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diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt b/Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..6f83fa965b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt @@ -0,0 +1,775 @@ +GPIO Interfaces + +This provides an overview of GPIO access conventions on Linux. + +These calls use the gpio_* naming prefix. No other calls should use that +prefix, or the related __gpio_* prefix. + + +What is a GPIO? +=============== +A "General Purpose Input/Output" (GPIO) is a flexible software-controlled +digital signal. They are provided from many kinds of chip, and are familiar +to Linux developers working with embedded and custom hardware. Each GPIO +represents a bit connected to a particular pin, or "ball" on Ball Grid Array +(BGA) packages. Board schematics show which external hardware connects to +which GPIOs. Drivers can be written generically, so that board setup code +passes such pin configuration data to drivers. + +System-on-Chip (SOC) processors heavily rely on GPIOs. In some cases, every +non-dedicated pin can be configured as a GPIO; and most chips have at least +several dozen of them. Programmable logic devices (like FPGAs) can easily +provide GPIOs; multifunction chips like power managers, and audio codecs +often have a few such pins to help with pin scarcity on SOCs; and there are +also "GPIO Expander" chips that connect using the I2C or SPI serial busses. +Most PC southbridges have a few dozen GPIO-capable pins (with only the BIOS +firmware knowing how they're used). + +The exact capabilities of GPIOs vary between systems. Common options: + + - Output values are writable (high=1, low=0). Some chips also have + options about how that value is driven, so that for example only one + value might be driven ... supporting "wire-OR" and similar schemes + for the other value (notably, "open drain" signaling). + + - Input values are likewise readable (1, 0). Some chips support readback + of pins configured as "output", which is very useful in such "wire-OR" + cases (to support bidirectional signaling). GPIO controllers may have + input de-glitch/debounce logic, sometimes with software controls. + + - Inputs can often be used as IRQ signals, often edge triggered but + sometimes level triggered. Such IRQs may be configurable as system + wakeup events, to wake the system from a low power state. + + - Usually a GPIO will be configurable as either input or output, as needed + by different product boards; single direction ones exist too. + + - Most GPIOs can be accessed while holding spinlocks, but those accessed + through a serial bus normally can't. Some systems support both types. + +On a given board each GPIO is used for one specific purpose like monitoring +MMC/SD card insertion/removal, detecting card writeprotect status, driving +a LED, configuring a transceiver, bitbanging a serial bus, poking a hardware +watchdog, sensing a switch, and so on. + + +GPIO conventions +================ +Note that this is called a "convention" because you don't need to do it this +way, and it's no crime if you don't. There **are** cases where portability +is not the main issue; GPIOs are often used for the kind of board-specific +glue logic that may even change between board revisions, and can't ever be +used on a board that's wired differently. Only least-common-denominator +functionality can be very portable. Other features are platform-specific, +and that can be critical for glue logic. + +Plus, this doesn't require any implementation framework, just an interface. +One platform might implement it as simple inline functions accessing chip +registers; another might implement it by delegating through abstractions +used for several very different kinds of GPIO controller. (There is some +optional code supporting such an implementation strategy, described later +in this document, but drivers acting as clients to the GPIO interface must +not care how it's implemented.) + +That said, if the convention is supported on their platform, drivers should +use it when possible. Platforms must select ARCH_REQUIRE_GPIOLIB or +ARCH_WANT_OPTIONAL_GPIOLIB in their Kconfig. Drivers that can't work without +standard GPIO calls should have Kconfig entries which depend on GPIOLIB. The +GPIO calls are available, either as "real code" or as optimized-away stubs, +when drivers use the include file: + + #include <linux/gpio.h> + +If you stick to this convention then it'll be easier for other developers to +see what your code is doing, and help maintain it. + +Note that these operations include I/O barriers on platforms which need to +use them; drivers don't need to add them explicitly. + + +Identifying GPIOs +----------------- +GPIOs are identified by unsigned integers in the range 0..MAX_INT. That +reserves "negative" numbers for other purposes like marking signals as +"not available on this board", or indicating faults. Code that doesn't +touch the