0001 ===============================
0002 Implementing I2C device drivers
0003 ===============================
0004
0005 This is a small guide for those who want to write kernel drivers for I2C
0006 or SMBus devices, using Linux as the protocol host/master (not slave).
0007
0008 To set up a driver, you need to do several things. Some are optional, and
0009 some things can be done slightly or completely different. Use this as a
0010 guide, not as a rule book!
0011
0012
0013 General remarks
0014 ===============
0015
0016 Try to keep the kernel namespace as clean as possible. The best way to
0017 do this is to use a unique prefix for all global symbols. This is
0018 especially important for exported symbols, but it is a good idea to do
0019 it for non-exported symbols too. We will use the prefix ``foo_`` in this
0020 tutorial.
0021
0022
0023 The driver structure
0024 ====================
0025
0026 Usually, you will implement a single driver structure, and instantiate
0027 all clients from it. Remember, a driver structure contains general access
0028 routines, and should be zero-initialized except for fields with data you
0029 provide. A client structure holds device-specific information like the
0030 driver model device node, and its I2C address.
0031
0032 ::
0033
0034 static struct i2c_device_id foo_idtable[] = {
0035 { "foo", my_id_for_foo },
0036 { "bar", my_id_for_bar },
0037 { }
0038 };
0039
0040 MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(i2c, foo_idtable);
0041
0042 static struct i2c_driver foo_driver = {
0043 .driver = {
0044 .name = "foo",
0045 .pm = &foo_pm_ops, /* optional */
0046 },
0047
0048 .id_table = foo_idtable,
0049 .probe_new = foo_probe,
0050 .remove = foo_remove,
0051 /* if device autodetection is needed: */
0052 .class = I2C_CLASS_SOMETHING,
0053 .detect = foo_detect,
0054 .address_list = normal_i2c,
0055
0056 .shutdown = foo_shutdown, /* optional */
0057 .command = foo_command, /* optional, deprecated */
0058 }
0059
0060 The name field is the driver name, and must not contain spaces. It
0061 should match the module name (if the driver can be compiled as a module),
0062 although you can use MODULE_ALIAS (passing "foo" in this example) to add
0063 another name for the module. If the driver name doesn't match the module
0064 name, the module won't be automatically loaded (hotplug/coldplug).
0065
0066 All other fields are for call-back functions which will be explained
0067 below.
0068
0069
0070 Extra client data
0071 =================
0072
0073 Each client structure has a special ``data`` field that can point to any
0074 structure at all. You should use this to keep device-specific data.
0075
0076 ::
0077
0078 /* store the value */
0079 void i2c_set_clientdata(struct i2c_client *client, void *data);
0080
0081 /* retrieve the value */
0082 void *i2c_get_clientdata(const struct i2c_client *client);
0083
0084 Note that starting with kernel 2.6.34, you don't have to set the ``data`` field
0085 to NULL in remove() or if probe() failed anymore. The i2c-core does this
0086 automatically on these occasions. Those are also the only times the core will
0087 touch this field.
0088
0089
0090 Accessing the client
0091 ====================
0092
0093 Let's say we have a valid client structure. At some time, we will need
0094 to gather information from the client, or write new information to the
0095 client.
0096
0097 I have found it useful to define foo_read and foo_write functions for this.
0098 For some cases, it will be easier to call the I2C functions directly,
0099 but many chips have some kind of register-value idea that can easily
0100 be encapsulated.
