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2 <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []>
5 <book id="LinuxKernelAPI">
7 <title>The Linux Kernel API</title>
11 This documentation is free software; you can redistribute
12 it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
13 License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
14 version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
19 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
20 useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
21 warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
22 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
26 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
27 License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
28 Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
33 For more details see the file COPYING in the source
34 distribution of Linux.
42 <title>Driver Basics</title>
43 <sect1><title>Driver Entry and Exit points</title>
44 !Iinclude/linux/init.h
47 <sect1><title>Atomic and pointer manipulation</title>
48 !Iinclude/asm-i386/atomic.h
49 !Iinclude/asm-i386/unaligned.h
52 <sect1><title>Delaying, scheduling, and timer routines</title>
53 !Iinclude/linux/sched.h
57 <sect1><title>High-resolution timers</title>
58 !Iinclude/linux/ktime.h
59 !Iinclude/linux/hrtimer.h
62 <sect1><title>Workqueues and Kevents</title>
65 <sect1><title>Internal Functions</title>
68 !Iinclude/linux/kthread.h
72 <sect1><title>Kernel objects manipulation</title>
74 X!Iinclude/linux/kobject.h
79 <sect1><title>Kernel utility functions</title>
80 !Iinclude/linux/kernel.h
90 <title>Data Types</title>
91 <sect1><title>Doubly Linked Lists</title>
92 !Iinclude/linux/list.h
97 <title>Basic C Library Functions</title>
100 When writing drivers, you cannot in general use routines which are
101 from the C Library. Some of the functions have been found generally
102 useful and they are listed below. The behaviour of these functions
103 may vary slightly from those defined by ANSI, and these deviations
104 are noted in the text.
107 <sect1><title>String Conversions</title>
111 <sect1><title>String Manipulation</title>
112 <!-- All functions are exported at now
117 <sect1><title>Bit Operations</title>
118 !Iinclude/asm-i386/bitops.h
122 <chapter id="kernel-lib">
123 <title>Basic Kernel Library Functions</title>
126 The Linux kernel provides more basic utility functions.
129 <sect1><title>Bitmap Operations</title>
134 <sect1><title>Command-line Parsing</title>
138 <sect1><title>CRC Functions</title>
146 <title>Memory Management in Linux</title>
147 <sect1><title>The Slab Cache</title>
148 !Iinclude/linux/slab.h
151 <sect1><title>User Space Memory Access</title>
152 !Iinclude/asm-i386/uaccess.h
153 !Earch/i386/lib/usercopy.c
155 <sect1><title>More Memory Management Functions</title>
156 !Iinclude/linux/rmap.h
163 !Emm/page-writeback.c
170 <title>Kernel IPC facilities</title>
172 <sect1><title>IPC utilities</title>
178 <title>FIFO Buffer</title>
179 <sect1><title>kfifo interface</title>
180 !Iinclude/linux/kfifo.h
185 <chapter id="relayfs">
186 <title>relay interface support</title>
189 Relay interface support
190 is designed to provide an efficient mechanism for tools and
191 facilities to relay large amounts of data from kernel space to
195 <sect1><title>relay interface</title>
201 <chapter id="netcore">
202 <title>Linux Networking</title>
203 <sect1><title>Networking Base Types</title>
204 !Iinclude/linux/net.h
206 <sect1><title>Socket Buffer Functions</title>
207 !Iinclude/linux/skbuff.h
212 !Enet/core/datagram.c
215 <sect1><title>Socket Filter</title>
218 <sect1><title>Generic Network Statistics</title>
219 !Iinclude/linux/gen_stats.h
220 !Enet/core/gen_stats.c
221 !Enet/core/gen_estimator.c
223 <sect1><title>SUN RPC subsystem</title>
224 <!-- The !D functionality is not perfect, garbage has to be protected by comments