underlying hardware treats these integers as opaque cookies. + +Platforms define how they use those integers, and usually #define symbols +for the GPIO lines so that board-specific setup code directly corresponds +to the relevant schematics. In contrast, drivers should only use GPIO +numbers passed to them from that setup code, using platform_data to hold +board-specific pin configuration data (along with other board specific +data they need). That avoids portability problems. + +So for example one platform uses numbers 32-159 for GPIOs; while another +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. + +If you want to initialize a structure with an invalid GPIO number, use +some negative number (perhaps "-EINVAL"); that will never be valid. To +test if such number from such a structure could reference a GPIO, you +may use this predicate: + + int gpio_is_valid(int number); + +A number that's not valid will be rejected by calls which may request +or free GPIOs (see below). Other numbers may also be rejected; for +example, a number might be valid but temporarily unused on a given board. + +Whether a platform supports multiple GPIO controllers is a platform-specific +implementation issue, as are whether that support can leave "holes" in the space +of GPIO numbers, and whether new controllers can be added at runtime. Such issues +can affect things including whether adjacent GPIO numbers are both valid. + +Using GPIOs +----------- +The first thing a system should do with a GPIO is allocate it, using +the gpio_request() call; see later. + +One of the next things to do with a GPIO, often in board setup code when +setting up a platform_device using the GPIO, is mark its direction: + + /* set as input or output, returning 0 or negative errno */ + int gpio_direction_input(unsigned gpio); + int gpio_direction_output(unsigned gpio, int value); + +The return value is zero for success, else a negative errno. It should +be checked, since the get/set calls don't have error returns and since +misconfiguration is possible. You should normally issue these calls from +a task context. However, for spinlock-safe GPIOs it's OK to use them +before tasking is enabled, as part of early board setup. + +For output GPIOs, the value provided becomes the initial output value. +This helps avoid signal glitching during system startup. + +For compatibility with legacy interfaces to GPIOs, setting the direction +of a GPIO implicitly requests that GPIO (see below) if it has not been +requested already. That compatibility is being removed from the optional +gpiolib framework. + +Setting the direction can fail if the GPIO number is invalid, or when +that particular GPIO can't be used in that mode. It's generally a bad +idea to rely on boot firmware to have set the direction correctly, since +it probably wasn't validated to do more than boot Linux. (Similarly, +that board setup code probably needs to multiplex that pin as a GPIO, +and configure pullups/pulldowns appropriately.) + + +Spinlock-Safe GPIO access +------------------------- +Most GPIO controllers can be accessed with memory read/write instructions. +Those don't need to sleep, and can safely be done from inside hard +(nonthreaded) IRQ handlers and similar contexts. + +Use the following calls to access such GPIOs, +for which gpio_cansleep() will always return false (see below): + + /* GPIO INPUT: return zero or nonzero */ + int gpio_get_value(unsigned gpio); + + /* GPIO OUTPUT */ + void gpio_set_value(unsigned gpio, int value); + +The values are boolean, zero for low, nonzero for high. When reading the +value of an output pin, the value returned should be what's seen on the +pin ... that won't always match the specified output value, because of +issues including open-drain signaling and output latencies. + +The get/set calls have no error returns because "invalid GPIO" should have +been reported earlier from gpio_direction_*(). However, note that not all +platforms can read the value of output pins; those that can't should always +return zero. Also, using these calls for GPIOs that can't safely be accessed +without sleeping (see below) is an error. + +Platform-specific implementations are encouraged to optimize the two +calls to access the GPIO value in cases where the GPIO number (and for +output, value) are constant. It's normal for them to need only a couple +of instructions in such cases (reading or writing a hardware register), +and not to need spinlocks. Such optimized calls can make bitbanging +applications a lot more efficient (in both space and time) than spending +dozens of instructions on subroutine calls. + + +GPIO access that may sleep +-------------------------- +Some GPIO controllers must be accessed using message based busses like I2C +or SPI. Commands to read or write those GPIO values require waiting to +get to the head of a queue to transmit a command and get its response. +This requires sleeping, which can't be done from