MIPI I3C Host Controller Interface (HCI) master
Driver for I3C bus controllers that implement the MIPI Alliance's standardized Host Controller Interface, the successor specification to I2C used to attach low-power sensors and embedded peripherals on modern PCs and SoCs. It covers Intel PCH I3C blocks in Arrow Lake and Panther Lake platforms, AMD's ACPI-enumerated I3C controller, and any other HCI-compliant part.
recommendation
It should stay because this is the generic, standards-based driver for any I3C controller that follows the MIPI HCI specification, and modern silicon ships with exactly that. Intel's 2025 Arrow Lake PCH and newer Panther Lake parts expose HCI-compliant I3C controllers, AMD platforms use it via ACPI, and the upstream tree saw active bug fixes and a 16-patch refactoring series in early 2026 with no hint of deprecation.
repository signals
sources
- spinics.net
April 2026 review traffic shows an active 16-patch maintenance/refactoring series for this driver, not removal work.
- spinics.net
March 2026 bug-fix posting for DMA/IBI handling shows ongoing real upstream maintenance.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows the driver remains present through current kernels and covers Intel PCI IDs plus AMD ACPI ID AMDI5017 and generic platform bindings.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows new PCI support wiring and recently added Intel device IDs including Panther Lake-class controllers.
- edc.intel.com
Intel public Arrow Lake S PCH documentation dated February 6, 2025 describes a MIPI I3C HCI-compliant controller in a then-current platform, indicating new-hardware relevance in 2025.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver, not an early-exit case: local `rg` showed platform and PCI driver entry points plus substantial core/DMA/PIO implementation. Upstream attention is active: local `exec_command` git log showed multiple substantive fixes through 2026-03-11, and web search found March-April 2026 spinics threads for bug fixes and a 16-patch review series; I found no removal/deprecation discussion. Deployment is not legacy-only: web search found LKDDb coverage for Intel PCI IDs and AMD ACPI AMDI5017, and Intel Arrow Lake 2025 documentation explicitly describes an HCI-compliant I3C controller. There is no natural replacement driver for the same class; this is the generic standards-based HCI driver itself. Source acquisition: spinics/LKDDb/Intel URLs via `web.search_query`; activity pattern also corroborated by local `exec_command` (`git log -c safe.directory=...`).