225 !Dnet/sunrpc/sunrpc_syms.c
228 !Enet/sunrpc/svcsock.c
233 <chapter id="netdev">
234 <title>Network device support</title>
235 <sect1><title>Driver Support</title>
238 !Iinclude/linux/etherdevice.h
239 !Edrivers/net/phy/phy.c
240 !Idrivers/net/phy/phy.c
241 !Edrivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
242 !Idrivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
243 !Edrivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c
244 !Idrivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c
245 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
246 X!Enet/core/wireless.c
249 <sect1><title>Synchronous PPP</title>
250 !Edrivers/net/wan/syncppp.c
254 <chapter id="modload">
255 <title>Module Support</title>
256 <sect1><title>Module Loading</title>
259 <sect1><title>Inter Module support</title>
261 Refer to the file kernel/module.c for more information.
263 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
269 <chapter id="hardware">
270 <title>Hardware Interfaces</title>
271 <sect1><title>Interrupt Handling</title>
272 !Ekernel/irq/manage.c
275 <sect1><title>DMA Channels</title>
279 <sect1><title>Resources Management</title>
284 <sect1><title>MTRR Handling</title>
285 !Earch/i386/kernel/cpu/mtrr/main.c
288 <sect1><title>PCI Support Library</title>
290 !Edrivers/pci/pci-driver.c
291 !Edrivers/pci/remove.c
292 !Edrivers/pci/pci-acpi.c
293 !Edrivers/pci/search.c
296 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
297 X!Edrivers/pci/hotplug.c
299 !Edrivers/pci/probe.c
302 <sect1><title>PCI Hotplug Support Library</title>
303 !Edrivers/pci/hotplug/pci_hotplug_core.c
305 <sect1><title>MCA Architecture</title>
306 <sect2><title>MCA Device Functions</title>
308 Refer to the file arch/i386/kernel/mca.c for more information.
310 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
311 X!Earch/i386/kernel/mca.c
314 <sect2><title>MCA Bus DMA</title>
315 !Iinclude/asm-i386/mca_dma.h
320 <chapter id="firmware">
321 <title>Firmware Interfaces</title>
322 <sect1><title>DMI Interfaces</title>
323 !Edrivers/firmware/dmi_scan.c
325 <sect1><title>EDD Interfaces</title>
326 !Idrivers/firmware/edd.c
330 <chapter id="security">
331 <title>Security Framework</title>
332 !Esecurity/security.c
336 <title>Audit Interfaces</title>
339 !Ikernel/auditfilter.c
342 <chapter id="accounting">
343 <title>Accounting Framework</title>
347 <chapter id="pmfuncs">
348 <title>Power Management</title>
352 <chapter id="devdrivers">
353 <title>Device drivers infrastructure</title>
354 <sect1><title>Device Drivers Base</title>
356 X!Iinclude/linux/device.h
358 !Edrivers/base/driver.c
359 !Edrivers/base/core.c
360 !Edrivers/base/class.c
361 !Edrivers/base/firmware_class.c
362 !Edrivers/base/transport_class.c
363 !Edrivers/base/dmapool.c
364 <!-- Cannot be included, because
365 attribute_container_add_class_device_adapter
366 and attribute_container_classdev_to_container
367 exceed allowed 44 characters maximum
368 X!Edrivers/base/attribute_container.c
372 X!Edrivers/base/interface.c
374 !Edrivers/base/platform.c
377 <sect1><title>Device Drivers Power Management</title>
378 !Edrivers/base/power/main.c
379 !Edrivers/base/power/resume.c
380 !Edrivers/base/power/suspend.c
382 <sect1><title>Device Drivers ACPI Support</title>
383 <!-- Internal functions only
384 X!Edrivers/acpi/sleep/main.c
385 X!Edrivers/acpi/sleep/wakeup.c
386 X!Edrivers/acpi/motherboard.c
387 X!Edrivers/acpi/bus.c
389 !Edrivers/acpi/scan.c
390 !Idrivers/acpi/scan.c
391 <!-- No correct structured comments