0101
0102 The below functions are simple examples, and should not be copied
0103 literally::
0104
0105 int foo_read_value(struct i2c_client *client, u8 reg)
0106 {
0107 if (reg < 0x10) /* byte-sized register */
0108 return i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(client, reg);
0109 else /* word-sized register */
0110 return i2c_smbus_read_word_data(client, reg);
0111 }
0112
0113 int foo_write_value(struct i2c_client *client, u8 reg, u16 value)
0114 {
0115 if (reg == 0x10) /* Impossible to write - driver error! */
0116 return -EINVAL;
0117 else if (reg < 0x10) /* byte-sized register */
0118 return i2c_smbus_write_byte_data(client, reg, value);
0119 else /* word-sized register */
0120 return i2c_smbus_write_word_data(client, reg, value);
0121 }
0122
0123
0124 Probing and attaching
0125 =====================
0126
0127 The Linux I2C stack was originally written to support access to hardware
0128 monitoring chips on PC motherboards, and thus used to embed some assumptions
0129 that were more appropriate to SMBus (and PCs) than to I2C. One of these
0130 assumptions was that most adapters and devices drivers support the SMBUS_QUICK
0131 protocol to probe device presence. Another was that devices and their drivers
0132 can be sufficiently configured using only such probe primitives.
0133
0134 As Linux and its I2C stack became more widely used in embedded systems
0135 and complex components such as DVB adapters, those assumptions became more
0136 problematic. Drivers for I2C devices that issue interrupts need more (and
0137 different) configuration information, as do drivers handling chip variants
0138 that can't be distinguished by protocol probing, or which need some board
0139 specific information to operate correctly.
0140
0141
0142 Device/Driver Binding
0143 ---------------------
0144
0145 System infrastructure, typically board-specific initialization code or
0146 boot firmware, reports what I2C devices exist. For example, there may be
0147 a table, in the kernel or from the boot loader, identifying I2C devices
0148 and linking them to board-specific configuration information about IRQs
0149 and other wiring artifacts, chip type, and so on. That could be used to
0150 create i2c_client objects for each I2C device.
0151
0152 I2C device drivers using this binding model work just like any other
0153 kind of driver in Linux: they provide a probe() method to bind to
0154 those devices, and a remove() method to unbind.
0155
0156 ::
0157
0158 static int foo_probe(struct i2c_client *client);
0159 static int foo_remove(struct i2c_client *client);
0160
0161 Remember that the i2c_driver does not create those client handles. The
0162 handle may be used during foo_probe(). If foo_probe() reports success
0163 (zero not a negative status code) it may save the handle and use it until
0164 foo_remove() returns. That binding model is used by most Linux drivers.
0165
0166 The probe function is called when an entry in the id_table name field
0167 matches the device's name. If the probe function needs that entry, it
0168 can retrieve it using
0169
0170 ::
0171
0172 const struct i2c_device_id *id = i2c_match_id(foo_idtable, client);
0173
0174
0175 Device Creation
0176 ---------------
0177
0178 If you know for a fact that an I2C device is connected to a given I2C bus,
0179 you can instantiate that device by simply filling an i2c_board_info
0180 structure with the device address and driver name, and calling
0181 i2c_new_client_device(). This will create the device, then the driver core
0182 will take care of finding the right driver and will call its probe() method.
0183 If a driver supports different device types, you can specify the type you
0184 want using the type field. You can also specify an IRQ and platform data
0185 if needed.
0186
0187 Sometimes you know that a device is connected to a given I2C bus, but you
0188 don't know the exact address it uses. This happens on TV adapters for
0189 example, where the same driver supports dozens of slightly different
0190 models, and I2C device addresses change from one model to the next. In
0191 that case, you can use the i2c_new_scanned_device() variant, which is
0192 similar to i2c_new_client_device(), except that it takes an additional list
0193 of possible I2C addresses to probe. A device is created for the first
0194 responsive address in the list. If you expect more than one device to be
0195 present in the address range, simply call i2c_new_scanned_device() that
0196 many times.
0197
0198 The call to i2c_new_client_device() or i2c_new_scanned_device() typically
0199 happens in the I2C bus driver. You may want to save the returned i2c_client
0200 reference for later use.
0201
0202
0203 Device Detection
0204 ----------------
0205
0206 Sometimes you do not know in advance which I2C devices are connected to
0207 a given I2C bus. This is for example the case of hardware monitoring
0208 devices on a PC's SMBus. In that case, you may want to let your driver
0209 detect supported devices automatically. This is how the legacy model
0210 was working, and is now available as an extension to the standard
0211 driver model.
