[PATCH] arm64: mops: Document requirements for hypervisors

Kristina Martsenko kristina.martsenko at arm.com
Mon Oct 28 11:57:21 PDT 2024


Add a mops.rst document to clarify in more detail what hypervisors need
to do to run a Linux guest on a system with FEAT_MOPS.

Signed-off-by: Kristina Martsenko <kristina.martsenko at arm.com>
---

This is a follow-up to Catalin's comment on the MOPS series:
  https://lore.kernel.org/all/Zv1-YzLAOcxCmp4w@arm.com/

Based on the arm64 for-next/mops branch.

 Documentation/arch/arm64/booting.rst |  4 +--
 Documentation/arch/arm64/index.rst   |  1 +
 Documentation/arch/arm64/mops.rst    | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 47 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/arch/arm64/mops.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/arch/arm64/booting.rst b/Documentation/arch/arm64/booting.rst
index c074430d1099..3278fb4bf219 100644
--- a/Documentation/arch/arm64/booting.rst
+++ b/Documentation/arch/arm64/booting.rst
@@ -388,8 +388,8 @@ Before jumping into the kernel, the following conditions must be met:
 
     - HCRX_EL2.MSCEn (bit 11) must be initialised to 0b1.
 
-    - HCRX_EL2.MCE2 (bit 10) must be initialised to 0b1. The exception
-      handler must set PSTATE.SS to 0b0.
+    - HCRX_EL2.MCE2 (bit 10) must be initialised to 0b1 and the hypervisor
+      must handle MOPS exceptions as described in :ref:`arm64_mops_hyp`.
 
   For CPUs with the Extended Translation Control Register feature (FEAT_TCR2):
 
diff --git a/Documentation/arch/arm64/index.rst b/Documentation/arch/arm64/index.rst
index e02247dcb87e..6a012c98bdcd 100644
--- a/Documentation/arch/arm64/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/arch/arm64/index.rst
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ ARM64 Architecture
     legacy_instructions
     memory
     memory-tagging-extension
+    mops
     perf
     pointer-authentication
     ptdump
diff --git a/Documentation/arch/arm64/mops.rst b/Documentation/arch/arm64/mops.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2ef5b147f8dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/arch/arm64/mops.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+===================================
+Memory copy/set instructions (MOPS)
+===================================
+
+A MOPS memory copy/set operation consists of three consecutive CPY* or SET*
+instructions: a prologue, main and epilogue (for example: CPYP, CPYM, CPYE).
+
+A main or epilogue instruction can take a MOPS exception for various reasons,
+for example when a task is migrated to a CPU with a different MOPS
+implementation, or when the instruction's alignment and size requirements are
+not met. The software exception handler is then expected to reset the registers
+and restart execution from the prologue instruction. Normally this is handled
+by the kernel.
+
+For more details refer to "D1.3.5.7 Memory Copy and Memory Set exceptions" in
+the Arm Architecture Reference Manual DDI 0487K.a (Arm ARM).
+
+.. _arm64_mops_hyp:
+
+Hypervisor requirements
+-----------------------
+
+A hypervisor running a Linux guest must handle all MOPS exceptions from the
+guest kernel, as Linux may not be able to handle the exception at all times.
+For example, a MOPS exception can be taken when the hypervisor migrates a vCPU
+to another physical CPU with a different MOPS implementation.
+
+To do this, the hypervisor must:
+
+  - Set HCRX_EL2.MCE2 to 1 so that the exception is taken to the hypervisor.
+
+  - Have an exception handler that implements the algorithm from the Arm ARM
+    rules CNTMJ and MWFQH.
+
+  - Set the guest's PSTATE.SS to 0 in the exception handler, to handle a
+    potential step of the current instruction.
+
+    Note: Clearing PSTATE.SS is needed so that a single step exception is taken
+    on the next instruction (the prologue instruction). Otherwise prologue
+    would get silently stepped over and the single step exception taken on the
+    main instruction. Note that if the guest instruction is not being stepped
+    then clearing PSTATE.SS has no effect.
-- 
2.34.1




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