[alsa-devel] [PATCH] ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control

Hsin-Yu Chao

23 Aug 2017 23 Aug '17

10:29 a.m.

This change exposes mixer control 'Hotword Model' for switching hotword model in runtime. This new function requires updated firmware to load hotword model at address 0x4ff80000.

Signed-off-by: Hsin-Yu Chao hychao@chromium.org --- sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c | 52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h | 3 +++ 2 files changed, 55 insertions(+)

diff --git a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c index a2722177470e..7482df8ff737 100644 --- a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c +++ b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c @@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 = snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component); struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec; const struct firmware *fw = NULL; + int ret = 0;

if (ucontrol->value.integer.value[0] == rt5514->dsp_enabled) return 0; @@ -335,6 +336,27 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, fw = NULL; }

+ if (rt5514->model_buf && rt5514->model_len) { + ret = rt5514_spi_burst_write(0x4ff80000, + rt5514->model_buf, + ((rt5514->model_len / 8) + 1) * 8); + if (ret) { + dev_err(codec->dev, + "Model load failed %d\n", ret); + return ret; + } + } else { + request_firmware(&fw, RT5514_FIRMWARE3, + codec->dev); + if (fw) { + rt5514_spi_burst_write(0x4ff80000, + fw->data, + ((fw->size/8)+1)*8); + release_firmware(fw); + fw = NULL; + } + } + /* DSP run */ regmap_write(rt5514->i2c_regmap, 0x18002f00, 0x00055148); @@ -349,6 +371,34 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, return 0; }

+static int rt5514_hotword_model_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, + const unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size) +{ + struct snd_soc_component *component = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol); + struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 = snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component); + struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec; + int ret = 0; + + if (rt5514->model_buf || rt5514->model_len < size) { + if (rt5514->model_buf) + devm_kfree(codec->dev, rt5514->model_buf); + rt5514->model_buf = devm_kmalloc(codec->dev, size, GFP_KERNEL); + if (!rt5514->model_buf) { + ret = -ENOMEM; + goto done; + } + } + + /* Skips the TLV header. */ + bytes += 2; + + if (copy_from_user(rt5514->model_buf, bytes, size)) + ret = -EFAULT; +done: + rt5514->model_len = (ret ? 0 : size); + return ret; +} + static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { SOC_DOUBLE_TLV("MIC Boost Volume", RT5514_ANA_CTRL_MICBST, RT5514_SEL_BSTL_SFT, RT5514_SEL_BSTR_SFT, 8, 0, bst_tlv), @@ -360,6 +410,8 @@ static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { adc_vol_tlv), SOC_SINGLE_EXT("DSP Voice Wake Up", SND_SOC_NOPM, 0, 1, 0, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_get, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put), + SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV("Hotword Model", 0x8504, + NULL, rt5514_hotword_model_put), };

/* ADC Mixer*/ diff --git a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h index 02bc212a86d9..07475a9918d2 100644 --- a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h +++ b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h @@ -236,6 +236,7 @@

#define RT5514_FIRMWARE1 "rt5514_dsp_fw1.bin" #define RT5514_FIRMWARE2 "rt5514_dsp_fw2.bin" +#define RT5514_FIRMWARE3 "rt5514_dsp_fw3.bin"

/* System Clock Source */ enum { @@ -262,6 +263,8 @@ struct rt5514_priv { int pll_in; int pll_out; int dsp_enabled; + u8 *model_buf; + unsigned int model_len; };

#endif /* __RT5514_H__ */

-- 2.12.2

Show replies by date

Mark Brown

24 Aug 24 Aug

10:49 a.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

The patch

ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control

has been applied to the asoc tree at

git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/broonie/sound.git

All being well this means that it will be integrated into the linux-next tree (usually sometime in the next 24 hours) and sent to Linus during the next merge window (or sooner if it is a bug fix), however if problems are discovered then the patch may be dropped or reverted.

