SpacemiT K1 USB 2.0 PHY
Hardware support for the USB 2.0 PHY block built into SpacemiT's K1 RISC-V system-on-chip, which exposes three USB ports. The K1 powers recent RISC-V single-board computers such as the Sipeed LicheePi 3A that began shipping in the mid-2020s.
recommendation
It should stay in the kernel because it is a brand-new driver for the USB 2.0 physical-layer block inside the SpacemiT K1 RISC-V SoC, freshly merged upstream and already receiving follow-up bug fixes. The K1 ships in current single-board computers like Sipeed's LicheePi 3A, and no generic replacement exists for this SoC-specific PHY hardware.
repository signals
sources
- spinics.net
Initial upstream patch series for the SpacemiT K1 USB2 PHY says K1 has three USB ports and introduces this PHY driver.
- spinics.net
Vinod Koul applied the v6 series on 2026-01-01, showing the driver was newly merged upstream rather than being abandoned.
- spinics.net
A February 2026 bug-fix patch adds disconnect support for the K1 USB2 PHY, indicating active post-merge maintenance.
- spinics.net
A March 2026 patch fixes an error path in spacemit_usb2phy_init(), further indicating ongoing maintenance and no removal trajectory.
- wiki.sipeed.com
The LicheePi 3A board uses the Spacemit K1 SoC and exposes USB ports, showing real hardware deployment on current SBCs.
- wiki.sipeed.com
Current image/install documentation lists multiple OS images for LicheePi 3A, suggesting the K1 platform remains in active use.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local evidence came from exec_command reading drivers/phy/spacemit/* and git log, which showed a single SoC-specific USB2 PHY driver with only two commits because the directory is brand new. Lore evidence was obtained via web search on spinics/lore mirrors: turn8search3 showed the series being applied on 2026-01-01; turn7search0 and turn7search1 showed active bug-fix traffic in February and March 2026; no retrieved lore hit indicated deprecation or removal. Deployment evidence was obtained via web search results turn9search1 and turn9search4 on Sipeed docs, which show shipping K1-based boards and current OS images. Because the hardware is recent, upstream attention is active, and there is no generic replacement for this SoC PHY block, the correct hint is keep.