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diff --git a/Documentation/media-framework.txt b/Documentation/media-framework.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f552a75c0e70..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/media-framework.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,372 +0,0 @@ -Linux kernel media framework -============================ - -This document describes the Linux kernel media framework, its data structures, -functions and their usage. - - -Introduction ------------- - -The media controller API is documented in DocBook format in -Documentation/DocBook/media/v4l/media-controller.xml. This document will focus -on the kernel-side implementation of the media framework. - - -Abstract media device model ---------------------------- - -Discovering a device internal topology, and configuring it at runtime, is one -of the goals of the media framework. To achieve this, hardware devices are -modelled as an oriented graph of building blocks called entities connected -through pads. - -An entity is a basic media hardware building block. It can correspond to -a large variety of logical blocks such as physical hardware devices -(CMOS sensor for instance), logical hardware devices (a building block -in a System-on-Chip image processing pipeline), DMA channels or physical -connectors. - -A pad is a connection endpoint through which an entity can interact with -other entities. Data (not restricted to video) produced by an entity -flows from the entity's output to one or more entity inputs. Pads should -not be confused with physical pins at chip boundaries. - -A link is a point-to-point oriented connection between two pads, either -on the same entity or on different entities. Data flows from a source -pad to a sink pad. - - -Media device ------------- - -A media device is represented by a struct media_device instance, defined in -include/media/media-device.h. Allocation of the structure is handled by the -media device driver, usually by embedding the media_device instance in a -larger driver-specific structure. - -Drivers register media device instances by calling - - media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev); - -The caller is responsible for initializing the media_device structure before -registration. The following fields must be set: - - - dev must point to the parent device (usually a pci_dev, usb_interface or - platform_device instance). - - - model must be filled with the device model name as a NUL-terminated UTF-8 - string. The device/model revision must not be stored in this field. - -The following fields are optional: - - - serial is a unique serial number stored as a NUL-terminated ASCII string. - The field is big enough to store a GUID in text form. If the hardware - doesn't provide a unique serial number this field must be left empty. - - - bus_info represents the location of the device in the system as a - NUL-terminated ASCII string. For PCI/PCIe devices bus_info must be set to - "PCI:" (or "PCIe:") followed by the value of pci_name(). For USB devices, - the usb_make_path() function must be used. This field is used by - applications to distinguish between otherwise identical devices that don't - provide a serial number. - - - hw_revision is the hardware device revision in a driver-specific format. - When possible the revision should be formatted with the KERNEL_VERSION - macro. - - - driver_version is formatted with the KERNEL_VERSION macro. The version - minor must be incremented when new features are added to the userspace API - without breaking binary compatibility. The version major must be - incremented when binary compatibility is broken. - -Upon successful registration a character device named media[0-9]+ is created. -The device major and minor numbers are dynamic. The model name is exported as -a sysfs attribute. - -Drivers unregister media device instances by calling - - media_device_unregister(struct media_device *mdev); - -Unregistering a media device that hasn't been registered is *NOT* safe. - - -Entities, pads and links ------------------------- - -- Entities - -Entities are represented by a struct media_entity instance, defined in -include/media/media-entity.h. The structure is usually embedded into a -higher-level structure, such as a v4l2_subdev or video_device instance, -although drivers can allocate entities directly. - -Drivers initialize entities by calling - - media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads, - struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links); - -The media_entity name, type, flags, revision and group_id fields can be -initialized before or after calling media_entity_init. Entities embedded in -higher-level standard structures can have some of those fields set by the -higher-level framework. - -As the number of pads is known in advance, the pads array is not allocated -dynamically but is managed by the entity driver. Most drivers will embed the -pads array in a driver-specific structure, avoiding dynamic allocation. - -Drivers must set the direction of every pad in the pads array before calling -media_entity_init. The function will initialize the other pads fields. - -Unlike the number of pads, the total number of links isn't always known in -advance by the entity driver. As an initial estimate, media_entity_init -pre-allocates a number of links equal to the number of pads plus an optional -number of extra links. The links array will be reallocated if it grows beyond -the initial estimate. - -Drivers register entities with a media device by calling - - media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev, - struct media_entity *entity); - -Entities are identified by a unique positive integer ID. Drivers can provide an -ID by filling the media_entity id field prior to registration, or request the -media controller framework to assign an ID automatically. Drivers that provide -IDs manually must ensure that all IDs are unique. IDs are not guaranteed to be -contiguous even when they are all assigned automatically by the framework. - -Drivers unregister entities by calling - - media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity); - -Unregistering an entity will not change the IDs of the other entities, and the -ID will never be reused for a newly registered entity. - -When a media device is unregistered, all its entities are unregistered -automatically. No manual entities unregistration is then required. - -Drivers free resources associated with an entity by calling - - media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity); - -This function must be called during the cleanup phase after unregistering the -entity. Note that the media_entity instance itself must be freed explicitly by -the driver if required. - -Entities have flags that describe the entity capabilities and state. - - MEDIA_ENT_FL_DEFAULT indicates the default entity for a given type. - This can be used to report the default audio and video devices or the - default camera sensor. - -Logical entity groups can be defined by setting the group ID of all member -entities to the same non-zero value. An entity group serves no purpose in the -kernel, but is reported to userspace during entities enumeration. The group_id -field belongs to the media device driver and must not by touched by entity -drivers. - -Media device drivers should define groups if several entities are logically -bound together. Example usages include reporting - - - ALSA, VBI and video nodes that carry the same media stream - - lens and flash controllers associated with a sensor - -- Pads - -Pads are represented by a struct media_pad instance, defined in -include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores its pads in a pads array -managed by the entity driver. Drivers usually embed the array in a -driver-specific structure. - -Pads are identified by their entity and their 0-based index in the pads array. -Both information are stored in the media_pad structure, making the media_pad -pointer the canonical way to store and pass link references. - -Pads have flags that describe the pad capabilities and state. - - MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK indicates that the pad supports sinking data. - MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE indicates that the pad supports sourcing data. - -One and only one of MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK and MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE must be set for -each pad. - -- Links - -Links are represented by a struct media_link instance, defined in -include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores all links originating at or -targeting any of its pads in a links array. A given link is thus stored -twice, once in the source entity and once in the target entity. The array is -pre-allocated and grows dynamically as needed. - -Drivers create links by calling - - media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad, - struct media_entity *sink, u16 sink_pad, - u32 flags); - -An entry in the link array of each entity is allocated and stores pointers -to source and sink pads. - -Links have flags that describe the link capabilities and state. - - MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED indicates that the link is enabled and can be used - to transfer media data. When two or more links target a sink pad, only - one of them can be enabled at a time. - MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE indicates that the link enabled state can't be - modified at runtime. If MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE is set, then - MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED must also be set since an immutable link is always - enabled. - - -Graph traversal ---------------- - -The media framework provides APIs to iterate over entities in a graph. - -To iterate over all entities belonging to a media device, drivers can use the -media_device_for_each_entity macro, defined in include/media/media-device.h. - - struct media_entity *entity; - - media_device_for_each_entity(entity, mdev) { - /* entity will point to each entity in turn */ - ... - } - -Drivers might also need to iterate over all entities in a graph that can be -reached only through enabled links starting at a given entity. The media -framework provides a depth-first graph traversal API for that purpose. - -Note that graphs with cycles (whether directed or undirected) are *NOT* -supported by the graph traversal API. To prevent infinite loops, the graph -traversal code limits the maximum depth to MEDIA_ENTITY_ENUM_MAX_DEPTH, -currently defined as 16. - -Drivers initiate a