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diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt b/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..90d0f6aba --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt @@ -0,0 +1,192 @@ +GPIO Descriptor Driver Interface +================================ + +This document serves as a guide for GPIO chip drivers writers. Note that it +describes the new descriptor-based interface. For a description of the +deprecated integer-based GPIO interface please refer to gpio-legacy.txt. + +Each GPIO controller driver needs to include the following header, which defines +the structures used to define a GPIO driver: + + #include <linux/gpio/driver.h> + + +Internal Representation of GPIOs +================================ + +Inside a GPIO driver, individual GPIOs are identified by their hardware number, +which is a unique number between 0 and n, n being the number of GPIOs managed by +the chip. This number is purely internal: the hardware number of a particular +GPIO descriptor is never made visible outside of the driver. + +On top of this internal number, each GPIO also need to have a global number in +the integer GPIO namespace so that it can be used with the legacy GPIO +interface. Each chip must thus have a "base" number (which can be automatically +assigned), and for each GPIO the global number will be (base + hardware number). +Although the integer representation is considered deprecated, it still has many +users and thus needs to be maintained. + +So for example one platform could use numbers 32-159 for GPIOs, with a +controller defining 128 GPIOs at a "base" of 32 ; while another platform uses +numbers 0..63 with one set of GPIO controllers, 64-79 with another type of GPIO +controller, and on one particular board 80-95 with an FPGA. The numbers need not +be contiguous; either of those platforms could also use numbers 2000-2063 to +identify GPIOs in a bank of I2C GPIO expanders. + + +Controller Drivers: gpio_chip +============================= + +In the gpiolib framework each GPIO controller is packaged as a "struct +gpio_chip" (see linux/gpio/driver.h for its complete definition) with members +common to each controller of that type: + + - methods to establish GPIO direction + - methods used to access GPIO values + - method to return the IRQ number associated to a given GPIO + - flag saying whether calls to its methods may sleep + - optional debugfs dump method (showing extra state like pullup config) + - optional base number (will be automatically assigned if omitted) + - label for diagnostics and GPIOs mapping using platform data + +The code implementing a gpio_chip should support multiple instances of the +controller, possibly using the driver model. That code will configure each +gpio_chip and issue gpiochip_add(). Removing a GPIO controller should be rare; +use gpiochip_remove() when it is unavoidable. + +Most often a gpio_chip is part of an instance-specific structure with state not +exposed by the GPIO interfaces, such as addressing, power management, and more. +Chips such as codecs will have complex non-GPIO state. + +Any debugfs dump method should normally ignore signals which haven't been +requested as GPIOs. They can use gpiochip_is_requested(), which returns either +NULL or the label associated with that GPIO when it was requested. + + +GPIO drivers providing IRQs +--------------------------- +It is custom that GPIO drivers (GPIO chips) are also providing interrupts, +most often cascaded off a parent interrupt controller, and in some special +cases the GPIO logic is melded with a SoC's primary interrupt controller. + +The IRQ portions of the GPIO block are implemented using an irqchip, using +the header <linux/irq.h>. So basically such a driver is utilizing two sub- +systems simultaneously: gpio and irq. + +GPIO irqchips usually fall in one of two categories: + +* CHAINED GPIO irqchips: these are usually the type that is embedded on + an SoC. This means that there is a fast IRQ handler for the GPIOs that + gets called in a chain from the parent IRQ handler, most typically the + system interrupt controller. This means the GPIO irqchip is registered + using irq_set_chained_handler() or the corresponding + gpiochip_set_chained_irqchip() helper function, and the GPIO irqchip + handler will be called immediately from the parent irqchip, while + holding the IRQs disabled. The GPIO irqchip will then end up calling + something like this sequence in its interrupt handler: + + static irqreturn_t tc3589x_gpio_irq(int