Kernel-4.18.0-80.el8_dynamic-resolution-notes

Device Tree Dynamic Resolver Notes

This document describes the implementation of the in-kernel
Device Tree resolver, residing in drivers/of/resolver.c and is a
companion document to Documentation/devicetree/dt-object-internal.txt[1]

How the resolver works

The resolver is given as an input an arbitrary tree compiled with the
proper dtc option and having a /plugin/ tag. This generates the
appropriate fixups & __local_fixups__ nodes as described in [1].

In sequence the resolver works by the following steps:

  1. Get the maximum device tree phandle value from the live tree + 1.
  2. Adjust all the local phandles of the tree to resolve by that amount.
  3. Using the local__fixups node information adjust all local references
    by the same amount.
  4. For each property in the fixups node locate the node it references
    in the live tree. This is the label used to tag the node.
  5. Retrieve the phandle of the target of the fixup.
  6. For each fixup in the property locate the node:property:offset location
    and replace it with the phandle value.