diff --git a/drivers/soundwire/intel.h b/drivers/soundwire/intel.h
index d923b6262330..e4cc1d3804ff 100644
--- a/drivers/soundwire/intel.h
+++ b/drivers/soundwire/intel.h
@@ -5,17 +5,20 @@
 #define __SDW_INTEL_LOCAL_H
 
 /**
- * struct sdw_intel_link_res - Soundwire link resources
+ * struct sdw_intel_link_res - Soundwire Intel link resource structure,
+ * typically populated by the controller driver.
+ * @pdev: platform_device
+ * @mmio_base: mmio base of SoundWire registers
  * @registers: Link IO registers base
  * @shim: Audio shim pointer
  * @alh: ALH (Audio Link Hub) pointer
  * @irq: Interrupt line
  * @ops: Shim callback ops
  * @arg: Shim callback ops argument
- *
- * This is set as pdata for each link instance.
  */
 struct sdw_intel_link_res {
+	struct platform_device *pdev;
+	void __iomem *mmio_base; /* not strictly needed, useful for debug */
 	void __iomem *registers;
 	void __iomem *shim;
 	void __iomem *alh;
diff --git a/drivers/soundwire/intel_init.c b/drivers/soundwire/intel_init.c
index 2a2b4d8df462..bc739a38916d 100644
--- a/drivers/soundwire/intel_init.c
+++ b/drivers/soundwire/intel_init.c
@@ -27,19 +27,9 @@ static int link_mask;
 module_param_named(sdw_link_mask, link_mask, int, 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(sdw_link_mask, "Intel link mask (one bit per link)");
 
-struct sdw_link_data {
-	struct sdw_intel_link_res res;
-	struct platform_device *pdev;
-};
-
-struct sdw_intel_ctx {
-	int count;
-	struct sdw_link_data *links;
-};
-
 static int sdw_intel_cleanup_pdev(struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx)
 {
-	struct sdw_link_data *link = ctx->links;
+	struct sdw_intel_link_res *link = ctx->links;
 	int i;
 
 	if (!link)
@@ -62,7 +52,7 @@ static struct sdw_intel_ctx
 {
 	struct platform_device_info pdevinfo;
 	struct platform_device *pdev;
-	struct sdw_link_data *link;
+	struct sdw_intel_link_res *link;
 	struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx;
 	struct acpi_device *adev;
 	int ret, i;
@@ -123,14 +113,12 @@ static struct sdw_intel_ctx
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		link->res.irq = res->irq;
-		link->res.registers = res->mmio_base + SDW_LINK_BASE
+		link->registers = res->mmio_base + SDW_LINK_BASE
 					+ (SDW_LINK_SIZE * i);
-		link->res.shim = res->mmio_base + SDW_SHIM_BASE;
-		link->res.alh = res->mmio_base + SDW_ALH_BASE;
+		link->shim = res->mmio_base + SDW_SHIM_BASE;
+		link->alh = res->mmio_base + SDW_ALH_BASE;
 
-		link->res.ops = res->ops;
-		link->res.arg = res->arg;
+		link->ops = res->ops;
 
 		memset(&pdevinfo, 0, sizeof(pdevinfo));
 
@@ -138,8 +126,6 @@ static struct sdw_intel_ctx
 		pdevinfo.name = "int-sdw";
 		pdevinfo.id = i;
 		pdevinfo.fwnode = acpi_fwnode_handle(adev);
-		pdevinfo.data = &link->res;
-		pdevinfo.size_data = sizeof(link->res);
 
 		pdev = platform_device_register_full(&pdevinfo);
 		if (IS_ERR(pdev)) {
@@ -216,7 +202,6 @@ void *sdw_intel_init(acpi_handle *parent_handle, struct sdw_intel_res *res)
 
 	return sdw_intel_add_controller(res);
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(sdw_intel_init);
 
