From ea81896dc98f324ff3fb9b1e74b4915a1beb3296 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mika Westerberg Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 15:33:45 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] thunderbolt: Update documentation with the USB4 information Update user's and administrator's guide to mention USB4, how it relates to Thunderbolt and and how it is supported in Linux. While there add the missing SPDX identifier to the document. Signed-off-by: Mika Westerberg Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20191217123345.31850-10-mika.westerberg@linux.intel.com Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman --- Documentation/admin-guide/thunderbolt.rst | 30 +++++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/thunderbolt.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/thunderbolt.rst index 898ad78f3cc7..10c4f0ce2ad0 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/thunderbolt.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/thunderbolt.rst @@ -1,6 +1,28 @@ -============= - Thunderbolt -============= +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +====================== + USB4 and Thunderbolt +====================== +USB4 is the public specification based on Thunderbolt 3 protocol with +some differences at the register level among other things. Connection +manager is an entity running on the host router (host controller) +responsible for enumerating routers and establishing tunnels. A +connection manager can be implemented either in firmware or software. +Typically PCs come with a firmware connection manager for Thunderbolt 3 +and early USB4 capable systems. Apple systems on the other hand use +software connection manager and the later USB4 compliant devices follow +the suit. + +The Linux Thunderbolt driver supports both and can detect at runtime which +connection manager implementation is to be used. To be on the safe side the +software connection manager in Linux also advertises security level +``user`` which means PCIe tunneling is disabled by default. The +documentation below applies to both implementations with the exception that +the software connection manager only supports ``user`` security level and +is expected to be accompanied with an IOMMU based DMA protection. + +Security levels and how to use them +----------------------------------- The interface presented here is not meant for end users. Instead there should be a userspace tool that handles all the low-level details, keeps a database of the authorized devices and prompts users for new connections. @@ -18,8 +40,6 @@ This will authorize all devices automatically when they appear. However, keep in mind that this bypasses the security levels and makes the system vulnerable to DMA attacks. -Security levels and how to use them ------------------------------------ Starting with Intel Falcon Ridge Thunderbolt controller there are 4 security levels available. Intel Titan Ridge added one more security level (usbonly). The reason for these is the fact that the connected devices can -- 2.39.5