An HCD programs a bus-master engine: it needs a descriptor ring that is physically
contiguous, at a physical address it knows, uncacheable, and pinned. mmap gives none
of those. Add dma_alloc(len, flags) -> vaddr (rax), paddr (rdx) and dma_free(vaddr,
len): grant contiguous, zeroed, pinned, strong-uncacheable memory in a per-process DMA
arena (PML4[228]) and hand back both addresses.
Pieces: pmm.allocContiguous(count, max_phys) finds a run of contiguous free frames
below a cap (dma_below_4g for 32-bit engines); mapUserDmaInto maps them uncacheable
(PCD|PWT) but WITHOUT device_grant, so unlike an MMIO grant these frames are real RAM
and freeSubtree returns them on teardown — a driver that dies leaks nothing. dma_free
is bounded to the DMA arena so it can never unmap the caller's stack/heap/MMIO.
dma_write_combining is accepted but falls back to coherent (WC needs PAT programming).
Runtime: runtime.dma.alloc/free (a two-return-value stub, like replyWait). New `dma`
kernel test drives the mechanism directly — contiguity, the below-4G cap, coherent
mapping, and reclaim-on-teardown (no leak). The thin syscall wrappers follow the tested
mmap/mmio_map shape and land their first real use with the first DMA driver. Suite
38/38 plus host tests.
Daniel Samson