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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-19 10:09:22 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-19 10:09:22 -0700 |
| commit | f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e (patch) | |
| tree | 60a31895b2446cd7fa27514e8c2843534a0de0da /Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e.tar.gz linux-stable-f4cdf7ca9a1fdcca413157df19753f388a5a224e.zip | |
Merge tag 'media/v7.3-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/linux-mediagrafted
Pull media updates from Mauro Carvalho Chehab:
- v4l2-core: added ISP statistics support and per-block validation
- v4l2-core: Allow unknown HDR10 white point and luminance
- New camera sensors: Sony IMX678 and IMX471m, Himax HM1092 IR sensor
- New codec: Milos: VPU v2.0 codec support
- isp driver: gained support for Dreamchip RPPX1 ISP framework
- vsp1 driver: gained support for RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H
- Novalake driver: gained CVS support for new NVL hardware
- dvb-core: fix feed leak on failed DMX_ADD_PID
- several driver fixes, cleanups and minor improvements
* tag 'media/v7.3-1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/mchehab/linux-media: (308 commits)
media: ipu-bridge: check all DMI entries when overriding sensor rotation
media: v4l2-async: avoid deleting unlinked ASC entry on link error
media: rzg2l-cru: Align bytesperline to hardware DMA stride requirement
media: intel/ipu6: fix async notifier cleanup leak on parse error
media: staging/ipu7: fix async notifier UAF on probe error path
media: amd: isp4: fix self-deadlock in isp4sd_pwron_and_init() error path
media: amd: isp4: release partial allocations in isp4if_alloc_fw_gpumem()
media: rcar-isp: Fix VSPX reference leaks
media: rcar-isp: Release ISPCORE resources
media: i2c: imx415: Release runtime PM reference on VBLANK error
media: i2c: imx415: Return test pattern write errors
media: renesas: vsp1: Declare index variables in for loop statement
media: renesas: vsp1: Make reset control optional to support platforms without a reset line
media: dt-bindings: media: renesas,vsp1: Document RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H SoCs
media: dt-bindings: media: renesas,fcp: Document RZ/T2H and RZ/N2H SoCs
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Add additional 32-bit RGB format support
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Add 16-bit raw Bayer format support
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Implement per-stream reference counting for multiplexed streams
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Use BIT_ULL() for 64-bit stream masks
media: nxp: imx8-isi: Correct color map between V4L2 and ISI
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst | 124 |
1 files changed, 124 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b3f447bf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/overview.rst @@ -0,0 +1,124 @@ +============================= +The Linux Kernel Device Model +============================= + +Patrick Mochel <mochel@digitalimplant.org> + +Drafted 26 August 2002 +Updated 31 January 2006 + + +Overview +~~~~~~~~ + +The Linux Kernel Driver Model is a unification of all the disparate driver +models that were previously used in the kernel. It is intended to augment the +bus-specific drivers for bridges and devices by consolidating a set of data +and operations into globally accessible data structures. + +Traditional driver models implemented some sort of tree-like structure +(sometimes just a list) for the devices they control. There wasn't any +uniformity across the different bus types. + +The current driver model provides a common, uniform data model for describing +a bus and the devices that can appear under the bus. The unified bus +model includes a set of common attributes which all buses carry, and a set +of common callbacks, such as device discovery during bus probing, bus +shutdown, bus power management, etc. + +The common device and bridge interface reflects the goals of the modern +computer: namely the ability to do seamless device "plug and play", power +management, and hot plug. In particular, the model dictated by Intel and +Microsoft (namely ACPI) ensures that almost every device on almost any bus +on an x86-compatible system can work within this paradigm. Of course, +not every bus is able to support all such operations, although most +buses support most of those operations. + + +Downstream Access +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Common data fields have been moved out of individual bus layers into a common +data structure. These fields must still be accessed by the bus layers, +and sometimes by the device-specific drivers. + +Other bus layers are encouraged to do what has been done for the PCI layer. +struct pci_dev now looks like this:: + + struct pci_dev { + ... + + struct device dev; /* Generic device interface */ + ... + }; + +Note first that the struct device dev within the struct pci_dev is +statically allocated. This means only one allocation on device discovery. + +Note also that that struct device dev is not necessarily defined at the +front of the pci_dev structure. This is to make people think about what +they're doing when switching between the bus driver and the global driver, +and to discourage meaningless and incorrect casts between the two. + +The PCI bus layer freely accesses the fields of struct device. It knows about +the structure of struct pci_dev, and it should know the structure of struct +device. Individual PCI device drivers that have been converted to the current +driver model generally do not and should not touch the fields of struct device, +unless there is a compelling reason to do so. + +The above abstraction prevents unnecessary pain during transitional phases. +If it were not done this way, then when a field was renamed or removed, every +downstream driver would break. On the other hand, if only the bus layer +(and not the device layer) accesses the struct device, it is only the bus +layer that needs to change. + + +User Interface +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +By virtue of having a complete hierarchical view of all the devices in the +system, exporting a complete hierarchical view to userspace becomes relatively +easy. This has been accomplished by implementing a special purpose virtual +file system named sysfs. + +Almost all mainstream Linux distros mount this filesystem automatically; you +can see some variation of the following in the output of the "mount" command:: + + $ mount + ... + none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev) + ... + $ + +The auto-mounting of sysfs is typically accomplished by an entry similar to +the following in the /etc/fstab file:: + + none /sys sysfs defaults 0 0 + +or something similar in the /lib/init/fstab file on Debian-based systems:: + + none /sys sysfs nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0 + +If sysfs is not automatically mounted, you can always do it manually with:: + + # mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys + +Whenever a device is inserted into the tree, a directory is created for it. +This directory may be populated at each layer of discovery - the global layer, +the bus layer, or the device layer. + +The global layer currently creates two files - 'name' and 'power'. The +former only reports the name of the device. The latter reports the +current power state of the device. It will also be used to set the current +power state. + +The bus layer may also create files for the devices it finds while probing the +bus. For example, the PCI layer currently creates 'irq' and 'resource' files +for each PCI device. + +A device-specific driver may also export files in its directory to expose +device-specific data or tunable interfaces. + +More information about the sysfs directory layout can be found in +the other documents in this directory and in the file +Documentation/filesystems/sysfs.rst. |
