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+GPIO Interfaces
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+
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+This provides an overview of GPIO access conventions on Linux.
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+
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+
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+What is a GPIO?
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+===============
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+A "General Purpose Input/Output" (GPIO) is a flexible software-controlled
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+digital signal. They are provided from many kinds of chip, and are familiar
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+to Linux developers working with embedded and custom hardware. Each GPIO
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+represents a bit connected to a particular pin, or "ball" on Ball Grid Array
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+(BGA) packages. Board schematics show which external hardware connects to
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+which GPIOs. Drivers can be written generically, so that board setup code
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+passes such pin configuration data to drivers.
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+
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+System-on-Chip (SOC) processors heavily rely on GPIOs. In some cases, every
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+non-dedicated pin can be configured as a GPIO; and most chips have at least
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+several dozen of them. Programmable logic devices (like FPGAs) can easily
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+provide GPIOs; multifunction chips like power managers, and audio codecs
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+often have a few such pins to help with pin scarcity on SOCs; and there are
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+also "GPIO Expander" chips that connect using the I2C or SPI serial busses.
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+Most PC southbridges have a few dozen GPIO-capable pins (with only the BIOS
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+firmware knowing how they're used).
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+
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+The exact capabilities of GPIOs vary between systems. Common options:
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+
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+ - Output values are writable (high=1, low=0). Some chips also have
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+ options about how that value is driven, so that for example only one
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+ value might be driven ... supporting "wire-OR" and similar schemes
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+ for the other value.
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+
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+ - Input values are likewise readable (1, 0). Some chips support readback
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+ of pins configured as "output", which is very useful in such "wire-OR"
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+ cases (to support bidirectional signaling). GPIO controllers may have
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+ input de-glitch logic, sometimes with software controls.
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+
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+ - Inputs can often be used as IRQ signals, often edge triggered but
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+ sometimes level triggered. Such IRQs may be configurable as system
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+ wakeup events, to wake the system from a low power state.
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+
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+ - Usually a GPIO will be configurable as either input or output, as needed
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+ by different product boards; single direction ones exist too.
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+
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+ - Most GPIOs can be accessed while holding spinlocks, but those accessed
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+ through a serial bus normally can't. Some systems support both types.
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+
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+On a given board each GPIO is used for one specific purpose like monitoring
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+MMC/SD card insertion/removal, detecting card writeprotect status, driving
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+a LED, configuring a transceiver, bitbanging a serial bus, poking a hardware
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+watchdog, sensing a switch, and so on.
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+
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+
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+GPIO conventions
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+================
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+Note that this is called a "convention" because you don't need to do it this
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+way, and it's no crime if you don't. There **are** cases where portability
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+is not the main issue; GPIOs are often used for the kind of board-specific
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+glue logic that may even change between board revisions, and can't ever be
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+used on a board that's wired differently. Only least-common-denominator
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+functionality can be very portable. Other features are platform-specific,
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+and that can be critical for glue logic.
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+
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+Plus, this doesn't define an implementation framework, just an interface.
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+One platform might implement it as simple inline functions accessing chip
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+registers; another might implement it by delegating through abstractions
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+used for several very different kinds of GPIO controller.
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+
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+That said, if the convention is supported on their platform, drivers should
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+use it when possible:
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+
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+ #include <asm/gpio.h>
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+
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+If you stick to this convention then it'll be easier for other developers to
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+see what your code is doing, and help maintain it.
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+
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+
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+Identifying GPIOs
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+-----------------
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+GPIOs are identified by unsigned integers in the range 0..MAX_INT. That
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+reserves "negative" numbers for other purposes like marking signals as
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+"not available on this board", or indicating faults.
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+
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+Platforms define how they use those integers, and usually #define symbols
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+for the GPIO lines so that board-specific setup code directly corresponds
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+to the relevant schematics. In contrast, drivers should only use GPIO
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+numbers passed to them from that setup code, using platform_data to hold
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+board-specific pin configuration data (along with other board specific
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+data they need). That avoids portability problems.
