diff --git a/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.cc b/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.cc
index 2efa82fa33..215c532ea6 100644
--- a/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.cc
+++ b/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.cc
@@ -362,10 +362,10 @@ RemoteGDB::gdbRegs()
 }
 
 bool
-RemoteGDB::checkBpLen(size_t len)
+RemoteGDB::checkBpKind(size_t kind)
 {
     // 2 for Thumb ISA, 4 for ARM ISA.
-    return len == 2 || len == 4;
+    return kind == 2 || kind == 4;
 }
 
 } // namespace gem5
diff --git a/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.hh b/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.hh
index cff6d4a9c2..8e512a452f 100644
--- a/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.hh
+++ b/src/arch/arm/remote_gdb.hh
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class RemoteGDB : public BaseRemoteGDB
   public:
     RemoteGDB(System *_system, int _port);
     BaseGdbRegCache *gdbRegs() override;
-    bool checkBpLen(size_t len) override;
+    bool checkBpKind(size_t kind) override;
     std::vector<std::string>
     availableFeatures() const override
     {
diff --git a/src/arch/riscv/remote_gdb.hh b/src/arch/riscv/remote_gdb.hh
index 40fe821ca3..753859fe77 100644
--- a/src/arch/riscv/remote_gdb.hh
+++ b/src/arch/riscv/remote_gdb.hh
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class RemoteGDB : public BaseRemoteGDB
 
     bool acc(Addr addr, size_t len) override;
     // A breakpoint will be 2 bytes if it is compressed and 4 if not
-    bool checkBpLen(size_t len) override { return len == 2 || len == 4; }
+    bool checkBpKind(size_t kind) override { return kind == 2 || kind == 4; }
 
     class RiscvGdbRegCache : public BaseGdbRegCache
     {
diff --git a/src/arch/x86/remote_gdb.hh b/src/arch/x86/remote_gdb.hh
index 62176a55aa..dfa9177f1e 100644
--- a/src/arch/x86/remote_gdb.hh
+++ b/src/arch/x86/remote_gdb.hh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class RemoteGDB : public BaseRemoteGDB
 {
   protected:
     bool acc(Addr addr, size_t len);
-    bool checkBpLen(size_t len) { return len == 1; }
+    bool checkBpKind(size_t kind) { return kind == 1; }
     class X86GdbRegCache : public BaseGdbRegCache
     {
       using BaseGdbRegCache::BaseGdbRegCache;
diff --git a/src/base/remote_gdb.cc b/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
index 1437b75040..798d09f535 100644
--- a/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
+++ b/src/base/remote_gdb.cc
@@ -784,28 +784,28 @@ BaseRemoteGDB::setSingleStep()
 }
 
 void
-BaseRemoteGDB::insertSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
+BaseRemoteGDB::insertSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind)
 {
-    if (!checkBpLen(len))
-        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint length\n");
+    if (!checkBpKind(kind))
+        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint kind.\n");
 
-    return insertHardBreak(addr, len);
+    return insertHardBreak(addr, kind);
 }
 
 void
-BaseRemoteGDB::removeSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
+BaseRemoteGDB::removeSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind)
 {
-    if (!checkBpLen(len))
-        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint length.\n");
+    if (!checkBpKind(kind))
+        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint kind.\n");
 
-    return removeHardBreak(addr, len);
+    return removeHardBreak(addr, kind);
 }
 
 void
-BaseRemoteGDB::insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
+BaseRemoteGDB::insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind)
 {
-    if (!checkBpLen(len))
-        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint length\n");
+    if (!checkBpKind(kind))
+        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint kind.\n");
 
     DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "Inserting hardware breakpoint at %#x\n", addr);
 
@@ -817,10 +817,10 @@ BaseRemoteGDB::insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
 }
 
 void
-BaseRemoteGDB::removeHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len)
+BaseRemoteGDB::removeHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind)
 {
-    if (!checkBpLen(len))
-        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint length\n");
+    if (!checkBpKind(kind))
+        throw BadClient("Invalid breakpoint kind.\n");
 
     DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "Removing hardware breakpoint at %#x\n", addr);
 
@@ -917,7 +917,7 @@ std::map<char, BaseRemoteGDB::GdbCommand> BaseRemoteGDB::commandMap = {
 };
 
 bool
-BaseRemoteGDB::checkBpLen(size_t len)
+BaseRemoteGDB::checkBpKind(size_t kind)
 {
     return true;
 }
@@ -1302,17 +1302,17 @@ BaseRemoteGDB::cmdClrHwBkpt(GdbCommand::Context &ctx)
     Addr addr = hex2i(&p);
     if (*p++ != ',')
         throw CmdError("E0D");
-    size_t len = hex2i(&p);
+    size_t kind = hex2i(&p);
 
-    DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "clear %s, addr=%#x, len=%d\n",
-            breakType(sub_cmd), addr, len);
+    DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "clear %s, addr=%#x, kind=%d\n",
+            breakType(sub_cmd), addr, kind);
 
     switch (sub_cmd) {
       case GdbSoftBp:
-        removeSoftBreak(addr, len);
+        removeSoftBreak(addr, kind);
         break;
       case GdbHardBp:
-        removeHardBreak(addr, len);
+        removeHardBreak(addr, kind);
         break;
       case GdbWriteWp:
       case GdbReadWp:
@@ -1335,17 +1335,17 @@ BaseRemoteGDB::cmdSetHwBkpt(GdbCommand::Context &ctx)
     Addr addr = hex2i(&p);
     if (*p++ != ',')
         throw CmdError("E0D");
-    size_t len = hex2i(&p);
+    size_t kind = hex2i(&p);
 
-    DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "set %s, addr=%#x, len=%d\n",
-            breakType(sub_cmd), addr, len);
+    DPRINTF(GDBMisc, "set %s, addr=%#x, kind=%d\n",
+            breakType(sub_cmd), addr, kind);
 
     switch (sub_cmd) {
       case GdbSoftBp:
-        insertSoftBreak(addr, len);
+        insertSoftBreak(addr, kind);
         break;
       case GdbHardBp:
-        insertHardBreak(addr, len);
+        insertHardBreak(addr, kind);
         break;
       case GdbWriteWp:
       case GdbReadWp:
diff --git a/src/base/remote_gdb.hh b/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
index 59bccc564e..b297e0877f 100644
--- a/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
+++ b/src/base/remote_gdb.hh
@@ -313,10 +313,10 @@ class BaseRemoteGDB
     void descheduleInstCommitEvent(Event *ev);
 
     // Breakpoints.
-    void insertSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len);
-    void removeSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t len);
-    void insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len);
-    void removeHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t len);
+    void insertSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind);
+    void removeSoftBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind);
+    void insertHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind);
+    void removeHardBreak(Addr addr, size_t kind);
 
     /*
      * GDB commands.
@@ -401,8 +401,10 @@ class BaseRemoteGDB
     void encodeXferResponse(const std::string &unencoded,
         std::string &encoded, size_t offset, size_t unencoded_length) const;
 
-    // To be implemented by subclasses.
-    virtual bool checkBpLen(size_t len);
+    // checkBpKind checks if a kind of breakpoint is legal. This function should
+    // be implemented by subclasses by arch. The "kind" is considered to be
+    // breakpoint size in some arch.
+    virtual bool checkBpKind(size_t kind);
 
     virtual BaseGdbRegCache *gdbRegs() = 0;