inside IRQ handlers. + +Platforms that support this type of GPIO distinguish them from other GPIOs +by returning nonzero from this call (which requires a valid GPIO number, +which should have been previously allocated with gpio_request): + + int gpio_cansleep(unsigned gpio); + +To access such GPIOs, a different set of accessors is defined: + + /* GPIO INPUT: return zero or nonzero, might sleep */ + int gpio_get_value_cansleep(unsigned gpio); + + /* GPIO OUTPUT, might sleep */ + void gpio_set_value_cansleep(unsigned gpio, int value); + + +Accessing such GPIOs requires a context which may sleep, for example +a threaded IRQ handler, and those accessors must be used instead of +spinlock-safe accessors without the cansleep() name suffix. + +Other than the fact that these accessors might sleep, and will work +on GPIOs that can't be accessed from hardIRQ handlers, these calls act +the same as the spinlock-safe calls. + + ** IN ADDITION ** calls to setup and configure such GPIOs must be made +from contexts which may sleep, since they may need to access the GPIO +controller chip too: (These setup calls are usually made from board +setup or driver probe/teardown code, so this is an easy constraint.) + + gpio_direction_input() + gpio_direction_output() + gpio_request() + +## gpio_request_one() +## gpio_request_array() +## gpio_free_array() + + gpio_free() + gpio_set_debounce() + + + +Claiming and Releasing GPIOs +---------------------------- +To help catch system configuration errors, two calls are defined. + + /* request GPIO, returning 0 or negative errno. + * non-null labels may be useful for diagnostics. + */ + int gpio_request(unsigned gpio, const char *label); + + /* release previously-claimed GPIO */ + void gpio_free(unsigned gpio); + +Passing invalid GPIO numbers to gpio_request() will fail, as will requesting +GPIOs that have already been claimed with that call. The return value of +gpio_request() must be checked. You should normally issue these calls from +a task context. However, for spinlock-safe GPIOs it's OK to request GPIOs +before tasking is enabled, as part of early board setup. + +These calls serve two basic purposes. One is marking the signals which +are actually in use as GPIOs, for better diagnostics; systems may have +several hundred potential GPIOs, but often only a dozen are used on any +given board. Another is to catch conflicts, identifying errors when +(a) two or more drivers wrongly think they have exclusive use of that +signal, or (b) something wrongly believes it's safe to remove drivers +needed to manage a signal that's in active use. That is, requesting a +GPIO can serve as a kind of lock. + +Some platforms may also use knowledge about what GPIOs are active for +power management, such as by powering down unused chip sectors and, more +easily, gating off unused clocks. + +For GPIOs that use pins known to the pinctrl subsystem, that subsystem should +be informed of their use; a gpiolib driver's .request() operation may call +pinctrl_request_gpio(), and a gpiolib driver's .free() operation may call +pinctrl_free_gpio(). The pinctrl subsystem allows a pinctrl_request_gpio() +to succeed concurrently with a pin or pingroup being "owned" by a device for +pin multiplexing. + +Any programming of pin multiplexing hardware that is needed to route the +GPIO signal to the appropriate pin should occur within a GPIO driver's +.direction_input() or .direction_output() operations, and occur after any +setup of an output GPIO's value. This allows a glitch-free migration from a +pin's special function to GPIO. This is sometimes required when using a GPIO +to implement a workaround on signals typically driven by a non-GPIO HW block. + +Some platforms allow some or all GPIO signals to be routed to different pins. +Similarly, other aspects of the GPIO or pin may need to be configured, such as +pullup/pulldown. Platform software should arrange that any such details are +configured prior to gpio_request() being called for those GPIOs, e.g. using +the pinctrl subsystem's mapping table, so that GPIO users need not be aware +of these details. + +Also note that it's your responsibility to have stopped using a GPIO +before you free it. + +Considering in most cases GPIOs are actually configured right after they +are claimed, three additional calls are defined: + + /* request a single GPIO, with initial configuration specified by + * 'flags', identical to gpio_request() wrt other arguments and + * return value + */ + int gpio_request_one(unsigned gpio, unsigned long flags, const char *label); + + /* request multiple GPIOs in a single call + */ + int gpio_request_array(struct gpio *array, size_t num); + + /* release multiple GPIOs in a single call + */ + void gpio_free_array(struct gpio *array, size_t num); + +where 'flags' is currently defined to specify the following properties: + + * GPIOF_DIR_IN - to configure direction as input + * GPIOF_DIR_OUT - to configure direction as