0212
0213 You simply have to define a detect callback which will attempt to
0214 identify supported devices (returning 0 for supported ones and -ENODEV
0215 for unsupported ones), a list of addresses to probe, and a device type
0216 (or class) so that only I2C buses which may have that type of device
0217 connected (and not otherwise enumerated) will be probed. For example,
0218 a driver for a hardware monitoring chip for which auto-detection is
0219 needed would set its class to I2C_CLASS_HWMON, and only I2C adapters
0220 with a class including I2C_CLASS_HWMON would be probed by this driver.
0221 Note that the absence of matching classes does not prevent the use of
0222 a device of that type on the given I2C adapter. All it prevents is
0223 auto-detection; explicit instantiation of devices is still possible.
0224
0225 Note that this mechanism is purely optional and not suitable for all
0226 devices. You need some reliable way to identify the supported devices
0227 (typically using device-specific, dedicated identification registers),
0228 otherwise misdetections are likely to occur and things can get wrong
0229 quickly. Keep in mind that the I2C protocol doesn't include any
0230 standard way to detect the presence of a chip at a given address, let
0231 alone a standard way to identify devices. Even worse is the lack of
0232 semantics associated to bus transfers, which means that the same
0233 transfer can be seen as a read operation by a chip and as a write
0234 operation by another chip. For these reasons, explicit device
0235 instantiation should always be preferred to auto-detection where
0236 possible.
0237
0238
0239 Device Deletion
0240 ---------------
0241
0242 Each I2C device which has been created using i2c_new_client_device()
0243 or i2c_new_scanned_device() can be unregistered by calling
0244 i2c_unregister_device(). If you don't call it explicitly, it will be
0245 called automatically before the underlying I2C bus itself is removed,
0246 as a device can't survive its parent in the device driver model.
0247
0248
0249 Initializing the driver
0250 =======================
0251
0252 When the kernel is booted, or when your foo driver module is inserted,
0253 you have to do some initializing. Fortunately, just registering the
0254 driver module is usually enough.
0255
0256 ::
0257
0258 static int __init foo_init(void)
0259 {
0260 return i2c_add_driver(&foo_driver);
0261 }
0262 module_init(foo_init);
0263
0264 static void __exit foo_cleanup(void)
0265 {
0266 i2c_del_driver(&foo_driver);
0267 }
0268 module_exit(foo_cleanup);
0269
0270 The module_i2c_driver() macro can be used to reduce above code.
0271
0272 module_i2c_driver(foo_driver);
0273
0274 Note that some functions are marked by ``__init``. These functions can
0275 be removed after kernel booting (or module loading) is completed.
0276 Likewise, functions marked by ``__exit`` are dropped by the compiler when
0277 the code is built into the kernel, as they would never be called.
0278
0279
0280 Driver Information
0281 ==================
0282
0283 ::
0284
0285 /* Substitute your own name and email address */
0286 MODULE_AUTHOR("Frodo Looijaard <frodol@dds.nl>"
0287 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Driver for Barf Inc. Foo I2C devices");
0288
0289 /* a few non-GPL license types are also allowed */
0290 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
0291
0292
0293 Power Management
0294 ================
0295
0296 If your I2C device needs special handling when entering a system low
0297 power state -- like putting a transceiver into a low power mode, or
0298 activating a system wakeup mechanism -- do that by implementing the
0299 appropriate callbacks for the dev_pm_ops of the driver (like suspend
0300 and resume).
0301
0302 These are standard driver model calls, and they work just like they
0303 would for any other driver stack. The calls can sleep, and can use
0304 I2C messaging to the device being suspended or resumed (since their
0305 parent I2C adapter is active when these calls are issued, and IRQs
0306 are still enabled).
0307
0308
0309 System Shutdown
0310 ===============
0311
0312 If your I2C device needs special handling when the system shuts down
0313 or reboots (including kexec) -- like turning something off -- use a
0314 shutdown() method.
0315
0316 Again, this is a standard driver model call, working just like it
0317 would for any other driver stack: the calls can sleep, and can use
0318 I2C messaging.
0319
0320
0321 Command function
0322 ================
0323
0324 A generic ioctl-like function call back is supported. You will seldom
0325 need this, and its use is deprecated anyway, so newer design should not
0326 use it.