You may get further e-mails resulting from automated or manual testing and review of the tree, please engage with people reporting problems and send followup patches addressing any issues that are reported if needed.

If any updates are required or you are submitting further changes they should be sent as incremental updates against current git, existing patches will not be replaced.

Please add any relevant lists and maintainers to the CCs when replying to this mail.

Thanks, Mark

...

From d18420b0a0b8f8f51f55fc654b2e0eb86d8b41d7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001

From: Hsin-Yu Chao hychao@chromium.org Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2017 18:29:31 +0800 Subject: [PATCH] ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control

This change exposes mixer control 'Hotword Model' for switching hotword model in runtime. This new function requires updated firmware to load hotword model at address 0x4ff80000.

Signed-off-by: Hsin-Yu Chao hychao@chromium.org Signed-off-by: Mark Brown broonie@kernel.org --- sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c | 52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h | 3 +++ 2 files changed, 55 insertions(+)

diff --git a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c index a694ce9fed86..0e239e8c7bf8 100644 --- a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c +++ b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.c @@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 = snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component); struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec; const struct firmware *fw = NULL; + int ret = 0;

if (ucontrol->value.integer.value[0] == rt5514->dsp_enabled) return 0; @@ -338,6 +339,27 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, fw = NULL; }

+ if (rt5514->model_buf && rt5514->model_len) { + ret = rt5514_spi_burst_write(0x4ff80000, + rt5514->model_buf, + ((rt5514->model_len / 8) + 1) * 8); + if (ret) { + dev_err(codec->dev, + "Model load failed %d\n", ret); + return ret; + } + } else { + request_firmware(&fw, RT5514_FIRMWARE3, + codec->dev); + if (fw) { + rt5514_spi_burst_write(0x4ff80000, + fw->data, + ((fw->size/8)+1)*8); + release_firmware(fw); + fw = NULL; + } + } + /* DSP run */ regmap_write(rt5514->i2c_regmap, 0x18002f00, 0x00055148); @@ -352,6 +374,34 @@ static int rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, return 0; }

+static int rt5514_hotword_model_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, + const unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size) +{ + struct snd_soc_component *component = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol); + struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 = snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component); + struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec; + int ret = 0; + + if (rt5514->model_buf || rt5514->model_len < size) { + if (rt5514->model_buf) + devm_kfree(codec->dev, rt5514->model_buf); + rt5514->model_buf = devm_kmalloc(codec->dev, size, GFP_KERNEL); + if (!rt5514->model_buf) { + ret = -ENOMEM; + goto done; + } + } + + /* Skips the TLV header. */ + bytes += 2; + + if (copy_from_user(rt5514->model_buf, bytes, size)) + ret = -EFAULT; +done: + rt5514->model_len = (ret ? 0 : size); + return ret; +} + static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { SOC_DOUBLE_TLV("MIC Boost Volume", RT5514_ANA_CTRL_MICBST, RT5514_SEL_BSTL_SFT, RT5514_SEL_BSTR_SFT, 8, 0, bst_tlv), @@ -363,6 +413,8 @@ static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { adc_vol_tlv), SOC_SINGLE_EXT("DSP Voice Wake Up", SND_SOC_NOPM, 0, 1, 0, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_get, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put), + SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV("Hotword Model", 0x8504, + NULL, rt5514_hotword_model_put), };

/* ADC Mixer*/ diff --git a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h index 2dc40e6d8b3f..803311cb7e2a 100644 --- a/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h +++ b/sound/soc/codecs/rt5514.h @@ -255,6 +255,7 @@

#define RT5514_FIRMWARE1 "rt5514_dsp_fw1.bin" #define RT5514_FIRMWARE2 "rt5514_dsp_fw2.bin" +#define RT5514_FIRMWARE3 "rt5514_dsp_fw3.bin"

/* System Clock Source */ enum { @@ -281,6 +282,8 @@ struct rt5514_priv { int pll_in; int pll_out; int dsp_enabled; + u8 *model_buf; + unsigned int model_len; };

#endif /* __RT5514_H__ */

-- 2.14.1

Takashi Sakamoto

14 Sep 14 Sep

3:54 a.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

Hi,

As the subject notes, please revert the commit including the below lines.

