Linux 5.2 Kernel Introducing Support For Intel's Sound Open Firmware

Back at the Embedded Linux Conference in March 2018, Sound Open Firmware (SOF) was announced by Intel Open-Source Technology GM, Imad Sousou. The kernel-side patches to this open-source sound firmware were published shortly thereafter while now finally after going through several rounds of public code review, the kernel changes have been merged for Linux 5.2.

Intel's Sound Open Firmware is an open-source audio DSP firmware implementation and software development kit. The BSD-licensed firmware aims to be platform and architecture independent and is also now backed by the likes of Google. For those unfamiliar with Sound Open Firmware or having forgot about it since the announcement last year, the project site is SOFProject.org while the code is hosted on GitHub.

What's new today is the Linux kernel changes for supporting Sound Open Firmware were merged this morning for Linux 5.2. This code introduces the kernel-side SOF core and utilities support for managing DSP services and ALSA/ASoC I/O. It took several rounds of public code review over the past year -- the kernel bits amount to over twenty thousand lines of code -- but is now ready for mainline adoption.

In addition to the core "SOF" infrastructure, there is also the Intel device support that has been merged. There is Intel support in place for Baytrail, Cherrytrail, Broadwell, Apollolake, Cannonlake, and Braswell DSP hardware with this current kernel code.

The merged work was sent in as part of the sound updates for Linux 5.2. That pull also brings some new digital audio workstation hardware support and other sound driver improvements.