irq, void *data) + chained_irq_enter(...); + generic_handle_irq(...); + chained_irq_exit(...); + + Chained GPIO irqchips typically can NOT set the .can_sleep flag on + struct gpio_chip, as everything happens directly in the callbacks. + +* NESTED THREADED GPIO irqchips: these are off-chip GPIO expanders and any + other GPIO irqchip residing on the other side of a sleeping bus. Of course + such drivers that need slow bus traffic to read out IRQ status and similar, + traffic which may in turn incur other IRQs to happen, cannot be handled + in a quick IRQ handler with IRQs disabled. Instead they need to spawn a + thread and then mask the parent IRQ line until the interrupt is handled + by the driver. The hallmark of this driver is to call something like + this in its interrupt handler: + + static irqreturn_t tc3589x_gpio_irq(int irq, void *data) + ... + handle_nested_irq(irq); + + The hallmark of threaded GPIO irqchips is that they set the .can_sleep + flag on struct gpio_chip to true, indicating that this chip may sleep + when accessing the GPIOs. + +To help out in handling the set-up and management of GPIO irqchips and the +associated irqdomain and resource allocation callbacks, the gpiolib has +some helpers that can be enabled by selecting the GPIOLIB_IRQCHIP Kconfig +symbol: + +* gpiochip_irqchip_add(): adds an irqchip to a gpiochip. It will pass + the struct gpio_chip* for the chip to all IRQ callbacks, so the callbacks + need to embed the gpio_chip in its state container and obtain a pointer + to the container using container_of(). + (See Documentation/driver-model/design-patterns.txt) + +* gpiochip_set_chained_irqchip(): sets up a chained irq handler for a + gpio_chip from a parent IRQ and passes the struct gpio_chip* as handler + data. (Notice handler data, since the irqchip data is likely used by the + parent irqchip!) This is for the chained type of chip. This is also used + to set up a nested irqchip if NULL is passed as handler. + +To use the helpers please keep the following in mind: + +- Make sure to assign all relevant members of the struct gpio_chip so that + the irqchip can initialize. E.g. .dev and .can_sleep shall be set up + properly. + +It is legal for any IRQ consumer to request an IRQ from any irqchip no matter +if that is a combined GPIO+IRQ driver. The basic premise is that gpio_chip and +irq_chip are orthogonal, and offering their services independent of each +other. + +gpiod_to_irq() is just a convenience function to figure out the IRQ for a +certain GPIO line and should not be relied upon to have been called before +the IRQ is used. + +So always prepare the hardware and make it ready for action in respective +callbacks from the GPIO and irqchip APIs. Do not rely on gpiod_to_irq() having +been called first. + +This orthogonality leads to ambiguities that we need to solve: if there is +competition inside the subsystem which side is using the resource (a certain +GPIO line and register for example) it needs to deny certain operations and +keep track of usage inside of the gpiolib subsystem. This is why the API +below exists. + + +Locking IRQ usage +----------------- +Input GPIOs can be used as IRQ signals. When this happens, a driver is requested +to mark the GPIO as being used as an IRQ: + + int gpiochip_lock_as_irq(struct gpio_chip *chip, unsigned int offset) + +This will prevent the use of non-irq related GPIO APIs until the GPIO IRQ lock +is released: + + void gpiochip_unlock_as_irq(struct gpio_chip *chip, unsigned int offset) + +When implementing an irqchip inside a GPIO driver, these two functions should +typically be called in the .startup() and .shutdown() callbacks from the +irqchip. + + +Requesting self-owned GPIO pins +------------------------------- + +Sometimes it is useful to allow a GPIO chip driver to request its own GPIO +descriptors through the gpiolib API. Using gpio_request() for this purpose +does not help since it pins the module to the kernel forever (it calls +try_module_get()). A GPIO driver can use the following functions instead +to request and free descriptors without being pinned to the kernel forever. + + struct gpio_desc *gpiochip_request_own_desc(struct gpio_desc *desc, + const char *label) + + void gpiochip_free_own_desc(struct gpio_desc *desc) + +Descriptors requested with gpiochip_request_own_desc() must be released with +gpiochip_free_own_desc(). + +These functions must be used with care since they do not affect module use +count. Do not use the functions to request gpio descriptors not owned by the +calling driver. |