output + + * GPIOF_INIT_LOW - as output, set initial level to LOW + * GPIOF_INIT_HIGH - as output, set initial level to HIGH + * GPIOF_OPEN_DRAIN - gpio pin is open drain type. + * GPIOF_OPEN_SOURCE - gpio pin is open source type. + + * GPIOF_EXPORT_DIR_FIXED - export gpio to sysfs, keep direction + * GPIOF_EXPORT_DIR_CHANGEABLE - also export, allow changing direction + +since GPIOF_INIT_* are only valid when configured as output, so group valid +combinations as: + + * GPIOF_IN - configure as input + * GPIOF_OUT_INIT_LOW - configured as output, initial level LOW + * GPIOF_OUT_INIT_HIGH - configured as output, initial level HIGH + +When setting the flag as GPIOF_OPEN_DRAIN then it will assume that pins is +open drain type. Such pins will not be driven to 1 in output mode. It is +require to connect pull-up on such pins. By enabling this flag, gpio lib will +make the direction to input when it is asked to set value of 1 in output mode +to make the pin HIGH. The pin is make to LOW by driving value 0 in output mode. + +When setting the flag as GPIOF_OPEN_SOURCE then it will assume that pins is +open source type. Such pins will not be driven to 0 in output mode. It is +require to connect pull-down on such pin. By enabling this flag, gpio lib will +make the direction to input when it is asked to set value of 0 in output mode +to make the pin LOW. The pin is make to HIGH by driving value 1 in output mode. + +In the future, these flags can be extended to support more properties. + +Further more, to ease the claim/release of multiple GPIOs, 'struct gpio' is +introduced to encapsulate all three fields as: + + struct gpio { + unsigned gpio; + unsigned long flags; + const char *label; + }; + +A typical example of usage: + + static struct gpio leds_gpios[] = { + { 32, GPIOF_OUT_INIT_HIGH, "Power LED" }, /* default to ON */ + { 33, GPIOF_OUT_INIT_LOW, "Green LED" }, /* default to OFF */ + { 34, GPIOF_OUT_INIT_LOW, "Red LED" }, /* default to OFF */ + { 35, GPIOF_OUT_INIT_LOW, "Blue LED" }, /* default to OFF */ + { ... }, + }; + + err = gpio_request_one(31, GPIOF_IN, "Reset Button"); + if (err) + ... + + err = gpio_request_array(leds_gpios, ARRAY_SIZE(leds_gpios)); + if (err) + ... + + gpio_free_array(leds_gpios, ARRAY_SIZE(leds_gpios)); + + +GPIOs mapped to IRQs +-------------------- +GPIO numbers are unsigned integers; so are IRQ numbers. These make up +two logically distinct namespaces (GPIO 0 need not use IRQ 0). You can +map between them using calls like: + + /* map GPIO numbers to IRQ numbers */ + int gpio_to_irq(unsigned gpio); + + /* map IRQ numbers to GPIO numbers (avoid using this) */ + int irq_to_gpio(unsigned irq); + +Those return either the corresponding number in the other namespace, or +else a negative errno code if the mapping can't be done. (For example, +some GPIOs can't be used as IRQs.) It is an unchecked error to use a GPIO +number that wasn't set up as an input using gpio_direction_input(), or +to use an IRQ number that didn't originally come from gpio_to_irq(). + +These two mapping calls are expected to cost on the order of a single +addition or subtraction. They're not allowed to sleep. + +Non-error values returned from gpio_to_irq() can be passed to request_irq() +or free_irq(). They will often be stored into IRQ resources for platform +devices, by the board-specific initialization code. Note that IRQ trigger +options are part of the IRQ interface, e.g. IRQF_TRIGGER_FALLING, as are +system wakeup capabilities. + +Non-error values returned from irq_to_gpio() would most commonly be used +with gpio_get_value(), for example to initialize or update driver state +when the IRQ is edge-triggered. Note that some platforms don't support +this reverse mapping, so you should avoid using it. + + +Emulating Open Drain Signals +---------------------------- +Sometimes shared signals need to use "open drain" signaling, where only the +low signal level is actually driven. (That term applies to CMOS transistors; +"open collector" is used for TTL.) A pullup resistor causes the high signal +level. This is sometimes called a "wire-AND"; or more practically, from the +negative logic (low=true) perspective this is a "wire-OR". + +One common example of an open drain signal is a shared active-low IRQ line. +Also, bidirectional data bus signals sometimes use open drain signals. + +Some GPIO controllers directly support open drain outputs; many don't. When +you need open drain signaling but your hardware doesn't directly support it, +there's a common idiom you can use to emulate it with any GPIO pin that can +be used as either an input or an output: + + LOW: gpio_direction_output(gpio, 0) ... this drives the signal + and overrides the pullup. + + HIGH: gpio_direction_input(gpio) ... this turns off the output, + so the pullup (or some other device) controls the signal. + +If you are "driving" the signal high but gpio_get_value(gpio) reports a low +value (after the appropriate rise time