drivers/sh/intc · keep-annotate

Renesas SuperH INTC interrupt controller

The CPU-level interrupt controller built into Renesas SuperH processors (SH-3, SH-4, SH-4A, and SH-X3), a 32-bit RISC architecture used heavily in late-1990s and 2000s Japanese consumer electronics, set-top boxes, automotive, and industrial embedded systems. Although Renesas has steered customers toward Arm-based successors, some SuperH parts remained on sale into March 2025.

keep-annotate conf=0.79 last_sold=2025 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=sh category=other

79%

recommendation

Worth keeping but flagging as legacy: this is the architecture-specific interrupt controller code that any remaining SuperH Linux system depends on, and there is no replacement to migrate to. Real maintenance is still happening upstream, including a use-after-free fix in late 2024 and an irq_domain API modernization in May 2025, so removal would be premature. Renesas is winding the platform down (many SuperH tools are already discontinued), so the directory deserves a note that it serves a shrinking embedded installed base rather than active new designs.

repository signals

12 files

2,039 source lines

9 commits, 5y

+34 / −22 lines added / removed, 5y

9 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 9 total · active in 8/61 months

sources

git.kernel.org
`drivers/sh/intc` received a substantive upstream update on 2025-05-16 (`sh: Switch to irq_domain_create_*()`).
git.kernel.org
`drivers/sh/intc` also received a real bug fix on 2024-11-30 (`Fix use-after-free bug in register_intc_controller()`), showing non-trivial maintenance rather than pure treewide churn.
en.wikipedia.org
SuperH SH-3/SH-4/SH-4A products were replaced by newer Arm-based generations, but many existing models continued to be marketed and sold until March 2025.
renesas.com
Renesas lists multiple SuperH-family software/tool offerings as discontinued, consistent with the platform being in legacy status rather than a growth line.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

This is real kernel-bound interrupt-controller support, not a helper-only directory: local `Kconfig`/source inspection via `exec_command` shows SuperH CPU-specific IRQ controller code (`SH_INTC`, SH-4A/SH-X3 options). Upstream activity was checked with local `git log` via `exec_command`; commits in 2024-2025 are genuine maintenance/bug-fix work, so removal would be premature. A web search for lore removal/deprecation discussion found no clear active removal thread. Deployment evidence came from `web.search`/`web.open` on Wikipedia and Renesas pages: SH-3/SH-4/SH-4A are legacy and largely displaced, but some parts were still sold into March 2025, so current deployments are best classified as low, mainly legacy/industrial/embedded. No natural replacement driver exists because this code is the architecture-specific interrupt-controller implementation for remaining SuperH systems.