diff --git a/docs/devel/index.rst b/docs/devel/index.rst
index c86a3cdff2..c160c63d33 100644
--- a/docs/devel/index.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/index.rst
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ Contents:
    secure-coding-practices
    tcg
    tcg-plugins
+   reset
diff --git a/docs/devel/reset.rst b/docs/devel/reset.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..abea1102dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/devel/reset.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+
+=======================================
+Reset in QEMU: the Resettable interface
+=======================================
+
+The reset of qemu objects is handled using the resettable interface declared
+in ``include/hw/resettable.h``.
+
+This interface allows objects to be grouped (on a tree basis); so that the
+whole group can be reset consistently. Each individual member object does not
+have to care about others; in particular, problems of order (which object is
+reset first) are addressed.
+
+As of now DeviceClass and BusClass implement this interface.
+
+
+Triggering reset
+----------------
+
+This section documents the APIs which "users" of a resettable object should use
+to control it. All resettable control functions must be called while holding
+the iothread lock.
+
+You can apply a reset to an object using ``resettable_assert_reset()``. You need
+to call ``resettable_release_reset()`` to release the object from reset. To
+instantly reset an object, without keeping it in reset state, just call
+``resettable_reset()``. These functions take two parameters: a pointer to the
+object to reset and a reset type.
+
+Several types of reset will be supported. For now only cold reset is defined;
+others may be added later. The Resettable interface handles reset types with an
+enum:
+
+``RESET_TYPE_COLD``
+  Cold reset is supported by every resettable object. In QEMU, it means we reset
+  to the initial state corresponding to the start of QEMU; this might differ
+  from what is a real hardware cold reset. It differs from other resets (like
+  warm or bus resets) which may keep certain parts untouched.
+
+Calling ``resettable_reset()`` is equivalent to calling
+``resettable_assert_reset()`` then ``resettable_release_reset()``. It is
+possible to interleave multiple calls to these three functions. There may
+be several reset sources/controllers of a given object. The interface handles
+everything and the different reset controllers do not need to know anything
+about each others. The object will leave reset state only when each other
+controllers end their reset operation. This point is handled internally by
+maintaining a count of in-progress resets; it is crucial to call
+``resettable_release_reset()`` one time and only one time per
+``resettable_assert_reset()`` call.
+
+For now migration of a device or bus in reset is not supported. Care must be
+taken not to delay ``resettable_release_reset()`` after its
+``resettable_assert_reset()`` counterpart.
+
+Note that, since resettable is an interface, the API takes a simple Object as
+parameter. Still, it is a programming error to call a resettable function on a
+non-resettable object and it will trigger a run time assert error. Since most
+calls to resettable interface are done through base class functions, such an
+error is not likely to happen.
+
+For Devices and Buses, the following helper functions exist:
+
+- ``device_cold_reset()``
+- ``bus_cold_reset()``
+
+These are simple wrappers around resettable_reset() function; they only cast the
+Device or Bus into an Object and pass the cold reset type. When possible
+prefer to use these functions instead of ``resettable_reset()``.
+
+Device and bus functions co-exist because there can be semantic differences
+between resetting a bus and resetting the controller bridge which owns it.
+For example, consider a SCSI controller. Resetting the controller puts all
+its registers back to what reset state was as well as reset everything on the
+SCSI bus, whereas resetting just the SCSI bus only resets everything that's on
+it but not the controller.
+
+
+Multi-phase mechanism
+---------------------
+
+This section documents the internals of the resettable interface.
+
+The resettable interface uses a multi-phase system to relieve objects and
+machines from reset ordering problems. To address this, the reset operation
+of an object is split into three well defined phases.
+
+When resetting several objects (for example the whole machine at simulation
+startup), all first phases of all objects are executed, then all second phases
+and then all third phases.
+
+The three phases are:
+
+1. The **enter** phase is executed when the object enters reset. It resets only
+   local state of the object; it must not do anything that has a side-effect
+   on other objects, such as raising or lowering a qemu_irq line or reading or
+   writing guest memory.
+
+2. The **hold** phase is executed for entry into reset, once every object in the
+   group which is being reset has had its *enter* phase executed. At this point
+   devices can do actions that affect other objects.
+
+3. The **exit** phase is executed when the object leaves the reset state.
+   Actions affecting other objects are permitted.
+
+As said in previous section, the interface maintains a count of reset. This
+count is used to ensure phases are executed only when required. *enter* and
+*hold* phases are executed only when asserting reset for the first time
+(if an object is already in reset state when calling
+``resettable_assert_reset()`` or ``resettable_reset()``, they are not
+executed).
+The *exit* phase is executed only when the last reset operation ends. Therefore
+the object does not need to care how many of reset controllers it has and how
+many of them have started a reset.
+
+
+Handling reset in a resettable object
+-------------------------------------
+
+This section documents the APIs that an implementation of a resettable object
+must provide and what functions it has access to. It is intended for people
+who want to implement or convert a class which has the resettable interface;
+for example when specializing an existing device or bus.
+
+Methods to implement
+....................
+
+Three methods should be defined or left empty. Each method corresponds to a
+phase of the reset; they are name ``phases.enter()``, ``phases.hold()`` and
+``phases.exit()``. They all take the object as parameter. The *enter* method
+also take the reset type as second parameter.
+
+When extending an existing class, these methods may need to be extended too.
+The ``resettable_class_set_parent_phases()`` class function may be used to
+backup parent class methods.
+
+Here follows an example to implement reset for a Device which sets an IO while
+in reset.