passes), you know some other component +is driving the shared signal low. That's not necessarily an error. As one +common example, that's how I2C clocks are stretched: a slave that needs a +slower clock delays the rising edge of SCK, and the I2C master adjusts its +signaling rate accordingly. + + +GPIO controllers and the pinctrl subsystem +------------------------------------------ + +A GPIO controller on a SOC might be tightly coupled with the pinctrl +subsystem, in the sense that the pins can be used by other functions +together with an optional gpio feature. We have already covered the +case where e.g. a GPIO controller need to reserve a pin or set the +direction of a pin by calling any of: + +pinctrl_request_gpio() +pinctrl_free_gpio() +pinctrl_gpio_direction_input() +pinctrl_gpio_direction_output() + +But how does the pin control subsystem cross-correlate the GPIO +numbers (which are a global business) to a certain pin on a certain +pin controller? + +This is done by registering "ranges" of pins, which are essentially +cross-reference tables. These are described in +Documentation/pinctrl.txt + +While the pin allocation is totally managed by the pinctrl subsystem, +gpio (under gpiolib) is still maintained by gpio drivers. It may happen +that different pin ranges in a SoC is managed by different gpio drivers. + +This makes it logical to let gpio drivers announce their pin ranges to +the pin ctrl subsystem before it will call 'pinctrl_request_gpio' in order +to request the corresponding pin to be prepared by the pinctrl subsystem +before any gpio usage. + +For this, the gpio controller can register its pin range with pinctrl +subsystem. There are two ways of doing it currently: with or without DT. + +For with DT support refer to Documentation/devicetree/bindings/gpio/gpio.txt. + +For non-DT support, user can call gpiochip_add_pin_range() with appropriate +parameters to register a range of gpio pins with a pinctrl driver. For this +exact name string of pinctrl device has to be passed as one of the +argument to this routine. + + +What do these conventions omit? +=============================== +One of the biggest things these conventions omit is pin multiplexing, since +this is highly chip-specific and nonportable. One platform might not need +explicit multiplexing; another might have just two options for use of any +given pin; another might have eight options per pin; another might be able +to route a given GPIO to any one of several pins. (Yes, those examples all +come from systems that run Linux today.) + +Related to multiplexing is configuration and enabling of the pullups or +pulldowns integrated on some platforms. Not all platforms support them, +or support them in the same way; and any given board might use external +pullups (or pulldowns) so that the on-chip ones should not be used. +(When a circuit needs 5 kOhm, on-chip 100 kOhm resistors won't do.) +Likewise drive strength (2 mA vs 20 mA) and voltage (1.8V vs 3.3V) is a +platform-specific issue, as are models like (not) having a one-to-one +correspondence between configurable pins and GPIOs. + +There are other system-specific mechanisms that are not specified here, +like the aforementioned options for input de-glitching and wire-OR output. +Hardware may support reading or writing GPIOs in gangs, but that's usually +configuration dependent: for GPIOs sharing the same bank. (GPIOs are +commonly grouped in banks of 16 or 32, with a given SOC having several such +banks.) Some systems can trigger IRQs from output GPIOs, or read values +from pins not managed as GPIOs. Code relying on such mechanisms will +necessarily be nonportable. + +Dynamic definition of GPIOs is not currently standard; for example, as +a side effect of configuring an add-on board with some GPIO expanders. + + +GPIO implementor's framework (OPTIONAL) +======================================= +As noted earlier, there is an optional implementation framework making it +easier for platforms to support different kinds of GPIO controller using +the same programming interface. This framework is called "gpiolib". + +As a debugging aid, if debugfs is available a /sys/kernel/debug/gpio file +will be found there. That will list all the controllers registered through +this framework, and the state of the GPIOs currently in use. + + +Controller Drivers: gpio_chip +----------------------------- +In this framework each GPIO controller is packaged as a "struct gpio_chip" +with information common to each controller of that type: + + - methods to establish GPIO direction + - methods used to access GPIO values + - flag saying whether calls to its methods may sleep + - optional debugfs dump method (showing extra state like pullup config) + - label for diagnostics + +There is also per-instance data, which may come from device.platform_data: +the number of its first GPIO, and how many GPIOs it exposes. + +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. + + +Platform