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+
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+So for example one platform uses numbers 32-159 for GPIOs; while another
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+uses numbers 0..63 with one set of GPIO controllers, 64-79 with another
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+type of GPIO controller, and on one particular board 80-95 with an FPGA.
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+The numbers need not be contiguous; either of those platforms could also
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+use numbers 2000-2063 to identify GPIOs in a bank of I2C GPIO expanders.
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+
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+Whether a platform supports multiple GPIO controllers is currently a
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+platform-specific implementation issue.
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+
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+
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+Using GPIOs
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+-----------
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+One of the first things to do with a GPIO, often in board setup code when
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+setting up a platform_device using the GPIO, is mark its direction:
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+
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+ /* set as input or output, returning 0 or negative errno */
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+ int gpio_direction_input(unsigned gpio);
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+ int gpio_direction_output(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+The return value is zero for success, else a negative errno. It should
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+be checked, since the get/set calls don't have error returns and since
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+misconfiguration is possible. (These calls could sleep.)
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+
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+Setting the direction can fail if the GPIO number is invalid, or when
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+that particular GPIO can't be used in that mode. It's generally a bad
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+idea to rely on boot firmware to have set the direction correctly, since
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+it probably wasn't validated to do more than boot Linux. (Similarly,
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+that board setup code probably needs to multiplex that pin as a GPIO,
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+and configure pullups/pulldowns appropriately.)
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+
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+
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+Spinlock-Safe GPIO access
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+-------------------------
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+Most GPIO controllers can be accessed with memory read/write instructions.
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+That doesn't need to sleep, and can safely be done from inside IRQ handlers.
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+
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+Use these calls to access such GPIOs:
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+
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+ /* GPIO INPUT: return zero or nonzero */
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+ int gpio_get_value(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+ /* GPIO OUTPUT */
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+ void gpio_set_value(unsigned gpio, int value);
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+
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+The values are boolean, zero for low, nonzero for high. When reading the
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+value of an output pin, the value returned should be what's seen on the
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+pin ... that won't always match the specified output value, because of
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+issues including wire-OR and output latencies.
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+
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+The get/set calls have no error returns because "invalid GPIO" should have
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+been reported earlier in gpio_set_direction(). However, note that not all
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+platforms can read the value of output pins; those that can't should always
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+return zero. Also, these calls will be ignored for GPIOs that can't safely
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+be accessed wihtout sleeping (see below).
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+
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+Platform-specific implementations are encouraged to optimise the two
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+calls to access the GPIO value in cases where the GPIO number (and for
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+output, value) are constant. It's normal for them to need only a couple
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+of instructions in such cases (reading or writing a hardware register),
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+and not to need spinlocks. Such optimized calls can make bitbanging
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+applications a lot more efficient (in both space and time) than spending
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+dozens of instructions on subroutine calls.
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+
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+
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+GPIO access that may sleep
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+--------------------------
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+Some GPIO controllers must be accessed using message based busses like I2C
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+or SPI. Commands to read or write those GPIO values require waiting to
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+get to the head of a queue to transmit a command and get its response.
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+This requires sleeping, which can't be done from inside IRQ handlers.
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+
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+Platforms that support this type of GPIO distinguish them from other GPIOs
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+by returning nonzero from this call:
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+
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+ int gpio_cansleep(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+To access such GPIOs, a different set of accessors is defined:
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+
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+ /* GPIO INPUT: return zero or nonzero, might sleep */
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+ int gpio_get_value_cansleep(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+ /* GPIO OUTPUT, might sleep */
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+ void gpio_set_value_cansleep(unsigned gpio, int value);
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+
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+Other than the fact that these calls might sleep, and will not be ignored
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+for GPIOs that can't be accessed from IRQ handlers, these calls act the
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+same as the spinlock-safe calls.
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+
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+
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+Claiming and Releasing GPIOs (OPTIONAL)
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+---------------------------------------
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+To help catch system configuration errors, two calls are defined.
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+However, many platforms don't currently support this mechanism.
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+
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+ /* request GPIO, returning 0 or negative errno.
