diff --git a/include/exec/memory.h b/include/exec/memory.h
index c37ffdb..2e602a2 100644
--- a/include/exec/memory.h
+++ b/include/exec/memory.h
@@ -129,6 +129,32 @@
 /*
  * Bitmap for different IOMMUNotifier capabilities. Each notifier can
  * register with one or multiple IOMMU Notifier capability bit(s).
+ *
+ * Normally there're two use cases for the notifiers:
+ *
+ *   (1) When the device needs accurate synchronizations of the vIOMMU page
+ *       tables, it needs to register with both MAP|UNMAP notifies (which
+ *       is defined as IOMMU_NOTIFIER_IOTLB_EVENTS below).
+ *
+ *       Regarding to accurate synchronization, it's when the notified
+ *       device maintains a shadow page table and must be notified on each
+ *       guest MAP (page table entry creation) and UNMAP (invalidation)
+ *       events (e.g. VFIO). Both notifications must be accurate so that
+ *       the shadow page table is fully in sync with the guest view.
+ *
+ *   (2) When the device doesn't need accurate synchronizations of the
+ *       vIOMMU page tables, it needs to register only with UNMAP or
+ *       DEVIOTLB_UNMAP notifies.
+ *
+ *       It's when the device maintains a cache of IOMMU translations
+ *       (IOTLB) and is able to fill that cache by requesting translations
+ *       from the vIOMMU through a protocol similar to ATS (Address
+ *       Translation Service).
+ *
+ *       Note that in this mode the vIOMMU will not maintain a shadowed
+ *       page table for the address space, and the UNMAP messages can cover
+ *       more than the pages that used to get mapped.  The IOMMU notifiee
+ *       should be able to take care of over-sized invalidations.
  */
 typedef enum {
     IOMMU_NOTIFIER_NONE = 0,
diff --git a/include/hw/i386/intel_iommu.h b/include/hw/i386/intel_iommu.h
index 46d973e..89dcbc5 100644
--- a/include/hw/i386/intel_iommu.h
+++ b/include/hw/i386/intel_iommu.h
@@ -109,7 +109,43 @@
     QLIST_ENTRY(VTDAddressSpace) next;
     /* Superset of notifier flags that this address space has */
     IOMMUNotifierFlag notifier_flags;
-    IOVATree *iova_tree;          /* Traces mapped IOVA ranges */
+    /*
+     * @iova_tree traces mapped IOVA ranges.
+     *
+     * The tree is not needed if no MAP notifier is registered with current
+     * VTD address space, because all guest invalidate commands can be
+     * directly passed to the IOMMU UNMAP notifiers without any further
+     * reshuffling.
+     *
+     * The tree OTOH is required for MAP typed iommu notifiers for a few
+     * reasons.
+     *
+     * Firstly, there's no way to identify whether an PSI (Page Selective
+     * Invalidations) or DSI (Domain Selective Invalidations) event is an
+     * MAP or UNMAP event within the message itself.  Without having prior
+     * knowledge of existing state vIOMMU doesn't know whether it should
+     * notify MAP or UNMAP for a PSI message it received when caching mode
+     * is enabled (for MAP notifiers).
+     *
+     * Secondly, PSI messages received from guest driver can be enlarged in
+     * range, covers but not limited to what the guest driver wanted to
+     * invalidate.  When the range to invalidates gets bigger than the
+     * limit of a PSI message, it can even become a DSI which will
+     * invalidate the whole domain.  If the vIOMMU directly notifies the
+     * registered device with the unmodified range, it may confuse the
+     * registered drivers (e.g. vfio-pci) on either:
+     *
+     *   (1) Trying to map the same region more than once (for
+     *       VFIO_IOMMU_MAP_DMA, -EEXIST will trigger), or,
+     *
+     *   (2) Trying to UNMAP a range that is still partially mapped.
+     *
+     * That accuracy is not required for UNMAP-only notifiers, but it is a
+     * must-to-have for notifiers registered with MAP events, because the
+     * vIOMMU needs to make sure the shadow page table is always in sync
+     * with the guest IOMMU pgtables for a device.
+     */
+    IOVATree *iova_tree;
 };
 
 struct VTDIOTLBEntry {