 /**
  * sdw_intel_exit() - SoundWire Intel exit
@@ -224,10 +209,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(sdw_intel_init);
  *
  * Delete the controller instances created and cleanup
  */
-void sdw_intel_exit(void *arg)
+void sdw_intel_exit(struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx)
 {
-	struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx = arg;
-
 	sdw_intel_cleanup_pdev(ctx);
 	kfree(ctx);
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/soundwire/sdw_intel.h b/include/linux/soundwire/sdw_intel.h
index c9427cb6020b..034eca8df748 100644
--- a/include/linux/soundwire/sdw_intel.h
+++ b/include/linux/soundwire/sdw_intel.h
@@ -16,24 +16,91 @@ struct sdw_intel_ops {
 };
 
 /**
- * struct sdw_intel_res - Soundwire Intel resource structure
+ * struct sdw_intel_acpi_info - Soundwire Intel information found in ACPI tables
+ * @handle: ACPI controller handle
+ * @count: link count found with "sdw-master-count" property
+ * @link_mask: bit-wise mask listing links enabled by BIOS menu
+ *
+ * this structure could be expanded to e.g. provide all the _ADR
+ * information in case the link_mask is not sufficient to identify
+ * platform capabilities.
+ */
+struct sdw_intel_acpi_info {
+	acpi_handle handle;
+	int count;
+	u32 link_mask;
+};
+
+struct sdw_intel_link_res;
+
+/**
+ * struct sdw_intel_ctx - context allocated by the controller
+ * driver probe
+ * @count: link count
+ * @mmio_base: mmio base of SoundWire registers, only used to check
+ * hardware capabilities after all power dependencies are settled.
+ * @link_mask: bit-wise mask listing SoundWire links reported by the
+ * Controller
+ * @handle: ACPI parent handle
+ * @links: information for each link (controller-specific and kept
+ * opaque here)
+ */
+struct sdw_intel_ctx {
+	int count;
+	void __iomem *mmio_base;
+	u32 link_mask;
+	acpi_handle handle;
+	struct sdw_intel_link_res *links;
+};
+
+/**
+ * struct sdw_intel_res - Soundwire Intel global resource structure,
+ * typically populated by the DSP driver
+ *
+ * @count: link count
  * @mmio_base: mmio base of SoundWire registers
  * @irq: interrupt number
  * @handle: ACPI parent handle
  * @parent: parent device
  * @ops: callback ops
- * @arg: callback arg
+ * @dev: device implementing hwparams and free callbacks
+ * @link_mask: bit-wise mask listing links selected by the DSP driver
+ * This mask may be a subset of the one reported by the controller since
+ * machine-specific quirks are handled in the DSP driver.
  */
 struct sdw_intel_res {
+	int count;
 	void __iomem *mmio_base;
 	int irq;
 	acpi_handle handle;
 	struct device *parent;
 	const struct sdw_intel_ops *ops;
-	void *arg;
+	struct device *dev;
+	u32 link_mask;
 };
 
-void *sdw_intel_init(acpi_handle *parent_handle, struct sdw_intel_res *res);
-void sdw_intel_exit(void *arg);
+/*
+ * On Intel platforms, the SoundWire IP has dependencies on power
+ * rails shared with the DSP, and the initialization steps are split
+ * in three. First an ACPI scan to check what the firmware describes
+ * in DSDT tables, then an allocation step (with no hardware
+ * configuration but with all the relevant devices created) and last
+ * the actual hardware configuration. The final stage is a global
+ * interrupt enable which is controlled by the DSP driver. Splitting
+ * these phases helps simplify the boot flow and make early decisions
+ * on e.g. which machine driver to select (I2S mode, HDaudio or
+ * SoundWire).
+ */
+int sdw_intel_acpi_scan(acpi_handle *parent_handle,
+			struct sdw_intel_acpi_info *info);
+
+struct sdw_intel_ctx *
+sdw_intel_probe(struct sdw_intel_res *res);
+
+int sdw_intel_startup(struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx);
+
+void sdw_intel_exit(struct sdw_intel_ctx *ctx);
+
+void sdw_intel_enable_irq(void __iomem *mmio_base, bool enable);
 
 #endif