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+ * non-null labels may be useful for diagnostics.
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+ */
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+ int gpio_request(unsigned gpio, const char *label);
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+
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+ /* release previously-claimed GPIO */
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+ void gpio_free(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+Passing invalid GPIO numbers to gpio_request() will fail, as will requesting
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+GPIOs that have already been claimed with that call. The return value of
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+gpio_request() must be checked. (These calls could sleep.)
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+
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+These calls serve two basic purposes. One is marking the signals which
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+are actually in use as GPIOs, for better diagnostics; systems may have
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+several hundred potential GPIOs, but often only a dozen are used on any
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+given board. Another is to catch conflicts between drivers, reporting
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+errors when drivers wrongly think they have exclusive use of that signal.
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+
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+These two calls are optional because not not all current Linux platforms
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+offer such functionality in their GPIO support; a valid implementation
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+could return success for all gpio_request() calls. Unlike the other calls,
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+the state they represent doesn't normally match anything from a hardware
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+register; it's just a software bitmap which clearly is not necessary for
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+correct operation of hardware or (bug free) drivers.
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+
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+Note that requesting a GPIO does NOT cause it to be configured in any
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+way; it just marks that GPIO as in use. Separate code must handle any
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+pin setup (e.g. controlling which pin the GPIO uses, pullup/pulldown).
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+
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+
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+GPIOs mapped to IRQs
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+--------------------
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+GPIO numbers are unsigned integers; so are IRQ numbers. These make up
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+two logically distinct namespaces (GPIO 0 need not use IRQ 0). You can
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+map between them using calls like:
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+
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+ /* map GPIO numbers to IRQ numbers */
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+ int gpio_to_irq(unsigned gpio);
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+
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+ /* map IRQ numbers to GPIO numbers */
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+ int irq_to_gpio(unsigned irq);
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+
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+Those return either the corresponding number in the other namespace, or
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+else a negative errno code if the mapping can't be done. (For example,
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+some GPIOs can't used as IRQs.) It is an unchecked error to use a GPIO
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+number that hasn't been marked as an input using gpio_set_direction(), or
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+to use an IRQ number that didn't originally come from gpio_to_irq().
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+
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+These two mapping calls are expected to cost on the order of a single
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+addition or subtraction. They're not allowed to sleep.
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+
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+Non-error values returned from gpio_to_irq() can be passed to request_irq()
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+or free_irq(). They will often be stored into IRQ resources for platform
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+devices, by the board-specific initialization code. Note that IRQ trigger
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+options are part of the IRQ interface, e.g. IRQF_TRIGGER_FALLING, as are
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+system wakeup capabilities.
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+
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+Non-error values returned from irq_to_gpio() would most commonly be used
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+with gpio_get_value().
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+
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+
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+
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+What do these conventions omit?
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+===============================
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+One of the biggest things these conventions omit is pin multiplexing, since
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+this is highly chip-specific and nonportable. One platform might not need
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+explicit multiplexing; another might have just two options for use of any
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+given pin; another might have eight options per pin; another might be able
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+to route a given GPIO to any one of several pins. (Yes, those examples all
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+come from systems that run Linux today.)
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+
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+Related to multiplexing is configuration and enabling of the pullups or
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+pulldowns integrated on some platforms. Not all platforms support them,
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+or support them in the same way; and any given board might use external
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+pullups (or pulldowns) so that the on-chip ones should not be used.
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+
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+There are other system-specific mechanisms that are not specified here,
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+like the aforementioned options for input de-glitching and wire-OR output.
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+Hardware may support reading or writing GPIOs in gangs, but that's usually
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+configuration dependednt: for GPIOs sharing the same bank. (GPIOs are
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+commonly grouped in banks of 16 or 32, with a given SOC having several such
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+banks.) Code relying on such mechanisms will necessarily be nonportable.
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+
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+Dynamic definition of GPIOs is not currently supported; for example, as
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+a side effect of configuring an add-on board with some GPIO expanders.
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+
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+These calls are purely for kernel space, but a userspace API could be built
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+on top of it.
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