392 X!Edrivers/acpi/pci_bind.c
395 <sect1><title>Device drivers PnP support</title>
397 <!-- No correct structured comments
398 X!Edrivers/pnp/system.c
401 !Edrivers/pnp/driver.c
402 !Edrivers/pnp/manager.c
403 !Edrivers/pnp/support.c
407 <chapter id="blkdev">
408 <title>Block Devices</title>
412 <chapter id="chrdev">
413 <title>Char devices</title>
417 <chapter id="miscdev">
418 <title>Miscellaneous Devices</title>
419 !Edrivers/char/misc.c
422 <chapter id="parportdev">
423 <title>Parallel Port Devices</title>
424 !Iinclude/linux/parport.h
425 !Edrivers/parport/ieee1284.c
426 !Edrivers/parport/share.c
427 !Idrivers/parport/daisy.c
430 <chapter id="message_devices">
431 <title>Message-based devices</title>
432 <sect1><title>Fusion message devices</title>
433 !Edrivers/message/fusion/mptbase.c
434 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptbase.c
435 !Edrivers/message/fusion/mptscsih.c
436 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptscsih.c
437 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptctl.c
438 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptspi.c
439 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptfc.c
440 !Idrivers/message/fusion/mptlan.c
442 <sect1><title>I2O message devices</title>
443 !Iinclude/linux/i2o.h
444 !Idrivers/message/i2o/core.h
445 !Edrivers/message/i2o/iop.c
446 !Idrivers/message/i2o/iop.c
447 !Idrivers/message/i2o/config-osm.c
448 !Edrivers/message/i2o/exec-osm.c
449 !Idrivers/message/i2o/exec-osm.c
450 !Idrivers/message/i2o/bus-osm.c
451 !Edrivers/message/i2o/device.c
452 !Idrivers/message/i2o/device.c
453 !Idrivers/message/i2o/driver.c
454 !Idrivers/message/i2o/pci.c
455 !Idrivers/message/i2o/i2o_block.c
456 !Idrivers/message/i2o/i2o_scsi.c
457 !Idrivers/message/i2o/i2o_proc.c
461 <chapter id="snddev">
462 <title>Sound Devices</title>
463 !Iinclude/sound/core.h
465 !Iinclude/sound/pcm.h
467 !Esound/core/device.c
469 !Esound/core/rawmidi.c
471 !Esound/core/memory.c
472 !Esound/core/pcm_memory.c
474 !Esound/core/isadma.c
475 !Esound/core/control.c
476 !Esound/core/pcm_lib.c
478 !Esound/core/pcm_native.c
479 !Esound/core/memalloc.c
480 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
481 X!Isound/sound_firmware.c
485 <chapter id="uart16x50">
486 <title>16x50 UART Driver</title>
487 !Iinclude/linux/serial_core.h
488 !Edrivers/serial/serial_core.c
489 !Edrivers/serial/8250.c
492 <chapter id="z85230">
493 <title>Z85230 Support Library</title>
494 !Edrivers/net/wan/z85230.c
498 <title>Frame Buffer Library</title>
501 The frame buffer drivers depend heavily on four data structures.
502 These structures are declared in include/linux/fb.h. They are
503 fb_info, fb_var_screeninfo, fb_fix_screeninfo and fb_monospecs.
504 The last three can be made available to and from userland.
508 fb_info defines the current state of a particular video card.
509 Inside fb_info, there exists a fb_ops structure which is a
510 collection of needed functions to make fbdev and fbcon work.
511 fb_info is only visible to the kernel.
515 fb_var_screeninfo is used to describe the features of a video card
516 that are user defined. With fb_var_screeninfo, things such as
517 depth and the resolution may be defined.
521 The next structure is fb_fix_screeninfo. This defines the
522 properties of a card that are created when a mode is set and can't
523 be changed otherwise. A good example of this is the start of the
524 frame buffer memory. This "locks" the address of the frame buffer
525 memory, so that it cannot be changed or moved.
