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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/pwm.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/pwm.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/driver-api/pwm.rst | 191 |
1 files changed, 191 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/pwm.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/pwm.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0d27a40f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/pwm.rst @@ -0,0 +1,191 @@ +====================================== +Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) interface +====================================== + +This provides an overview about the Linux PWM interface + +PWMs are commonly used for controlling LEDs, fans or vibrators in +cell phones. PWMs with a fixed purpose have no need implementing +the Linux PWM API (although they could). However, PWMs are often +found as discrete devices on SoCs which have no fixed purpose. It's +up to the board designer to connect them to LEDs or fans. To provide +this kind of flexibility the generic PWM API exists. + +Identifying PWMs +---------------- + +Users of the legacy PWM API use unique IDs to refer to PWM devices. + +Instead of referring to a PWM device via its unique ID, board setup code +should instead register a static mapping that can be used to match PWM +consumers to providers, as given in the following example:: + + static struct pwm_lookup board_pwm_lookup[] = { + PWM_LOOKUP("tegra-pwm", 0, "pwm-backlight", NULL, + 50000, PWM_POLARITY_NORMAL), + }; + + static void __init board_init(void) + { + ... + pwm_add_table(board_pwm_lookup, ARRAY_SIZE(board_pwm_lookup)); + ... + } + +Using PWMs +---------- + +Consumers use the pwm_get() function and pass to it the consumer device or a +consumer name. pwm_put() is used to free the PWM device. Managed variants of +the getter, devm_pwm_get() and devm_fwnode_pwm_get(), also exist. + +After being requested, a PWM has to be configured using:: + + int pwm_apply_might_sleep(struct pwm_device *pwm, struct pwm_state *state); + +This API controls both the PWM period/duty_cycle config and the +enable/disable state. + +PWM devices can be used from atomic context, if the PWM does not sleep. You +can check if this the case with:: + + bool pwm_might_sleep(struct pwm_device *pwm); + +If false, the PWM can also be configured from atomic context with:: + + int pwm_apply_atomic(struct pwm_device *pwm, struct pwm_state *state); + +As a consumer, don't rely on the output's state for a disabled PWM. If it's +easily possible, drivers are supposed to emit the inactive state, but some +drivers cannot. If you rely on getting the inactive state, use .duty_cycle=0, +.enabled=true. + +There is also a usage_power setting: If set, the PWM driver is only required to +maintain the power output but has more freedom regarding signal form. +If supported by the driver, the signal can be optimized, for example to improve +EMI by phase shifting the individual channels of a chip. + +The pwm_config(), pwm_enable() and pwm_disable() functions are just wrappers +around pwm_apply_might_sleep() and should not be used if the user wants to change +several parameter at once. For example, if you see pwm_config() and +pwm_{enable,disable}() calls in the same function, this probably means you +should switch to pwm_apply_might_sleep(). + +The PWM user API also allows one to query the PWM state that was passed to the +last invocation of pwm_apply_might_sleep() using pwm_get_state(). Note this is +different to what the driver has actually implemented if the request cannot be +satisfied exactly with the hardware in use. There is currently no way for +consumers to get the actually implemented settings. + +In addition to the PWM state, the PWM API also exposes PWM arguments, which +are the reference PWM config one should use on this PWM. +PWM arguments are usually platform-specific and allows the PWM user to only +care about dutycycle relatively to the full period (like, duty = 50% of the +period). struct pwm_args contains 2 fields (period and polarity) and should +be used to set the initial PWM config (usually done in the probe function +of the PWM user). PWM arguments are retrieved with pwm_get_args(). + +All consumers should really be reconfiguring the PWM upon resume as +appropriate. This is the only way to ensure that everything is resumed in +the proper order. + +Using PWMs with the sysfs interface +----------------------------------- + +If CONFIG_SYSFS is enabled in your kernel configuration a simple sysfs +interface is provided to use the PWMs from userspace. It is exposed at +/sys/class/pwm/. Each probed PWM controller/chip will be exported as +pwmchipN, where N is the base of the PWM chip. Inside the directory you +will find: + + npwm + The number of PWM channels this chip supports (read-only). + + export + Exports a PWM channel for use with sysfs (write-only). + + unexport + Unexports a PWM channel from sysfs (write-only). + +The PWM channels are numbered using a per-chip index from 0 to npwm-1. + +When a PWM channel is exported a pwmX directory will be created in the +pwmchipN directory it is associated with, where X is the number of the +channel that was exported. The following properties will then be available: + + period + The total period of the PWM signal (read/write). + Value is in nanoseconds and is the sum of the active and inactive + time of the PWM. + + duty_cycle + The active time of the PWM signal (read/write). + Value is in nanoseconds and must be less than or equal to the period. + + polarity + Changes the polarity of the PWM signal (read/write). + Writes to this property only work if the PWM chip supports changing + the polarity. + Value is the string "normal" or "inversed". + + enable + Enable/disable the PWM signal (read/write). + + - 0 - disabled + - 1 - enabled + +Implementing a PWM driver +------------------------- + +Currently there are two ways to implement pwm drivers. Traditionally +there only has been the barebone API meaning that each driver has +to implement the pwm_*() functions itself. This means that it's impossible +to have multiple PWM drivers in the system. For this reason it's mandatory +for new drivers to use the generic PWM framework. + +A new PWM controller/chip can be allocated using pwmchip_alloc(), then +registered using pwmchip_add() and removed again with pwmchip_remove(). To undo +pwmchip_alloc() use pwmchip_put(). pwmchip_add() takes a filled in struct +pwm_chip as argument which provides a description of the PWM chip, the number +of PWM devices provided by the chip and the chip-specific implementation of the +supported PWM operations to the framework. + +When implementing polarity support in a PWM driver, make sure to respect the +signal conventions in the PWM framework. By definition, normal polarity +characterizes a signal starts high for the duration of the duty cycle and +goes low for the remainder of the period. Conversely, a signal with inversed +polarity starts low for the duration of the duty cycle and goes high for the +remainder of the period. + +Drivers are encouraged to implement ->apply() instead of the legacy +->enable(), ->disable() and ->config() methods. Doing that should provide +atomicity in the PWM config workflow, which is required when the PWM controls +a critical device (like a regulator). + +The implementation of ->get_state() (a method used to retrieve initial PWM +state) is also encouraged for the same reason: letting the PWM user know +about the current PWM state would allow him to avoid glitches. + +Drivers should not implement any power management. In other words, +consumers should implement it as described in the "Using PWMs" section. + +Locking +------- + +The PWM core list manipulations are protected by a mutex, so pwm_get() +and pwm_put() may not be called from an atomic context. +Most functions in the PWM consumer API might sleep and so must not be called +from atomic context. The notable exception is pwm_apply_atomic() which has the +same semantics as pwm_apply_might_sleep() but can be called from atomic context. +(The price for that is that it doesn't work for all PWM devices, use +pwm_might_sleep() to check if a given PWM supports atomic operation. + +Locking in the PWM core ensures that callbacks related to a single chip are +serialized. + +Helpers +------- + +Currently a PWM can only be configured with period_ns and duty_ns. For several +use cases freq_hz and duty_percent might be better. Instead of calculating +this in your driver please consider adding appropriate helpers to the framework. |
