: [EEEEE] + +The regions that will be seen within this address range then are: + [CCCCCCCCCCCC][DDDDD][CCCCC][EEEEE][CCCCC] + +Since B has higher priority than C, its subregions appear in the flat map +even where they overlap with C. In ranges where B has not mapped anything +C's region appears. + +If B had provided its own MMIO operations (ie it was not a pure container) +then these would be used for any addresses in its range not handled by +D or E, and the result would be: + [CCCCCCCCCCCC][DDDDD][BBBBB][EEEEE][BBBBB] + +Priority values are local to a container, because the priorities of two +regions are only compared when they are both children of the same container. +This means that the device in charge of the container (typically modelling +a bus or a memory controller) can use them to manage the interaction of +its child regions without any side effects on other parts of the system. +In the example above, the priorities of D and E are unimportant because +they do not overlap each other. It is the relative priority of B and C +that causes D and E to appear on top of C: D and E's priorities are never +compared against the priority of C. + Visibility ---------- The memory core uses the following rules to select a memory region when the @@ -94,11 +146,19 @@ guest accesses an address: descending priority order - if the address lies outside the region offset/size, the subregion is discarded - - if the subregion is a leaf (RAM or MMIO), the search terminates + - if the subregion is a leaf (RAM or MMIO), the search terminates, returning + this leaf region - if the subregion is a container, the same algorithm is used within the subregion (after the address is adjusted by the subregion offset) - - if the subregion is an alias, the search is continues at the alias target + - if the subregion is an alias, the search is continued at the alias target (after the address is adjusted by the subregion offset and alias offset) + - if a recursive search within a container or alias subregion does not + find a match (because of a "hole" in the container's coverage of its + address range), then if this is a container with its own MMIO or RAM + backing the search terminates, returning the container itself. Otherwise + we continue with the next subregion in priority order +- if none of the subregions match the address then the search terminates + with no match found Example memory map ------------------ |