529 The last structure is fb_monospecs. In the old API, there was
530 little importance for fb_monospecs. This allowed for forbidden things
531 such as setting a mode of 800x600 on a fix frequency monitor. With
532 the new API, fb_monospecs prevents such things, and if used
533 correctly, can prevent a monitor from being cooked. fb_monospecs
534 will not be useful until kernels 2.5.x.
537 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Memory</title>
538 !Edrivers/video/fbmem.c
541 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Console</title>
542 X!Edrivers/video/console/fbcon.c
545 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Colormap</title>
546 !Edrivers/video/fbcmap.c
549 drivers/video/fbgen.c has no docs, which stuffs up the sgml. Comment
550 out until somebody adds docs. KAO
551 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Generic Functions</title>
552 X!Idrivers/video/fbgen.c
555 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Video Mode Database</title>
556 !Idrivers/video/modedb.c
557 !Edrivers/video/modedb.c
559 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Macintosh Video Mode Database</title>
560 !Edrivers/video/macmodes.c
562 <sect1><title>Frame Buffer Fonts</title>
564 Refer to the file drivers/video/console/fonts.c for more information.
566 <!-- FIXME: Removed for now since no structured comments in source
567 X!Idrivers/video/console/fonts.c
572 <chapter id="input_subsystem">
573 <title>Input Subsystem</title>
574 !Iinclude/linux/input.h
575 !Edrivers/input/input.c
576 !Edrivers/input/ff-core.c
577 !Edrivers/input/ff-memless.c
581 <title>Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)</title>
583 SPI is the "Serial Peripheral Interface", widely used with
584 embedded systems because it is a simple and efficient
585 interface: basically a multiplexed shift register.
586 Its three signal wires hold a clock (SCK, often in the range
587 of 1-20 MHz), a "Master Out, Slave In" (MOSI) data line, and
588 a "Master In, Slave Out" (MISO) data line.
589 SPI is a full duplex protocol; for each bit shifted out the
590 MOSI line (one per clock) another is shifted in on the MISO line.
591 Those bits are assembled into words of various sizes on the
592 way to and from system memory.
593 An additional chipselect line is usually active-low (nCS);
594 four signals are normally used for each peripheral, plus
595 sometimes an interrupt.
598 The SPI bus facilities listed here provide a generalized
599 interface to declare SPI busses and devices, manage them
600 according to the standard Linux driver model, and perform
601 input/output operations.
602 At this time, only "master" side interfaces are supported,
603 where Linux talks to SPI peripherals and does not implement
604 such a peripheral itself.
605 (Interfaces to support implementing SPI slaves would
606 necessarily look different.)
609 The programming interface is structured around two kinds of driver,
610 and two kinds of device.
611 A "Controller Driver" abstracts the controller hardware, which may
612 be as simple as a set of GPIO pins or as complex as a pair of FIFOs
613 connected to dual DMA engines on the other side of the SPI shift
614 register (maximizing throughput). Such drivers bridge between
615 whatever bus they sit on (often the platform bus) and SPI, and
616 expose the SPI side of their device as a
617 <structname>struct spi_master</structname>.
618 SPI devices are children of that master, represented as a
619 <structname>struct spi_device</structname> and manufactured from
620 <structname>struct spi_board_info</structname> descriptors which
621 are usually provided by board-specific initialization code.
622 A <structname>struct spi_driver</structname> is called a
623 "Protocol Driver", and is bound to a spi_device using normal
627 The I/O model is a set of queued messages. Protocol drivers
628 submit one or more <structname>struct spi_message</structname>
629 objects, which are processed and completed asynchronously.
630 (There are synchronous wrappers, however.) Messages are
631 built from one or more <structname>struct spi_transfer</structname>
632 objects, each of which wraps a full duplex SPI transfer.
633 A variety of protocol tweaking options are needed, because
634 different chips adopt very different policies for how they
635 use the bits transferred with SPI.
637 !Iinclude/linux/spi/spi.h
638 !Fdrivers/spi/spi.c spi_register_board_info