Support +---------------- +To support this framework, a platform's Kconfig will "select" either +ARCH_REQUIRE_GPIOLIB or ARCH_WANT_OPTIONAL_GPIOLIB +and arrange that its <asm/gpio.h> includes <asm-generic/gpio.h> and defines +three functions: gpio_get_value(), gpio_set_value(), and gpio_cansleep(). + +It may also provide a custom value for ARCH_NR_GPIOS, so that it better +reflects the number of GPIOs in actual use on that platform, without +wasting static table space. (It should count both built-in/SoC GPIOs and +also ones on GPIO expanders. + +ARCH_REQUIRE_GPIOLIB means that the gpiolib code will always get compiled +into the kernel on that architecture. + +ARCH_WANT_OPTIONAL_GPIOLIB means the gpiolib code defaults to off and the user +can enable it and build it into the kernel optionally. + +If neither of these options are selected, the platform does not support +GPIOs through GPIO-lib and the code cannot be enabled by the user. + +Trivial implementations of those functions can directly use framework +code, which always dispatches through the gpio_chip: + + #define gpio_get_value __gpio_get_value + #define gpio_set_value __gpio_set_value + #define gpio_cansleep __gpio_cansleep + +Fancier implementations could instead define those as inline functions with +logic optimizing access to specific SOC-based GPIOs. For example, if the +referenced GPIO is the constant "12", getting or setting its value could +cost as little as two or three instructions, never sleeping. When such an +optimization is not possible those calls must delegate to the framework +code, costing at least a few dozen instructions. For bitbanged I/O, such +instruction savings can be significant. + +For SOCs, platform-specific code defines and registers gpio_chip instances +for each bank of on-chip GPIOs. Those GPIOs should be numbered/labeled to +match chip vendor documentation, and directly match board schematics. They +may well start at zero and go up to a platform-specific limit. Such GPIOs +are normally integrated into platform initialization to make them always be +available, from arch_initcall() or earlier; they can often serve as IRQs. + + +Board Support +------------- +For external GPIO controllers -- such as I2C or SPI expanders, ASICs, multi +function devices, FPGAs or CPLDs -- most often board-specific code handles +registering controller devices and ensures that their drivers know what GPIO +numbers to use with gpiochip_add(). Their numbers often start right after +platform-specific GPIOs. + +For example, board setup code could create structures identifying the range +of GPIOs that chip will expose, and passes them to each GPIO expander chip +using platform_data. Then the chip driver's probe() routine could pass that +data to gpiochip_add(). + +Initialization order can be important. For example, when a device relies on +an I2C-based GPIO, its probe() routine should only be called after that GPIO +becomes available. That may mean the device should not be registered until +calls for that GPIO can work. One way to address such dependencies is for +such gpio_chip controllers to provide setup() and teardown() callbacks to +board specific code; those board specific callbacks would register devices +once all the necessary resources are available, and remove them later when +the GPIO controller device becomes unavailable. + + +Sysfs Interface for Userspace (OPTIONAL) +======================================== +Platforms which use the "gpiolib" implementors framework may choose to +configure a sysfs user interface to GPIOs. This is different from the +debugfs interface, since it provides control over GPIO direction and +value instead of just showing a gpio state summary. Plus, it could be +present on production systems without debugging support. + +Given appropriate hardware documentation for the system, userspace could +know for example that GPIO #23 controls the write protect line used to +protect boot loader segments in flash memory. System upgrade procedures +may need to temporarily remove that protection, first importing a GPIO, +then changing its output state, then updating the code before re-enabling +the write protection. In normal use, GPIO #23 would never be touched, +and the kernel would have no need to know about it. + +Again depending on appropriate hardware documentation, on some systems +userspace GPIO can be used to determine system configuration data that +standard kernels won't know about. And for some tasks, simple userspace +GPIO drivers could be all that the system really needs. + +Note that standard kernel drivers exist for common "LEDs and Buttons" +GPIO tasks: "leds-gpio" and "gpio_keys", respectively. Use those +instead of talking directly to the GPIOs; they integrate with kernel +frameworks better than your userspace code could. + + +Paths in Sysfs +-------------- +There are three kinds of entry in /sys/class/gpio: + + - Control interfaces used to get userspace control over