+
+::
+
+    static void mydev_reset_enter(Object *obj, ResetType type)
+    {
+        MyDevClass *myclass = MYDEV_GET_CLASS(obj);
+        MyDevState *mydev = MYDEV(obj);
+        /* call parent class enter phase */
+        if (myclass->parent_phases.enter) {
+            myclass->parent_phases.enter(obj, type);
+        }
+        /* initialize local state only */
+        mydev->var = 0;
+    }
+
+    static void mydev_reset_hold(Object *obj)
+    {
+        MyDevClass *myclass = MYDEV_GET_CLASS(obj);
+        MyDevState *mydev = MYDEV(obj);
+        /* call parent class hold phase */
+        if (myclass->parent_phases.hold) {
+            myclass->parent_phases.hold(obj);
+        }
+        /* set an IO */
+        qemu_set_irq(mydev->irq, 1);
+    }
+
+    static void mydev_reset_exit(Object *obj)
+    {
+        MyDevClass *myclass = MYDEV_GET_CLASS(obj);
+        MyDevState *mydev = MYDEV(obj);
+        /* call parent class exit phase */
+        if (myclass->parent_phases.exit) {
+            myclass->parent_phases.exit(obj);
+        }
+        /* clear an IO */
+        qemu_set_irq(mydev->irq, 0);
+    }
+
+    typedef struct MyDevClass {
+        MyParentClass parent_class;
+        /* to store eventual parent reset methods */
+        ResettablePhases parent_phases;
+    } MyDevClass;
+
+    static void mydev_class_init(ObjectClass *class, void *data)
+    {
+        MyDevClass *myclass = MYDEV_CLASS(class);
+        ResettableClass *rc = RESETTABLE_CLASS(class);
+        resettable_class_set_parent_reset_phases(rc,
+                                                 mydev_reset_enter,
+                                                 mydev_reset_hold,
+                                                 mydev_reset_exit,
+                                                 &myclass->parent_phases);
+    }
+
+In the above example, we override all three phases. It is possible to override
+only some of them by passing NULL instead of a function pointer to
+``resettable_class_set_parent_reset_phases()``. For example, the following will
+only override the *enter* phase and leave *hold* and *exit* untouched::
+
+    resettable_class_set_parent_reset_phases(rc, mydev_reset_enter,
+                                             NULL, NULL,
+                                             &myclass->parent_phases);
+
+This is equivalent to providing a trivial implementation of the hold and exit
+phases which does nothing but call the parent class's implementation of the
+phase.
+
+Polling the reset state
+.......................
+
+Resettable interface provides the ``resettable_is_in_reset()`` function.
+This function returns true if the object parameter is currently under reset.
+
+An object is under reset from the beginning of the *init* phase to the end of
+the *exit* phase. During all three phases, the function will return that the
+object is in reset.
+
+This function may be used if the object behavior has to be adapted
+while in reset state. For example if a device has an irq input,
+it will probably need to ignore it while in reset; then it can for
+example check the reset state at the beginning of the irq callback.
+
+Note that until migration of the reset state is supported, an object
+should not be left in reset. So apart from being currently executing
+one of the reset phases, the only cases when this function will return
+true is if an external interaction (like changing an io) is made during
+*hold* or *exit* phase of another object in the same reset group.
+
+Helpers ``device_is_in_reset()`` and ``bus_is_in_reset()`` are also provided
+for devices and buses and should be preferred.
+
+
+Base class handling of reset
+----------------------------
+
+This section documents parts of the reset mechanism that you only need to know
+about if you are extending it to work with a new base class other than
+DeviceClass or BusClass, or maintaining the existing code in those classes. Most
+people can ignore it.
+
+Methods to implement
+....................
+
+There are two other methods that need to exist in a class implementing the
+interface: ``get_state()`` and ``child_foreach()``.
+
+``get_state()`` is simple. *resettable* is an interface and, as a consequence,
+does not have any class state structure. But in order to factorize the code, we
+need one. This method must return a pointer to ``ResettableState`` structure.
+The structure must be allocated by the base class; preferably it should be
+located inside the object instance structure.
+
+``child_foreach()`` is more complex. It should execute the given callback on
+every reset child of the given resettable object. All children must be
+resettable too. Additional parameters (a reset type and an opaque pointer) must
+be passed to the callback too.
+
+In ``DeviceClass`` and ``BusClass`` the ``ResettableState`` is located
+``DeviceState`` and ``BusState`` structure. ``child_foreach()`` is implemented
+to follow the bus hierarchy; for a bus, it calls the function on every child
+device; for a device, it calls the function on every bus child. When we reset
+the main system bus, we reset the whole machine bus tree.
+
+Changing a resettable parent
+............................
+
+One thing which should be taken care of by the base class is handling reset
+hierarchy changes.
+
+The reset hierarchy is supposed to be static and built during machine creation.
+But there are actually some exceptions. To cope with this, the resettable API
+provides ``resettable_change_parent()``. This function allows to set, update or
+remove the parent of a resettable object after machine creation is done. As
+parameters, it takes the object being moved, the old parent if any and the new
+parent if any.
+
+This function can be used at any time when not in a reset operation. During
+a reset operation it must be used only in *hold* phase. Using it in *enter* or
+*exit* phase is an error.
+Also it should not be used during machine creation, although it is harmless to
+do so: the function is a no-op as long as old and new parent are NULL or not
+in reset.
+
+There is currently 2 cases where this function is used:
+
+1. *device hotplug*; it means a new device is introduced on a live bus.
+
+2. *hot bus change*; it means an existing live device is added, moved or
+   removed in the bus hierarchy. At the moment, it occurs only in the raspi
+   machines for changing the sdbus used by sd card.