0327
0328
0329 Sending and receiving
0330 =====================
0331
0332 If you want to communicate with your device, there are several functions
0333 to do this. You can find all of them in <linux/i2c.h>.
0334
0335 If you can choose between plain I2C communication and SMBus level
0336 communication, please use the latter. All adapters understand SMBus level
0337 commands, but only some of them understand plain I2C!
0338
0339
0340 Plain I2C communication
0341 -----------------------
0342
0343 ::
0344
0345 int i2c_master_send(struct i2c_client *client, const char *buf,
0346 int count);
0347 int i2c_master_recv(struct i2c_client *client, char *buf, int count);
0348
0349 These routines read and write some bytes from/to a client. The client
0350 contains the I2C address, so you do not have to include it. The second
0351 parameter contains the bytes to read/write, the third the number of bytes
0352 to read/write (must be less than the length of the buffer, also should be
0353 less than 64k since msg.len is u16.) Returned is the actual number of bytes
0354 read/written.
0355
0356 ::
0357
0358 int i2c_transfer(struct i2c_adapter *adap, struct i2c_msg *msg,
0359 int num);
0360
0361 This sends a series of messages. Each message can be a read or write,
0362 and they can be mixed in any way. The transactions are combined: no
0363 stop condition is issued between transaction. The i2c_msg structure
0364 contains for each message the client address, the number of bytes of the
0365 message and the message data itself.
0366
0367 You can read the file i2c-protocol.rst for more information about the
0368 actual I2C protocol.
0369
0370
0371 SMBus communication
0372 -------------------
0373
0374 ::
0375
0376 s32 i2c_smbus_xfer(struct i2c_adapter *adapter, u16 addr,
0377 unsigned short flags, char read_write, u8 command,
0378 int size, union i2c_smbus_data *data);
0379
0380 This is the generic SMBus function. All functions below are implemented
0381 in terms of it. Never use this function directly!
0382
0383 ::
0384
0385 s32 i2c_smbus_read_byte(struct i2c_client *client);
0386 s32 i2c_smbus_write_byte(struct i2c_client *client, u8 value);
0387 s32 i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(struct i2c_client *client, u8 command);
0388 s32 i2c_smbus_write_byte_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0389 u8 command, u8 value);
0390 s32 i2c_smbus_read_word_data(struct i2c_client *client, u8 command);
0391 s32 i2c_smbus_write_word_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0392 u8 command, u16 value);
0393 s32 i2c_smbus_read_block_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0394 u8 command, u8 *values);
0395 s32 i2c_smbus_write_block_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0396 u8 command, u8 length, const u8 *values);
0397 s32 i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0398 u8 command, u8 length, u8 *values);
0399 s32 i2c_smbus_write_i2c_block_data(struct i2c_client *client,
0400 u8 command, u8 length,
0401 const u8 *values);
0402
0403 These ones were removed from i2c-core because they had no users, but could
0404 be added back later if needed::
0405
0406 s32 i2c_smbus_write_quick(struct i2c_client *client, u8 value);
0407 s32 i2c_smbus_process_call(struct i2c_client *client,
0408 u8 command, u16 value);
0409 s32 i2c_smbus_block_process_call(struct i2c_client *client,
0410 u8 command, u8 length, u8 *values);
0411
0412 All these transactions return a negative errno value on failure. The 'write'
0413 transactions return 0 on success; the 'read' transactions return the read
0414 value, except for block transactions, which return the number of values
0415 read. The block buffers need not be longer than 32 bytes.
0416
0417 You can read the file smbus-protocol.rst for more information about the
0418 actual SMBus protocol.
0419
0420
0421 General purpose routines
0422 ========================
0423
0424 Below all general purpose routines are listed, that were not mentioned
0425 before::
0426
0427 /* Return the adapter number for a specific adapter */
0428 int i2c_adapter_id(struct i2c_adapter *adap);