GPIOs; + + - GPIOs themselves; and + + - GPIO controllers ("gpio_chip" instances). + +That's in addition to standard files including the "device" symlink. + +The control interfaces are write-only: + + /sys/class/gpio/ + + "export" ... Userspace may ask the kernel to export control of + a GPIO to userspace by writing its number to this file. + + Example: "echo 19 > export" will create a "gpio19" node + for GPIO #19, if that's not requested by kernel code. + + "unexport" ... Reverses the effect of exporting to userspace. + + Example: "echo 19 > unexport" will remove a "gpio19" + node exported using the "export" file. + +GPIO signals have paths like /sys/class/gpio/gpio42/ (for GPIO #42) +and have the following read/write attributes: + + /sys/class/gpio/gpioN/ + + "direction" ... reads as either "in" or "out". This value may + normally be written. Writing as "out" defaults to + initializing the value as low. To ensure glitch free + operation, values "low" and "high" may be written to + configure the GPIO as an output with that initial value. + + Note that this attribute *will not exist* if the kernel + doesn't support changing the direction of a GPIO, or + it was exported by kernel code that didn't explicitly + allow userspace to reconfigure this GPIO's direction. + + "value" ... reads as either 0 (low) or 1 (high). If the GPIO + is configured as an output, this value may be written; + any nonzero value is treated as high. + + If the pin can be configured as interrupt-generating interrupt + and if it has been configured to generate interrupts (see the + description of "edge"), you can poll(2) on that file and + poll(2) will return whenever the interrupt was triggered. If + you use poll(2), set the events POLLPRI and POLLERR. If you + use select(2), set the file descriptor in exceptfds. After + poll(2) returns, either lseek(2) to the beginning of the sysfs + file and read the new value or close the file and re-open it + to read the value. + + "edge" ... reads as either "none", "rising", "falling", or + "both". Write these strings to select the signal edge(s) + that will make poll(2) on the "value" file return. + + This file exists only if the pin can be configured as an + interrupt generating input pin. + + "active_low" ... reads as either 0 (false) or 1 (true). Write + any nonzero value to invert the value attribute both + for reading and writing. Existing and subsequent + poll(2) support configuration via the edge attribute + for "rising" and "falling" edges will follow this + setting. + +GPIO controllers have paths like /sys/class/gpio/gpiochip42/ (for the +controller implementing GPIOs starting at #42) and have the following +read-only attributes: + + /sys/class/gpio/gpiochipN/ + + "base" ... same as N, the first GPIO managed by this chip + + "label" ... provided for diagnostics (not always unique) + + "ngpio" ... how many GPIOs this manges (N to N + ngpio - 1) + +Board documentation should in most cases cover what GPIOs are used for +what purposes. However, those numbers are not always stable; GPIOs on +a daughtercard might be different depending on the base board being used, +or other cards in the stack. In such cases, you may need to use the +gpiochip nodes (possibly in conjunction with schematics) to determine +the correct GPIO number to use for a given signal. + + +Exporting from Kernel code +-------------------------- +Kernel code can explicitly manage exports of GPIOs which have already been +requested using gpio_request(): + + /* export the GPIO to userspace */ + int gpio_export(unsigned gpio, bool direction_may_change); + + /* reverse gpio_export() */ + void gpio_unexport(); + + /* create a sysfs link to an exported GPIO node */ + int gpio_export_link(struct device *dev, const char *name, + unsigned gpio) + + /* change the polarity of a GPIO node in sysfs */ + int gpio_sysfs_set_active_low(unsigned gpio, int value); + +After a kernel driver requests a GPIO, it may only be made available in +the sysfs interface by gpio_export(). The driver can control whether the +signal direction may change. This helps drivers prevent userspace code +from accidentally clobbering important system state. + +This explicit exporting can help with debugging (by making some kinds +of experiments easier), or can provide an always-there interface that's +suitable for documenting as part of a board support package. + +After the GPIO has been exported, gpio_export_link() allows creating +symlinks from elsewhere in sysfs to the GPIO sysfs node. Drivers can +use this to provide the interface under their own device in sysfs with +a descriptive name. + +Drivers can use gpio_sysfs_set_active_low() to hide GPIO line polarity +differences between boards from user space. This only affects the +sysfs interface. Polarity change can be done both before and after +gpio_export(), and previously enabled poll(2) support for either +rising or falling edge will be reconfigured to follow this setting. |