Intel Brings RPL-M/RPL-P SoundWire To Upstream Linux For Raptor Lake Powered Automobiles

Intel today posted a set of patches for bringing SoundWire support in the upstream Intel AVS driver for Raptor Lake. While Intel SoundWire activities are not new, I was curious to see them focusing on Raptor Lake improvements in 2026 for what will then go into a 2027 Linux kernel version. Intel is now upstreaming support for SoundWire on Raptor Lake P and Raptor Lake M platforms. This is done as SoundWire is being utilized for audio streaming on these Raptor Lake M/P platforms in the automotive segment. Intel's "Malibou Lake" is using Raptor Lake SoCs for in-vehicle computing, digital cockpits, camera processing, etc. This is their first-generation Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform using Raptor Lake, but to be succeeded by Raptor Lake and Nova Lake based automotive platforms too. It looks like Intel has been relying on downstream kernel flavors for their automotive work with the mention in today's patch series that it's the first time bringing this SoundWire work for Raptor Lake to the "public domain", a.k.a. upstream Linux kernel intent: "The RaptorLake-P and RaptorLake-M based platform used in Automotive area do utilize SoundWire for streaming audio. This patchset brings such support to the public domain." The patch series is out for review. Hopefully we continue to see more Intel automotive / software defined vehicle work heading up into the mainline Linux kernel.