Documentation/nommu-mmap.txt

			 =============================
			 NO-MMU MEMORY MAPPING SUPPORT
			 =============================

The kernel has limited support for memory mapping under no-MMU conditions, such
as are used in uClinux environments. From the userspace point of view, memory
mapping is made use of in conjunction with the mmap() system call, the shmat()
call and the execve() system call. From the kernel's point of view, execve()
mapping is actually performed by the binfmt drivers, which call back into the
mmap() routines to do the actual work.

Memory mapping behaviour also involves the way fork(), vfork(), clone() and
ptrace() work. Under uClinux there is no fork(), and clone() must be supplied
the CLONE_VM flag.

The behaviour is similar between the MMU and no-MMU cases, but not identical;
and it's also much more restricted in the latter case:

 (*) Anonymous mapping, MAP_PRIVATE

	In the MMU case: VM regions backed by arbitrary pages; copy-on-write
	across fork.

	In the no-MMU case: VM regions backed by arbitrary contiguous runs of
	pages.

 (*) Anonymous mapping, MAP_SHARED

	These behave very much like private mappings, except that they're
	shared across fork() or clone() without CLONE_VM in the MMU case. Since
	the no-MMU case doesn't support these, behaviour is identical to
	MAP_PRIVATE there.

 (*) File, MAP_PRIVATE, PROT_READ / PROT_EXEC, !PROT_WRITE

	In the MMU case: VM regions backed by pages read from file; changes to
	the underlying file are reflected in the mapping; copied across fork.

	In the no-MMU case: VM regions backed by arbitrary contiguous runs of
	pages into which the appropriate bit of the file is read; any remaining
	bit of the mapping is cleared; such mappings are shared if possible;
	writes to the file do not affect the mapping; writes to the mapping are
	visible in other processes (no MMU protection), but should not happen.

 (*) File, MAP_PRIVATE, PROT_READ / PROT_EXEC, PROT_WRITE

	In the MMU case: like the non-PROT_WRITE case, except that the pages in
	question get copied before the write actually happens. From that point
	on writes to that page in the file no longer get reflected into the
	mapping's backing pages.

	In the no-MMU case: works exactly as for the non-PROT_WRITE case.

 (*) Regular file / blockdev, MAP_SHARED, PROT_READ / PROT_EXEC / PROT_WRITE

	In the MMU case: VM regions backed by pages read from file; changes to
	pages written back to file; writes to file reflected into pages backing
	mapping; shared across fork.

	In the no-MMU case: not supported.

 (*) Memory backed regular file, MAP_SHARED, PROT_READ / PROT_EXEC / PROT_WRITE

	In the MMU case: As for ordinary regular files.

	In the no-MMU case: The filesystem providing the memory-backed file
	(such as ramfs or tmpfs) may choose to honour an open, truncate, mmap
	sequence by providing a contiguous sequence of pages to map. In that
	case, a shared-writable memory mapping will be possible. It will work
	as for the MMU case. If the filesystem does not provide any such
	support, then the mapping request will be denied.

 (*) Memory backed chardev, MAP_SHARED, PROT_READ / PROT_EXEC / PROT_WRITE

	In the MMU case: As for ordinary regular files.

	In the no-MMU case: The character device driver may choose to honour
	the mmap() by providing direct access to the underlying device if it
	provides memory or quasi-memory that can be accessed directly. Examples
	of such are frame buffers and flash devices. If the driver does not
	provide any such support, then the mapping request will be denied.


============================
FURTHER NOTES ON NO-MMU MMAP
============================

 (*) A request for a private mapping of less than a page in size may not return
     a page-aligned buffer. This is because the kernel calls kmalloc() to
     allocate the buffer, not get_free_page().

 (*) A list of all the mappings on the system is visible through /proc/maps in
     no-MMU mode.

 (*) Supplying MAP_FIXED or a requesting a particular mapping address will
     result in an error.

 (*) Files mapped privately must have a read method provided by the driver or
     filesystem so that the contents can be read into the memory allocated. An
     error will result if they don't. This is most likely to be encountered
     with character device files, pipes, fifos and sockets.


============================================
PROVIDING SHAREABLE CHARACTER DEVICE SUPPORT
============================================

To provide shareable character device support, a driver must provide a
file->f_op->get_unmapped_area() operation. The mmap() routines will call this
to get a proposed address for the mapping. This may return an error if it
doesn't wish to honour the mapping because it's too long, at a weird offset,
under some unsupported combination of flags or whatever.

The vm_ops->close() routine will be invoked when the last mapping on a chardev
is removed. An existing mapping will be shared, partially or not, if possible
without notifying the driver.

It is permitted also for the file->f_op->get_unmapped_area() operation to
return -ENOSYS. This will be taken to mean that this operation just doesn't
want to handle it, despite the fact it's got an operation. For instance, it
might try directing the call to a secondary driver which turns out not to
implement it. Such is the case for the framebuffer driver which attempts to
direct the call to the device-specific driver.


==============================================
PROVIDING SHAREABLE MEMORY-BACKED FILE SUPPORT
==============================================

Provision of shared mappings on memory backed files is similar to the provision
of support for shared mapped character devices. The main difference is that the
filesystem providing the service will probably allocate a contiguous collection
of pages and permit mappings to be made on that.

It is recommended that a truncate operation applied to such a file that
increases the file size, if that file is empty, be taken as a request to gather
enough pages to honour a mapping. This is required to support POSIX shared
memory.

Memory backed devices are indicated by the mapping's backing device info having
the memory_backed flag set.