On Aug 24 2017 19:49, Mark Brown wrote:

...

+static int rt5514_hotword_model_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol,
const unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size)
+{
struct snd_soc_component *component = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol);

struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 = snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component);

struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec;

int ret = 0;

if (rt5514->model_buf || rt5514->model_len < size) {
if (rt5514->model_buf)
	devm_kfree(codec->dev, rt5514->model_buf);
rt5514->model_buf = devm_kmalloc(codec->dev, size, GFP_KERNEL);
if (!rt5514->model_buf) {
	ret = -ENOMEM;
	goto done;
}
}

/* Skips the TLV header. */

bytes += 2;

if (copy_from_user(rt5514->model_buf, bytes, size))
ret = -EFAULT;
+done:

rt5514->model_len = (ret ? 0 : size);

return ret;

+}

static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { SOC_DOUBLE_TLV("MIC Boost Volume", RT5514_ANA_CTRL_MICBST, RT5514_SEL_BSTL_SFT, RT5514_SEL_BSTR_SFT, 8, 0, bst_tlv),

@@ -363,6 +413,8 @@ static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { adc_vol_tlv), SOC_SINGLE_EXT("DSP Voice Wake Up", SND_SOC_NOPM, 0, 1, 0, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_get, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put),
SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV("Hotword Model", 0x8504,
NULL, rt5514_hotword_model_put),
};

Current implementation of 'SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV' in ALSA SoC part includes an abuse of TLV feature of ALSA control interface. Developers are discouraged to use it for newer code to prevent developers for userspace applications from confusion or to prevent userspace applications from disorder, unless ASoC developers fix the abuse.

Apparently, this patch includes a bug about the size of buffer in user space.

Again, please don't use 'SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV' when you have enough care of userspace applications. Here, I describe the reason.

## Design of the TLV feature of ALSA control interface

At first, I describe common design of the TLV feature of ALSA control interface. Next, I address to an issue about application of the feature to ALSA SoC framework (ASoC).

The most of ALSA interface was defined around 2000, while TLV feature of ALSA control interface was introduced in 2006, enough later.

In 2015-2017, in ALSA upstream, I've documented this feature[1]. Essentially, this feature is designed to transfer arbitrary data between drivers and applications as a shape of Type/Length/Value.

A packet of this data is described as 'struct snd_ctl_tlv'[3].

``` struct snd_ctl_tlv { unsigned int numid; /* control element numeric identification */ unsigned int length; /* in bytes aligned to 4 */ unsigned int tlv[0]; /* first TLV */ }; ```

When userspace applications execute ioctl(2) with some of TLV commands[3] and a buffer, the buffer is filled with the structured data.

``` struct snd_ctl_tlv *packet; unsigned int *payload; int fd;

fd = open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDONLY);

packet = malloc(sizeof(struct snd_ctl_tlv) + 512); packet->numid = 0; /* Here, I select the first element. */ packet->length = 512; /* The length of payload. */

ioctl(fd, SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_COMMAND, &container); payload = packet->tlv; /* payload has the structured data. */ ```

Shape of the payload is expected to be with header and content for each type. A series of the basic type is described as 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_XXX' in UAPI header[4]. You can see a sample program for it as an application of user-defined control element sets in alsa-lib[5].

[1] ALSA project - the C library reference: Control interface http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/control.html [2] struct snd_ctl_tlv https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include... [3] SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_READ and SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_COMMAND [4] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include... [5] user-ctl-element-set.c http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-lib.git;a=blob;f=test/user-ctl-element-s...

