RE: suspend/resume support for driver requires an external firmware

[Zhu, Yi]

Marcel Holtmann wrote:
> it consumes extra runtime memory, but why not build a simple
> firmware cache behind the request_firmware() interface. 

I think this could be another choice, but I'd rather call it as a
firmware 
suspend hook. Because when the system is running, the cache 
should be purged to save memory. swsusp (or other implementations)
is required to call the firmware hook before device_suspend. The 
firmware hook is responsible to load all the necessary firmwares into
memory before suspend so that they can be read from memory in the
next request_firmware(). And we also need a firmware resume hook to
free the memory.

But how about drivers read firmware themselves? They don't rely on
firmware_class.

> In this case it can be transparent for the driver and we won't
> have an extra workaround for suspend/resume stuff for every
> driver.

I don't think it is a workaround, drivers are supposed to know best
how to "save their states". Firmware is one example for now.

> How many firmwares do a normal system really have to
> hold in memory for suspend/resume actions?

I don't know either. ;-)

Thanks,
-yi
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