diff --git a/src/drivers/intel/cavs/alh.c b/src/drivers/intel/cavs/alh.c
index 9fa2ad3f5467..21a62916ffbb 100644
--- a/src/drivers/intel/cavs/alh.c
+++ b/src/drivers/intel/cavs/alh.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <sof/common.h>
 #include <ipc/dai.h>
 #include <ipc/stream.h>
+#include <ipc/topology.h>
 #include <user/trace.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 
@@ -29,21 +30,35 @@ static int alh_trigger(struct dai *dai, int cmd, int direction)
 
 static int alh_set_config(struct dai *dai, struct sof_ipc_dai_config *config)
 {
+	struct alh_pdata *alh = dai_get_drvdata(dai);
+
 	dai_info(dai, "alh_set_config() config->format = 0x%4x",
 		  config->format);
 
+	if (config->alh.channels || config->alh.rate) {
+		alh->params.channels = config->alh.channels;
+		alh->params.rate = config->alh.rate;
+	}
+
+	alh->params.stream_id = config->alh.stream_id;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
 /* get ALH hw params */
 static int alh_get_hw_params(struct dai *dai,
-			     struct sof_ipc_stream_params  *params, int dir)
+			     struct sof_ipc_stream_params *params, int dir)
 {
+	struct alh_pdata *alh = dai_get_drvdata(dai);
+
+	params->rate = alh->params.rate;
+	params->channels = alh->params.channels;
+
 	/* 0 means variable */
-	params->rate = 0;
-	params->channels = 0;
 	params->buffer_fmt = 0;
-	params->frame_fmt = 0;
+
+	/* FIFO format is static */
+	params->frame_fmt = SOF_IPC_FRAME_S32_LE;
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -64,8 +79,21 @@ static int alh_context_restore(struct dai *dai)
 
 static int alh_probe(struct dai *dai)
 {
+	struct alh_pdata *alh;
+
 	dai_info(dai, "alh_probe()");
 
+	if (dai_get_drvdata(dai))
+		return -EEXIST;
+
+	alh = rzalloc(SOF_MEM_ZONE_SYS_RUNTIME, 0, SOF_MEM_CAPS_RAM,
+		      sizeof(*alh));
+	if (!alh) {
+		dai_err(dai, "ssp_probe() error: alloc failed");
+		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
+	dai_set_drvdata(dai, alh);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -73,6 +101,9 @@ static int alh_remove(struct dai *dai)
 {
 	dai_info(dai, "alh_remove()");
 
+	rfree(dai_get_drvdata(dai));
+	dai_set_drvdata(dai, NULL);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/include/ipc/dai-intel.h b/src/include/ipc/dai-intel.h
index e57afd09d1c6..dce99382ba59 100644
--- a/src/include/ipc/dai-intel.h
+++ b/src/include/ipc/dai-intel.h
@@ -99,9 +99,11 @@ struct sof_ipc_dai_hda_params {
 struct sof_ipc_dai_alh_params {
 	uint32_t reserved0;
 	uint32_t stream_id;
+	uint32_t rate;
+	uint32_t channels;
 
 	/* reserved for future use */
-	uint32_t reserved[15];
+	uint32_t reserved[13];
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
 /* DMIC Configuration Request - SOF_IPC_DAI_DMIC_CONFIG */
diff --git a/src/include/sof/drivers/alh.h b/src/include/sof/drivers/alh.h
index 189463bf1306..48a6d6b6c630 100644
--- a/src/include/sof/drivers/alh.h
+++ b/src/include/sof/drivers/alh.h
@@ -7,9 +7,14 @@
 #ifndef __SOF_DRIVERS_ALH__
 #define __SOF_DRIVERS_ALH__
 
+#include <ipc/dai-intel.h>
 #include <platform/drivers/alh.h>
 #include <sof/lib/dai.h>
 
+struct alh_pdata {
+	struct sof_ipc_dai_alh_params params;
+};
+
 extern const struct dai_driver alh_driver;
 
 #endif /* __SOF_DRIVERS_ALH__ */
diff --git a/src/include/sof/lib/dai.h b/src/include/sof/lib/dai.h
index db993eb33aea..9878961b0886 100644
--- a/src/include/sof/lib/dai.h
+++ b/src/include/sof/lib/dai.h
@@ -60,6 +60,13 @@ struct sof_ipc_stream_params;
 
 /**
  * \brief DAI operations - all optional
+ *
+ * DAI drivers may allocate private data,
+ * which can be set with 'dai_set_drvdata' and retrieved with 'dai_get_drvdata'.
+ * If a single DAI instance can have multiple DMA links and/or there is
+ * some other possibility of the same instance being used in multiple
+ * contexts at the same time, the private data should be allocated
+ * with the SOF_MEM_FLAG_SHARED flag.
  */
 struct dai_ops {
 	int (*set_config)(struct dai *dai, struct sof_ipc_dai_config *config);