Vortex86 Processor Detection Landing For Linux 5.16

Recently I wrote about Vortex86 processors seeing detection work under Linux for improving the state of these aging x86 32-bit SoCs. That work is now slated to be introduced in the upcoming Linux 5.16 cycle for those running these aging SoCs/processors.

As outlined in the prior article, the motivation for finally having proper Linux kernel detection around Vortex86 processors stems from these in-order processors not being vulnerable to Spectre and Meltdown. However, with current versions of the Linux kernel the Spectre/Meltdown mitigations are applied to these x86 32-bit SoCs for the kernel not knowing that they aren't vulnerable.

Now with Linux 5.16 the Vortex86 processors can be properly identified and those performance-affecting mitigations not applied. This detection can also be used for other DM&P Electronics Vortex86 processor tuning and quirk handling in the future if additional needs arise.

The rather basic addition was added to the x86/cpu tree this week and thus expected to be merged during the upcoming Linux 5.16 merge window in early November.