## Driver inteface for TLV feature of ALSA control interface

In kernel land, each driver can add control element sets with some control elements. The driver can register own data or operation to the control element set for the TLV feature[1].

``` typedef int (snd_kcontrol_tlv_rw_t)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, int op_flag, /* SNDRV_CTL_TLV_OP_XXX */ unsigned int size, unsigned int __user *tlv);

struct snd_kcontrol { ... union { snd_kcontrol_tlv_rw_t *c; const unsigned int *p; } tlv; ... }; ```

When using 'struct snd_kcontrol.tlv.p', the driver just support read operation. For example, 'sound/soc/codecs/stac9766.c' has such codes.

When using another, the driver can support read, write and command operation. For example, control elements for PCM channel map in 'sound/core/pcm_lib.c' is implemented by this way.

In both ways, drivers should be implemented with enough care about format of the payload not to confuse userspace applications. The format of payload is described in UAPI header for TLV feature[2].

``` /* * TLV structure is right behind the struct snd_ctl_tlv: * unsigned int type - see SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_* * unsigned int length * .... data aligned to sizeof(unsigned int), use * block_length = (length + (sizeof(unsigned int) - 1)) & * ~(sizeof(unsigned int) - 1)) .... */ ```

The first 32bit field has one of SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_xxx macro, and the second 32bit field has length of included data in byte unit. The rest is for the data.

For example, payload with 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_MINMAX' should have below content:

``` [0] 4 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_MINMAX) [1] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int[2])) [2] min dB [3] max dB ```

Content of the payload can have nested data field with 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_CONTAINER'. For example:

``` [0] 0 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_CONTAINER) [1] 8 (= length of data) [2] 1 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_SCALE) [3] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int[2])) [4] min [5] step | mute [6] 1 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_LINEAR) [7] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int [2])) [8] min dB [9] max dB ```

In any basic type, the first two members of payload represents the type of data and the length of data. This is an important point for the issue.

[1] include/sound/control.c https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include... [2] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

## Abuse of TLV feature of ALSA control interface in ALSA SoC part

As I described, control element set should have two members in the beginning of payload of data for TLV feature; type and length. Additionally, when new type is added into ALSA stuffs, it's better to add it in UAPI header for applications[1]. Current implementation of 'bytes_ext' via TLV operation is completely against this basic principle.

Here, I review history of the 'bytes_ext'.

May 2014, Intel developer introduced the 'bytes_ext' into ASoC to transfer data with arbitrary length from userspace to hardware.

``` (include/sound/soc.h) struct soc_bytes_ext { int max; struct snd_soc_dobj dobj;

/* used for TLV byte control */ int (*get)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size); int (*put)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, const unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size); }; ```

The 'bytes_ext' is implemented with SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_ELEM_WRITE command and 'struct snd_ctl_elem_value'. However, there's a limitation of maximum length of data for the transmission due to design of the 'struct snd_ctl_elem_value'.

``` (include/uapi/sound/asound.h) struct snd_ctl_elem_value { ... union { ... union { unsigned char data[512]; ... } bytes; ... } value; ... }; ```

Nov 2013, Intel developers introduced their next idea to purge the limitation[3]. In this state, their idea focuses on extension of control element structure ('struct snd_ctl_elem'). They were discouraged with an advice to use ALSA HwDep interface for this purpose. But their intension is to utilize alsactl application to load/store status of control element automatically and they had less care of the advice.

Jul 2014, Intel developers post next idea to use 'bytes_ext' via TLV feature with a focus on the nature; userspace application and drivers communicate with an arbitrary length of data via TLV feature[4]. This idea is applied to ASoC repository without enough discussions about userspace breakage.

[1] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

[2] [alsa-devel] [PATCH] ASoC: add SND_SOC_BYTES_EXT http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-May/076155.html

[3] [alsa-devel] [RFC] ALSA: add new alsa control byte extended http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2013-November/069483.ht...

