From: Gregory Price <gourry@gourry.net>
To: linux-mm@kvack.org
Cc: linux-cxl@vger.kernel.org, nvdimm@lists.linux.dev,
linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, kernel-team@meta.com,
dave@stgolabs.net, jonathan.cameron@huawei.com,
dave.jiang@intel.com, alison.schofield@intel.com,
vishal.l.verma@intel.com, ira.weiny@intel.com,
dan.j.williams@intel.com, willy@infradead.org, jack@suse.cz,
terry.bowman@amd.com, john@jagalactic.com
Subject: [PATCH 9/9] Documentation/driver-api/cxl: add dax and sysram driver documentation
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:04:42 -0500 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260129210442.3951412-10-gourry@gourry.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260129210442.3951412-1-gourry@gourry.net>
Explain the binding process for sysram and daxdev regions which are
explicit about which dax driver to use during region creation.
Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Signed-off-by: Gregory Price <gourry@gourry.net>
---
.../driver-api/cxl/linux/cxl-driver.rst | 43 +++++++++++++++++++
.../driver-api/cxl/linux/dax-driver.rst | 29 +++++++++++++
2 files changed, 72 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/cxl-driver.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/cxl-driver.rst
index dd6dd17dc536..1f857345e896 100644
--- a/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/cxl-driver.rst
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/cxl-driver.rst
@@ -445,6 +445,49 @@ for more details. ::
dax0.0 devtype modalias uevent
dax_region driver subsystem
+DAX regions are created when a CXL RAM region is bound to one of the
+following drivers:
+
+* :code:`cxl_devdax_region` - Creates a dax_region for device_dax mode.
+ The resulting DAX device provides direct userspace access via
+ :code:`/dev/daxN.Y`.
+
+* :code:`cxl_dax_kmem_region` - Creates a dax_region for kmem mode via a
+ sysram_region intermediate device. See `Sysram Region`_ below.
+
+Sysram Region
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+A `Sysram Region` is an intermediate device between a CXL `Memory Region`
+and a `DAX Region` for kmem mode. It is created when a CXL RAM region is
+bound to the :code:`cxl_sysram_region` driver.
+
+The sysram_region device provides an interposition point where users can
+configure memory hotplug policy before the underlying dax_region is created
+and memory is hotplugged to the system.
+
+The device hierarchy for kmem mode is::
+
+ regionX -> sysram_regionX -> dax_regionX -> daxX.Y
+
+The sysram_region exposes an :code:`online_type` attribute that controls
+how memory will be onlined when the dax_kmem driver binds:
+
+* :code:`invalid` - Not configured (default). Blocks driver binding.
+* :code:`offline` - Memory will not be onlined automatically.
+* :code:`online` - Memory will be onlined in ZONE_NORMAL.
+* :code:`online_movable` - Memory will be onlined in ZONE_MOVABLE.
+
+Example two-stage binding process::
+
+ # Bind region to sysram_region driver
+ echo region0 > /sys/bus/cxl/drivers/cxl_sysram_region/bind
+
+ # Configure memory online type
+ echo online_movable > /sys/bus/cxl/devices/sysram_region0/online_type
+
+ # Bind sysram_region to dax_kmem_region driver
+ echo sysram_region0 > /sys/bus/cxl/drivers/cxl_dax_kmem_region/bind
+
Mailbox Interfaces
------------------
A mailbox command interface for each device is exposed in ::
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/dax-driver.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/dax-driver.rst
index 10d953a2167b..2b8e21736292 100644
--- a/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/dax-driver.rst
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/cxl/linux/dax-driver.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,35 @@ The DAX subsystem exposes this ability through the `cxl_dax_region` driver.
A `dax_region` provides the translation between a CXL `memory_region` and
a `DAX Device`.
+CXL DAX Region Drivers
+======================
+CXL provides multiple drivers for creating DAX regions, each suited for
+different use cases:
+
+cxl_devdax_region
+-----------------
+The :code:`cxl_devdax_region` driver creates a dax_region configured for
+device_dax mode. When a CXL RAM region is bound to this driver, the
+resulting DAX device provides direct userspace access via :code:`/dev/daxN.Y`.
+
+Device hierarchy::
+
+ regionX -> dax_regionX -> daxX.Y
+
+This is the simplest path for applications that want to manage CXL memory
+directly from userspace.
+
+cxl_dax_kmem_region
+-------------------
+For kmem mode, CXL provides a two-stage binding process that allows users
+to configure memory hotplug policy before memory is added to the system.
+
+The :code:`cxl_dax_kmem_region` driver then binds a sysram_region
+device and creates a dax_region configured for kmem mode.
+
+The :code:`online_type` policy will be passed from sysram_region to
+the dax kmem driver for use when hotplugging the memory.
+
DAX Device
==========
A `DAX Device` is a file-like interface exposed in :code:`/dev/daxN.Y`. A
--
2.52.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-01-29 21:05 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 30+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-01-29 21:04 [PATCH 0/9] cxl: explicit DAX driver selection and hotplug Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 1/9] mm/memory_hotplug: pass online_type to online_memory_block() via arg Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:10 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-02-02 17:46 ` Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 2/9] mm/memory_hotplug: add __add_memory_driver_managed() with online_type arg Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:25 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-02-02 18:02 ` Gregory Price
2026-02-02 18:46 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-02-02 21:37 ` Gregory Price
2026-02-04 21:08 ` David Hildenbrand (arm)
2026-02-05 4:23 ` Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 3/9] dax: plumb online_type from dax_kmem creators to hotplug Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 4/9] drivers/cxl,dax: add dax driver mode selection for dax regions Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:54 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 5/9] cxl/core/region: move pmem region driver logic into pmem_region Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:56 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 6/9] cxl/core/region: move dax region device logic into dax_region.c Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:57 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 7/9] cxl/core: add cxl_devdax_region driver for explicit userland region binding Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` [PATCH 8/9] cxl/core: Add dax_kmem_region and sysram_region drivers Gregory Price
2026-01-30 21:27 ` Cheatham, Benjamin
2026-01-30 22:12 ` Gregory Price
2026-02-02 17:02 ` Cheatham, Benjamin
2026-02-02 17:41 ` Gregory Price
2026-02-02 19:19 ` Gregory Price
2026-02-02 18:20 ` Jonathan Cameron
2026-02-02 18:23 ` Gregory Price
2026-01-29 21:04 ` Gregory Price [this message]
2026-01-29 21:17 ` [PATCH 0/9] cxl: explicit DAX driver selection and hotplug Gregory Price
2026-01-30 17:34 ` Gregory Price
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