RFC:new superio proposal
Bari Ari
bari at onelabs.com
Tue May 13 18:39:00 CEST 2003
ron minnich wrote:
>Abstract:
> The superio architecture for linuxbios has worked for the last 2
>years but is being stretched to the limit by the changes in superio chips.
>The architecture depended on superio resources being relatively constant
>between chips, but this assumption no longer holds. In this document we
>propose several alternatives and solicit comments.
>
>
>
Another change in super i/o resources is the use of a microprocessor
rather than a hardwired super i/o chip. In laptops and mobile devices
the current and future trend is to use a 16 bit cpu with I/O ports (PS2,
serial, parallel, keyboard scan, GPIO, SMbus) that interfaces to the
chipset using LPC bus. The 16 bit cpu has internal flash for the
firmware that may be reprogrammed in circuit via the LPC and/or other
ports. This cpu is used as a system power keyboard controller as well as
super i/o.
We have been working a bit on having open firmware for these as well.
The new super i/o structure of freebios2 should also account for these
changes.
--Bari
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