[4] [alsa-devel] [RFC v2] ASoC: core: add a helper for extended byte controls using TLV http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-July/078962.html

Regards

Takashi Sakamoto

5:03 a.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

On Sep 14 2017 12:54, Takashi Sakamoto wrote:

...

As the subject notes, please revert the commit including the below lines.

Ah... I forgot to modify the subject line as 'Please revert d18420b0a0b8 ("ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control")'.

Regards

Takashi Sakamoto

Hsin-yu Chao

6:28 a.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

Hi Takashi, Thank you for the detailed explanation. I will discuss with Oder about the blob used for voice wake up, and see if we can come up with a proposal to generalize this by basic types.

Hi Mark, There's a related patch "ASoC: rt5514: Guard Hotword Model bytes loading" might need to be reverted as well. If there's anything I should do please let me know.

Thanks, Hsin-yu

On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 1:03 PM, Takashi Sakamoto o-takashi@sakamocchi.jp wrote:

...

On Sep 14 2017 12:54, Takashi Sakamoto wrote:

...
As the subject notes, please revert the commit including the below lines.

Ah... I forgot to modify the subject line as 'Please revert d18420b0a0b8 ("ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control")'.

Regards

Takashi Sakamoto

Mark Brown

4:05 p.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 02:03:29PM +0900, Takashi Sakamoto wrote:

...

On Sep 14 2017 12:54, Takashi Sakamoto wrote:

...
As the subject notes, please revert the commit including the below lines.

...

Ah... I forgot to modify the subject line as 'Please revert d18420b0a0b8 ("ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control")'.

Please send a patch for this with a changelog explaining why.

Pierre-Louis Bossart

15 Sep 15 Sep

8:06 p.m.

New subject: [alsa-devel] Applied "ASoC: rt5514: expose Hotword Model control" to the asoc tree

On 09/13/2017 10:54 PM, Takashi Sakamoto wrote:

...

Hi,

As the subject notes, please revert the commit including the below lines.

On Aug 24 2017 19:49, Mark Brown wrote:

...
+static int rt5514_hotword_model_put(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol,
   const unsigned int __user *bytes, unsigned int size)
+{

struct snd_soc_component *component = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol);

struct rt5514_priv *rt5514 =

snd_soc_component_get_drvdata(component);
struct snd_soc_codec *codec = rt5514->codec;

int ret = 0;

if (rt5514->model_buf || rt5514->model_len < size) {
   if (rt5514->model_buf)
       devm_kfree(codec->dev, rt5514->model_buf);
   rt5514->model_buf = devm_kmalloc(codec->dev, size, GFP_KERNEL);
   if (!rt5514->model_buf) {
       ret = -ENOMEM;
       goto done;
   }
}

/* Skips the TLV header. */

bytes += 2;

if (copy_from_user(rt5514->model_buf, bytes, size))
   ret = -EFAULT;
+done:

rt5514->model_len = (ret ? 0 : size);

return ret;

+}

static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { SOC_DOUBLE_TLV("MIC Boost Volume", RT5514_ANA_CTRL_MICBST, RT5514_SEL_BSTL_SFT, RT5514_SEL_BSTR_SFT, 8, 0, bst_tlv),

@@ -363,6 +413,8 @@ static const struct snd_kcontrol_new rt5514_snd_controls[] = { adc_vol_tlv), SOC_SINGLE_EXT("DSP Voice Wake Up", SND_SOC_NOPM, 0, 1, 0, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_get, rt5514_dsp_voice_wake_up_put),
SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV("Hotword Model", 0x8504,
   NULL, rt5514_hotword_model_put),
};
Current implementation of 'SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV' in ALSA SoC part includes an abuse of TLV feature of ALSA control interface. Developers are discouraged to use it for newer code to prevent developers for userspace applications from confusion or to prevent userspace applications from disorder, unless ASoC developers fix the abuse.

Apparently, this patch includes a bug about the size of buffer in user space.

Again, please don't use 'SND_SOC_BYTES_TLV' when you have enough care of userspace applications. Here, I describe the reason.