graph traversal by calling - - media_entity_graph_walk_start(struct media_entity_graph *graph, - struct media_entity *entity); - -The graph structure, provided by the caller, is initialized to start graph -traversal at the given entity. - -Drivers can then retrieve the next entity by calling - - media_entity_graph_walk_next(struct media_entity_graph *graph); - -When the graph traversal is complete the function will return NULL. - -Graph traversal can be interrupted at any moment. No cleanup function call is -required and the graph structure can be freed normally. - -Helper functions can be used to find a link between two given pads, or a pad -connected to another pad through an enabled link - - media_entity_find_link(struct media_pad *source, - struct media_pad *sink); - - media_entity_remote_pad(struct media_pad *pad); - -Refer to the kerneldoc documentation for more information. - - -Use count and power handling ----------------------------- - -Due to the wide differences between drivers regarding power management needs, -the media controller does not implement power management. However, the -media_entity structure includes a use_count field that media drivers can use to -track the number of users of every entity for power management needs. - -The use_count field is owned by media drivers and must not be touched by entity -drivers. Access to the field must be protected by the media device graph_mutex -lock. - - -Links setup ------------ - -Link properties can be modified at runtime by calling - - media_entity_setup_link(struct media_link *link, u32 flags); - -The flags argument contains the requested new link flags. - -The only configurable property is the ENABLED link flag to enable/disable a -link. Links marked with the IMMUTABLE link flag can not be enabled or disabled. - -When a link is enabled or disabled, the media framework calls the -link_setup operation for the two entities at the source and sink of the link, -in that order. If the second link_setup call fails, another link_setup call is -made on the first entity to restore the original link flags. - -Media device drivers can be notified of link setup operations by setting the -media_device::link_notify pointer to a callback function. If provided, the -notification callback will be called before enabling and after disabling -links. - -Entity drivers must implement the link_setup operation if any of their links -is non-immutable. The operation must either configure the hardware or store -the configuration information to be applied later. - -Link configuration must not have any side effect on other links. If an enabled -link at a sink pad prevents another link at the same pad from being enabled, -the link_setup operation must return -EBUSY and can't implicitly disable the -first enabled link. - - -Pipelines and media streams ---------------------------- - -When starting streaming, drivers must notify all entities in the pipeline to -prevent link states from being modified during streaming by calling - - media_entity_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity, - struct media_pipeline *pipe); - -The function will mark all entities connected to the given entity through -enabled links, either directly or indirectly, as streaming. - -The media_pipeline instance pointed to by the pipe argument will be stored in -every entity in the pipeline. Drivers should embed the media_pipeline structure -in higher-level pipeline structures and can then access the pipeline through -the media_entity pipe field. - -Calls to media_entity_pipeline_start() can be nested. The pipeline pointer must -be identical for all nested calls to the function. - -media_entity_pipeline_start() may return an error. In that case, it will -clean up any of the changes it did by itself. - -When stopping the stream, drivers must notify the entities with - - media_entity_pipeline_stop(struct media_entity *entity); - -If multiple calls to media_entity_pipeline_start() have been made the same -number of media_entity_pipeline_stop() calls are required to stop streaming. The -media_entity pipe field is reset to NULL on the last nested stop call. - -Link configuration will fail with -EBUSY by default if either end of the link is -a streaming entity. Links that can be modified while streaming must be marked -with the MEDIA_LNK_FL_DYNAMIC flag. - -If other operations need to be disallowed on streaming entities (such as -changing entities configuration parameters) drivers can explicitly check the -media_entity stream_count field to find out if an entity is streaming. This -operation must be done with the media_device graph_mutex held. - - -Link validation ---------------- - -Link validation is performed by media_entity_pipeline_start() for any -entity which has sink pads in the pipeline. The -media_entity::link_validate() callback is used for that purpose. In -link_validate() callback, entity driver should check that the properties of -the source pad of the connected entity and its own sink pad match. It is up -to the type of the entity (and in the end, the properties of the hardware) -what matching actually means. - -Subsystems should facilitate link validation by providing subsystem specific -helper functions to provide easy access for commonly needed information, and -in the end provide a way to use driver-specific callbacks. |