| Linus Torvalds | 1da177e | 2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | Kernel Memory Layout on ARM Linux | 
|  | 2 |  | 
|  | 3 | Russell King <rmk@arm.linux.org.uk> | 
| Russell King | 02b3083 | 2005-11-17 22:43:30 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 4 | November 17, 2005 (2.6.15) | 
| Linus Torvalds | 1da177e | 2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 5 |  | 
|  | 6 | This document describes the virtual memory layout which the Linux | 
|  | 7 | kernel uses for ARM processors.  It indicates which regions are | 
|  | 8 | free for platforms to use, and which are used by generic code. | 
|  | 9 |  | 
|  | 10 | The ARM CPU is capable of addressing a maximum of 4GB virtual memory | 
|  | 11 | space, and this must be shared between user space processes, the | 
|  | 12 | kernel, and hardware devices. | 
|  | 13 |  | 
|  | 14 | As the ARM architecture matures, it becomes necessary to reserve | 
|  | 15 | certain regions of VM space for use for new facilities; therefore | 
|  | 16 | this document may reserve more VM space over time. | 
|  | 17 |  | 
|  | 18 | Start		End		Use | 
|  | 19 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 
|  | 20 | ffff8000	ffffffff	copy_user_page / clear_user_page use. | 
|  | 21 | For SA11xx and Xscale, this is used to | 
|  | 22 | setup a minicache mapping. | 
|  | 23 |  | 
|  | 24 | ffff1000	ffff7fff	Reserved. | 
|  | 25 | Platforms must not use this address range. | 
|  | 26 |  | 
|  | 27 | ffff0000	ffff0fff	CPU vector page. | 
|  | 28 | The CPU vectors are mapped here if the | 
|  | 29 | CPU supports vector relocation (control | 
|  | 30 | register V bit.) | 
|  | 31 |  | 
|  | 32 | ffc00000	fffeffff	DMA memory mapping region.  Memory returned | 
|  | 33 | by the dma_alloc_xxx functions will be | 
|  | 34 | dynamically mapped here. | 
|  | 35 |  | 
|  | 36 | ff000000	ffbfffff	Reserved for future expansion of DMA | 
|  | 37 | mapping region. | 
|  | 38 |  | 
|  | 39 | VMALLOC_END	feffffff	Free for platform use, recommended. | 
| Russell King | 02b3083 | 2005-11-17 22:43:30 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 40 | VMALLOC_END must be aligned to a 2MB | 
|  | 41 | boundary. | 
| Linus Torvalds | 1da177e | 2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 42 |  | 
|  | 43 | VMALLOC_START	VMALLOC_END-1	vmalloc() / ioremap() space. | 
|  | 44 | Memory returned by vmalloc/ioremap will | 
|  | 45 | be dynamically placed in this region. | 
|  | 46 | VMALLOC_START may be based upon the value | 
|  | 47 | of the high_memory variable. | 
|  | 48 |  | 
|  | 49 | PAGE_OFFSET	high_memory-1	Kernel direct-mapped RAM region. | 
|  | 50 | This maps the platforms RAM, and typically | 
|  | 51 | maps all platform RAM in a 1:1 relationship. | 
|  | 52 |  | 
|  | 53 | TASK_SIZE	PAGE_OFFSET-1	Kernel module space | 
|  | 54 | Kernel modules inserted via insmod are | 
|  | 55 | placed here using dynamic mappings. | 
|  | 56 |  | 
|  | 57 | 00001000	TASK_SIZE-1	User space mappings | 
|  | 58 | Per-thread mappings are placed here via | 
|  | 59 | the mmap() system call. | 
|  | 60 |  | 
|  | 61 | 00000000	00000fff	CPU vector page / null pointer trap | 
|  | 62 | CPUs which do not support vector remapping | 
|  | 63 | place their vector page here.  NULL pointer | 
|  | 64 | dereferences by both the kernel and user | 
|  | 65 | space are also caught via this mapping. | 
|  | 66 |  | 
|  | 67 | Please note that mappings which collide with the above areas may result | 
|  | 68 | in a non-bootable kernel, or may cause the kernel to (eventually) panic | 
|  | 69 | at run time. | 
|  | 70 |  | 
|  | 71 | Since future CPUs may impact the kernel mapping layout, user programs | 
|  | 72 | must not access any memory which is not mapped inside their 0x0001000 | 
|  | 73 | to TASK_SIZE address range.  If they wish to access these areas, they | 
|  | 74 | must set up their own mappings using open() and mmap(). |