Sakamoto-san, You provided tons of details, but after reading your long email several times I am still wondering - what exactly is broken? what design principles are you arguing against? - what abuse are we talking about? is there a security risk? a loss of functionality? The existing solution has been used in products without applications feeling 'confused', being subject to 'disorder' or any sort of 'userspace breakage' shared on this email list. Can you point to one or more real-world cases where things are actually problematic? - you also seem to hint that Intel folks did not take feedback into account and did not 'care', it's quite the contrary - this topic of support for 512+ opaque bytes for DSP-based algorithms was addressed at length at the audio miniconf in 2013 as well as on the mailing list and agreed on with maintainers. While there were concerns that maybe another interface might have been better, possibly hwdep or something new, there was the opposite concern on using standard tools and existing interfaces people are familiar with. So what is the disagreement now, almost 4 years later? - what solution are you recommending? we can't just discourage people from using a solution without making an alternate proposal. There is a need to send raw binary data spanning more than 512 bytes for a number of DSP-based algorithms, it's not going away anytime soon, and the format is not going to be made public for obvious confidentiality reasons.

Thanks for clarifying your concerns. I have no emotional attachment to any of this, but if we start reverting stuff and 'not recommending' things then we ought to have an agreement on the problem statement and on the next steps. -Pierre

...

## Design of the TLV feature of ALSA control interface

At first, I describe common design of the TLV feature of ALSA control interface. Next, I address to an issue about application of the feature to ALSA SoC framework (ASoC).

The most of ALSA interface was defined around 2000, while TLV feature of ALSA control interface was introduced in 2006, enough later.

In 2015-2017, in ALSA upstream, I've documented this feature[1]. Essentially, this feature is designed to transfer arbitrary data between drivers and applications as a shape of Type/Length/Value.

A packet of this data is described as 'struct snd_ctl_tlv'[3].
struct snd_ctl_tlv {
    unsigned int numid;     /* control element numeric identification */
    unsigned int length;    /* in bytes aligned to 4 */
    unsigned int tlv[0];    /* first TLV */
};
When userspace applications execute ioctl(2) with some of TLV commands[3] and a buffer, the buffer is filled with the structured data.
    struct snd_ctl_tlv *packet;
    unsigned int *payload;
    int fd;

    fd = open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDONLY);

    packet = malloc(sizeof(struct snd_ctl_tlv) + 512);
    packet->numid = 0;      /* Here, I select the first element. */
    packet->length = 512;   /* The length of payload. */

    ioctl(fd, SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_COMMAND, &container);
    payload = packet->tlv;
    /* payload has the structured data. */
Shape of the payload is expected to be with header and content for each type. A series of the basic type is described as 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_XXX' in UAPI header[4]. You can see a sample program for it as an application of user-defined control element sets in alsa-lib[5].

[1] ALSA project - the C library reference: Control interface http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/control.html [2] struct snd_ctl_tlv https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

[3] SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_READ and SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_TLV_COMMAND [4] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

[5] user-ctl-element-set.c http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-lib.git;a=blob;f=test/user-ctl-element-s...

## Driver inteface for TLV feature of ALSA control interface

In kernel land, each driver can add control element sets with some control elements. The driver can register own data or operation to the control element set for the TLV feature[1].
typedef int (snd_kcontrol_tlv_rw_t)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol,
                    int op_flag, /* SNDRV_CTL_TLV_OP_XXX */
                    unsigned int size,
                    unsigned int __user *tlv);

struct snd_kcontrol {
    ...
    union {
        snd_kcontrol_tlv_rw_t *c;
        const unsigned int *p;
    } tlv;
    ...
};
When using 'struct snd_kcontrol.tlv.p', the driver just support read operation. For example, 'sound/soc/codecs/stac9766.c' has such codes.

When using another, the driver can support read, write and command operation. For example, control elements for PCM channel map in 'sound/core/pcm_lib.c' is implemented by this way.

