[PATCH 8/8] arm64: dts: allwinner: a523: Add NPU device node

Chen-Yu Tsai posted 8 patches 1 month ago
There is a newer version of this series
[PATCH 8/8] arm64: dts: allwinner: a523: Add NPU device node
Posted by Chen-Yu Tsai 1 month ago
From: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>

The Allwinner T527 SoC has an NPU built in. Based on identifiers found
in the BSP, it is a Vivante IP block. After enabling it, the etnaviv
driver reports it as a GC9000 revision 9003.

The standard bindings are used as everything matches directly. There is
no option for DVFS at the moment. That might require some more work,
perhaps on the efuse side to map speed bins.

It is unclear whether the NPU block is fused out at the hardware level
or the BSP limits use of the NPU through software, as the author only
has boards with the T527.

Signed-off-by: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>
---
 arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi | 12 ++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi b/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
index b6e82d53af54..1ab5b87ec78e 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
+++ b/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
@@ -850,6 +850,18 @@ mcu_ccu: clock-controller@7102000 {
 			#clock-cells = <1>;
 			#reset-cells = <1>;
 		};
+
+		npu: npu@7122000 {
+			compatible = "vivante,gc";
+			reg = <0x07122000 0x1000>;
+			interrupts = <GIC_SPI 199 IRQ_TYPE_LEVEL_HIGH>;
+			clocks = <&mcu_ccu CLK_BUS_MCU_NPU_ACLK>,
+				 <&ccu CLK_NPU>,
+				 <&mcu_ccu CLK_BUS_MCU_NPU_HCLK>;
+			clock-names = "bus", "core", "reg";
+			resets = <&mcu_ccu RST_BUS_MCU_NPU>;
+			power-domains = <&ppu PD_NPU>;
+		};
 	};
 
 	thermal-zones {
-- 
2.39.5
Re: [PATCH 8/8] arm64: dts: allwinner: a523: Add NPU device node
Posted by Andre Przywara 3 weeks, 6 days ago
On Sun, 31 Aug 2025 01:09:01 +0800
Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@kernel.org> wrote:

Hi,

> From: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>
> 
> The Allwinner T527 SoC has an NPU built in. Based on identifiers found
> in the BSP, it is a Vivante IP block. After enabling it, the etnaviv
> driver reports it as a GC9000 revision 9003.
> 
> The standard bindings are used as everything matches directly. There is
> no option for DVFS at the moment. That might require some more work,
> perhaps on the efuse side to map speed bins.
> 
> It is unclear whether the NPU block is fused out at the hardware level
> or the BSP limits use of the NPU through software, as the author only
> has boards with the T527.

I happen to only have boards without the NPU, one A523, two A527s, one
T527, but the SKU without the NPU, and a H728.
So I can confirm that the clock gates and resets exist, but the whole NPU
MMIO frame behaves as read-as-zero/write ignore. At least it doesn't
crash, and the Linux driver just skips this NPU as it cannot identify it
(with all the ID registers being 0).

So I think it's fine to have this node in all the DTBs. We *could* have
something in U-Boot that probes for this RAZ/WI behaviour and slaps a
status = "disabled"; on it. In which case it might be beneficial to have a
status node in already. But I'd rather avoid the churn and reliance on
firmware, instead try to auto detect as much as possible.

> Signed-off-by: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>

Matches the binding and the manual:

Reviewed-by: Andre Przywara <andre.przywara@arm.com>

Cheers,
Andre

> ---
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi | 12 ++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi b/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
> index b6e82d53af54..1ab5b87ec78e 100644
> --- a/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
> +++ b/arch/arm64/boot/dts/allwinner/sun55i-a523.dtsi
> @@ -850,6 +850,18 @@ mcu_ccu: clock-controller@7102000 {
>  			#clock-cells = <1>;
>  			#reset-cells = <1>;
>  		};
> +
> +		npu: npu@7122000 {
> +			compatible = "vivante,gc";
> +			reg = <0x07122000 0x1000>;
> +			interrupts = <GIC_SPI 199 IRQ_TYPE_LEVEL_HIGH>;
> +			clocks = <&mcu_ccu CLK_BUS_MCU_NPU_ACLK>,
> +				 <&ccu CLK_NPU>,
> +				 <&mcu_ccu CLK_BUS_MCU_NPU_HCLK>;
> +			clock-names = "bus", "core", "reg";
> +			resets = <&mcu_ccu RST_BUS_MCU_NPU>;
> +			power-domains = <&ppu PD_NPU>;
> +		};
>  	};
>  
>  	thermal-zones {