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diff --git a/Documentation/i2c/instantiating-devices b/Documentation/i2c/instantiating-devices new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..b55ce57a84db --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/i2c/instantiating-devices @@ -0,0 +1,167 @@ +How to instantiate I2C devices +============================== + +Unlike PCI or USB devices, I2C devices are not enumerated at the hardware +level. Instead, the software must know which devices are connected on each +I2C bus segment, and what address these devices are using. For this +reason, the kernel code must instantiate I2C devices explicitly. There are +several ways to achieve this, depending on the context and requirements. + + +Method 1: Declare the I2C devices by bus number +----------------------------------------------- + +This method is appropriate when the I2C bus is a system bus as is the case +for many embedded systems. On such systems, each I2C bus has a number +which is known in advance. It is thus possible to pre-declare the I2C +devices which live on this bus. This is done with an array of struct +i2c_board_info which is registered by calling i2c_register_board_info(). + +Example (from omap2 h4): + +static struct i2c_board_info __initdata h4_i2c_board_info[] = { + { + I2C_BOARD_INFO("isp1301_omap", 0x2d), + .irq = OMAP_GPIO_IRQ(125), + }, + { /* EEPROM on mainboard */ + I2C_BOARD_INFO("24c01", 0x52), + .platform_data = &m24c01, + }, + { /* EEPROM on cpu card */ + I2C_BOARD_INFO("24c01", 0x57), + .platform_data = &m24c01, + }, +}; + +static void __init omap_h4_init(void) +{ + (...) + i2c_register_board_info(1, h4_i2c_board_info, + ARRAY_SIZE(h4_i2c_board_info)); + (...) +} + +The above code declares 3 devices on I2C bus 1, including their respective +addresses and custom data needed by their drivers. When the I2C bus in +question is registered, the I2C devices will be instantiated automatically +by i2c-core. + +The devices will be automatically unbound and destroyed when the I2C bus +they sit on goes away (if ever.) + + +Method 2: Instantiate the devices explicitly +-------------------------------------------- + +This method is appropriate when a larger device uses an I2C bus for +internal communication. A typical case is TV adapters. These can have a +tuner, a video decoder, an audio decoder, etc. usually connected to the +main chip by the means of an I2C bus. You won't know the number of the I2C +bus in advance, so the method 1 described above can't be used. Instead, +you can instantiate your I2C devices explicitly. This is done by filling +a struct i2c_board_info and calling i2c_new_device(). + +Example (from the sfe4001 network driver): + +static struct i2c_board_info sfe4001_hwmon_info = { + I2C_BOARD_INFO("max6647", 0x4e), +}; + +int sfe4001_init(struct efx_nic *efx) +{ + (...) + efx->board_info.hwmon_client = + i2c_new_device(&efx->i2c_adap, &sfe4001_hwmon_info); + + (...) +} + +The above code instantiates 1 I2C device on the I2C bus which is on the +network adapter in question. + +A variant of this is when you don't know for sure if an I2C device is +present or not (for example for an optional feature which is not present +on cheap variants of a board but you have no way to tell them apart), or +it may have different addresses from one board to the next (manufacturer +changing its design without notice). In this case, you can call +i2c_new_probed_device() instead of i2c_new_device(). + +Example (from the pnx4008 OHCI driver): + +static const unsigned short normal_i2c[] = { 0x2c, 0x2d, I2C_CLIENT_END }; + +static int __devinit usb_hcd_pnx4008_probe(struct platform_device *pdev) +{ + (...) + struct i2c_adapter *i2c_adap; + struct i2c_board_info i2c_info; + + (...) + i2c_adap = i2c_get_adapter(2); + memset(&i2c_info, 0, sizeof(struct i2c_board_info)); + strlcpy(i2c_info.name, "isp1301_pnx", I2C_NAME_SIZE); + isp1301_i2c_client = i2c_new_probed_device(i2c_adap, &i2c_info, + normal_i2c); + i2c_put_adapter(i2c_adap); + (...) +} + +The above code instantiates up to 1 I2C device on the I2C bus which is on +the OHCI adapter in question. It first tries at address 0x2c, if nothing +is found there it tries address 0x2d, and if still nothing is found, it +simply gives up. + +The driver which instantiated the I2C device is responsible for destroying +it on cleanup. This is done by calling i2c_unregister_device() on the +pointer that was earlier returned by i2c_new_device() or +i2c_new_probed_device(). + + +Method 3: Probe an I2C bus for certain devices +---------------------------------------------- + +Sometimes you do not have enough information about an I2C device, not even +to call i2c_new_probed_device(). The typical case is hardware monitoring +chips on PC mainboards. There are several dozen models, which can live +at 25 different addresses. Given the huge number of mainboards out there, +it is next to impossible to build an exhaustive list of the hardware +monitoring chips being used. Fortunately, most of these chips have +manufacturer and device ID registers, so they can be identified by +probing. + +In that case, I2C devices are neither declared nor instantiated +explicitly. Instead, i2c-core will probe for such devices as soon as their +drivers are loaded, and if any is found, an I2C device will be +instantiated automatically. In order to prevent any misbehavior of this +mechanism, the following restrictions apply: +* The I2C device driver must implement the detect() method, which + identifies a supported device by reading from arbitrary registers. +* Only buses which are likely to have a supported device and agree to be + probed, will be probed. For example this avoids probing for hardware + monitoring chips on a TV adapter. + +Example: +See lm90_driver and lm90_detect() in drivers/hwmon/lm90.c + +I2C devices instantiated as a result of such a successful probe will be +destroyed automatically when the driver which detected them is removed, +or when the underlying I2C bus is itself destroyed, whichever happens +first. + +Those of you familiar with the i2c subsystem of 2.4 kernels and early 2.6 +kernels will find out that this method 3 is essentially similar to what +was done there. Two significant differences are: +* Probing is only one way to instantiate I2C devices now, while it was the + only way back then. Where possible, methods 1 and 2 should be preferred. + Method 3 should only be used when there is no other way, as it can have + undesirable side effects. +* I2C buses must now explicitly say which I2C driver classes can probe + them (by the means of the class bitfield), while all I2C buses were + probed by default back then. The default is an empty class which means + that no probing happens. The purpose of the class bitfield is to limit + the aforementioned undesirable side effects. + +Once again, method 3 should be avoided wherever possible. Explicit device +instantiation (methods 1 and 2) is much preferred for it is safer and +faster. |