ARM SCMI and SCPI firmware-managed power domains
Power and performance domain providers for ARM systems where a dedicated firmware or system-control processor handles power management on behalf of the main CPUs. SCMI is Arm's current standardized interface for this and is widely used in modern Arm SoCs from phones to servers; SCPI is its older predecessor.
recommendation
It should stay because SCMI is Arm's current, standardized power and performance management interface and is shipping in new silicon in 2025. Upstream traffic through late 2025 shows ongoing cleanups, fixes, and RFCs rather than any retirement discussion, and the relevant Kconfig options are still built into mainstream kernels.
repository signals
sources
- lore-kernel.gnuweeb.org
2025 arm-scmi archive page shows active SCMI PM-domain discussion and patches, including cleanup and RFC work, indicating ongoing upstream attention rather than removal.
- lore-kernel.gnuweeb.org
2025 linux-arm-kernel archive page lists a scmi_pm_domain correctness patch ('Remove redundant state verification'), showing maintenance traffic in this directory.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_ARM_SCMI_POWER_DOMAIN present in current kernels and still built from drivers/pmdomain/arm, covering SCMI power-domain deployments.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_ARM_SCMI_PERF_DOMAIN present in current kernels and built from drivers/pmdomain/arm, covering SCMI performance-domain deployments.
- developer.arm.com
Arm's 2026 SCMI white paper describes SCMI as a standardized interface for power and performance management in modern SoCs, supporting the conclusion that SCMI-backed hardware remains current.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver directory: contains module_scmi_driver/platform power-domain providers for SCMI/SCPI. URLs were obtained via web search (`web.search_query`); local `exec_command` inspection of files and git log showed recent non-mechanical commits through 2025-10 and no signs of retirement. Lore archive hits show bug-fix/cleanup/RFC traffic, not removal discussion. SCMI remains a current Arm platform-management interface, so this directory should be kept; SCPI is older, but the directory as a whole is actively maintained for still-relevant ARM firmware-managed power domains.