In both ways, drivers should be implemented with enough care about format of the payload not to confuse userspace applications. The format of payload is described in UAPI header for TLV feature[2].
/*
 * TLV structure is right behind the struct snd_ctl_tlv:
 *   unsigned int type     - see SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_*
 *   unsigned int length
 *   .... data aligned to sizeof(unsigned int), use
 *        block_length = (length + (sizeof(unsigned int) - 1)) &
 *                       ~(sizeof(unsigned int) - 1)) ....
 */
The first 32bit field has one of SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_xxx macro, and the second 32bit field has length of included data in byte unit. The rest is for the data.

For example, payload with 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_MINMAX' should have below content:
[0] 4 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_MINMAX)
[1] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int[2]))
[2] min dB
[3] max dB
Content of the payload can have nested data field with 'SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_CONTAINER'. For example:
[0] 0 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_CONTAINER)
[1] 8 (= length of data)
[2] 1 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_SCALE)
[3] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int[2]))
[4] min
[5] step | mute
[6] 1 (= SNDRV_CTL_TLVT_DB_LINEAR)
[7] 2 (= ARRAY_SIZE(unsigned int [2]))
[8] min dB
[9] max dB
In any basic type, the first two members of payload represents the type of data and the length of data. This is an important point for the issue.

[1] include/sound/control.c https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

[2] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

## Abuse of TLV feature of ALSA control interface in ALSA SoC part

As I described, control element set should have two members in the beginning of payload of data for TLV feature; type and length. Additionally, when new type is added into ALSA stuffs, it's better to add it in UAPI header for applications[1]. Current implementation of 'bytes_ext' via TLV operation is completely against this basic principle.

Here, I review history of the 'bytes_ext'.

May 2014, Intel developer introduced the 'bytes_ext' into ASoC to transfer data with arbitrary length from userspace to hardware.
(include/sound/soc.h)
struct soc_bytes_ext {
    int max;
    struct snd_soc_dobj dobj;

    /* used for TLV byte control */
    int (*get)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, unsigned int __user *bytes,
               unsigned int size);
    int (*put)(struct snd_kcontrol *kcontrol, const unsigned int 
__user *bytes,
               unsigned int size);
};
The 'bytes_ext' is implemented with SNDRV_CTL_IOCTL_ELEM_WRITE command and 'struct snd_ctl_elem_value'. However, there's a limitation of maximum length of data for the transmission due to design of the 'struct snd_ctl_elem_value'.
(include/uapi/sound/asound.h)
struct snd_ctl_elem_value {
    ...
    union {
        ...
        union {
            unsigned char data[512];
            ...
        } bytes;
        ...
    } value;
    ...
};
Nov 2013, Intel developers introduced their next idea to purge the limitation[3]. In this state, their idea focuses on extension of control element structure ('struct snd_ctl_elem'). They were discouraged with an advice to use ALSA HwDep interface for this purpose. But their intension is to utilize alsactl application to load/store status of control element automatically and they had less care of the advice.

Jul 2014, Intel developers post next idea to use 'bytes_ext' via TLV feature with a focus on the nature; userspace application and drivers communicate with an arbitrary length of data via TLV feature[4]. This idea is applied to ASoC repository without enough discussions about userspace breakage.

[1] include/uapi/sound/tlv.h https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/include...

[2] [alsa-devel] [PATCH] ASoC: add SND_SOC_BYTES_EXT http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-May/076155.html

[3] [alsa-devel] [RFC] ALSA: add new alsa control byte extended http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2013-November/069483.ht...

[4] [alsa-devel] [RFC v2] ASoC: core: add a helper for extended byte controls using TLV http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-July/078962.html

Regards

Takashi Sakamoto _______________________________________________ Alsa-devel mailing list Alsa-devel@alsa-project.org http://mailman.alsa-project.org/mailman/listinfo/alsa-devel

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Hsin-Yu Chao
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Takashi Sakamoto