aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Documentation
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/board.txt115
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/consumer.txt197
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/driver.txt75
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt (renamed from Documentation/gpio.txt)0
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/gpio.txt119
-rw-r--r--Documentation/gpio/sysfs.txt155
6 files changed, 661 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/board.txt b/Documentation/gpio/board.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0d03506f2cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/board.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+GPIO Mappings
+=============
+
+This document explains how GPIOs can be assigned to given devices and functions.
+Note that it only applies to the new descriptor-based interface. For a
+description of the deprecated integer-based GPIO interface please refer to
+gpio-legacy.txt (actually, there is no real mapping possible with the old
+interface; you just fetch an integer from somewhere and request the
+corresponding GPIO.
+
+Platforms that make use of GPIOs must select ARCH_REQUIRE_GPIOLIB (if GPIO usage
+is mandatory) or ARCH_WANT_OPTIONAL_GPIOLIB (if GPIO support can be omitted) in
+their Kconfig. Then, how GPIOs are mapped depends on what the platform uses to
+describe its hardware layout. Currently, mappings can be defined through device
+tree, ACPI, and platform data.
+
+Device Tree
+-----------
+GPIOs can easily be mapped to devices and functions in the device tree. The
+exact way to do it depends on the GPIO controller providing the GPIOs, see the
+device tree bindings for your controller.
+
+GPIOs mappings are defined in the consumer device's node, in a property named
+<function>-gpios, where <function> is the function the driver will request
+through gpiod_get(). For example:
+
+ foo_device {
+ compatible = "acme,foo";
+ ...
+ led-gpios = <&gpio 15 GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH>, /* red */
+ <&gpio 16 GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH>, /* green */
+ <&gpio 17 GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH>; /* blue */
+
+ power-gpio = <&gpio 1 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
+ };
+
+This property will make GPIOs 15, 16 and 17 available to the driver under the
+"led" function, and GPIO 1 as the "power" GPIO:
+
+ struct gpio_desc *red, *green, *blue, *power;
+
+ red = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 0);
+ green = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 1);
+ blue = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 2);
+
+ power = gpiod_get(dev, "power");
+
+The led GPIOs will be active-high, while the power GPIO will be active-low (i.e.
+gpiod_is_active_low(power) will be true).
+
+ACPI
+----
+ACPI does not support function names for GPIOs. Therefore, only the "idx"
+argument of gpiod_get_index() is useful to discriminate between GPIOs assigned
+to a device. The "con_id" argument can still be set for debugging purposes (it
+will appear under error messages as well as debug and sysfs nodes).
+
+Platform Data
+-------------
+Finally, GPIOs can be bound to devices and functions using platform data. Board
+files that desire to do so need to include the following header:
+
+ #include <linux/gpio/driver.h>
+
+GPIOs are mapped by the means of tables of lookups, containing instances of the
+gpiod_lookup structure. Two macros are defined to help declaring such mappings:
+
+ GPIO_LOOKUP(chip_label, chip_hwnum, dev_id, con_id, flags)
+ GPIO_LOOKUP_IDX(chip_label, chip_hwnum, dev_id, con_id, idx, flags)
+
+where
+
+ - chip_label is the label of the gpiod_chip instance providing the GPIO
+ - chip_hwnum is the hardware number of the GPIO within the chip
+ - dev_id is the identifier of the device that will make use of this GPIO. If
+ NULL, the GPIO will be available to all devices.
+ - con_id is the name of the GPIO function from the device point of view. It
+ can be NULL.
+ - idx is the index of the GPIO within the function.
+ - flags is defined to specify the following properties:
+ * GPIOF_ACTIVE_LOW - to configure the GPIO as active-low
+ * GPIOF_OPEN_DRAIN - GPIO pin is open drain type.
+ * GPIOF_OPEN_SOURCE - GPIO pin is open source type.
+
+In the future, these flags might be extended to support more properties.
+
+Note that GPIO_LOOKUP() is just a shortcut to GPIO_LOOKUP_IDX() where idx = 0.
+
+A lookup table can then be defined as follows:
+
+ struct gpiod_lookup gpios_table[] = {
+ GPIO_LOOKUP_IDX("gpio.0", 15, "foo.0", "led", 0, GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH),
+ GPIO_LOOKUP_IDX("gpio.0", 16, "foo.0", "led", 1, GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH),
+ GPIO_LOOKUP_IDX("gpio.0", 17, "foo.0", "led", 2, GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH),
+ GPIO_LOOKUP("gpio.0", 1, "foo.0", "power", GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW),
+ };
+
+And the table can be added by the board code as follows:
+
+ gpiod_add_table(gpios_table, ARRAY_SIZE(gpios_table));
+
+The driver controlling "foo.0" will then be able to obtain its GPIOs as follows:
+
+ struct gpio_desc *red, *green, *blue, *power;
+
+ red = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 0);
+ green = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 1);
+ blue = gpiod_get_index(dev, "led", 2);
+
+ power = gpiod_get(dev, "power");
+ gpiod_direction_output(power, 1);
+
+Since the "power" GPIO is mapped as active-low, its actual signal will be 0
+after this code. Contrary to the legacy integer GPIO interface, the active-low
+property is handled during mapping and is thus transparent to GPIO consumers.
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/consumer.txt b/Documentation/gpio/consumer.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07c74a3765a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/consumer.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+GPIO Descriptor Consumer Interface
+==================================
+
+This document describes the consumer interface of the GPIO framework. Note that
+it describes the new descriptor-based interface. For a description of the
+deprecated integer-based GPIO interface please refer to gpio-legacy.txt.
+
+
+Guidelines for GPIOs consumers
+==============================
+
+Drivers that can't work without standard GPIO calls should have Kconfig entries
+that depend on GPIOLIB. The functions that allow a driver to obtain and use
+GPIOs are available by including the following file:
+
+ #include <linux/gpio/consumer.h>
+
+All the functions that work with the descriptor-based GPIO interface are
+prefixed with gpiod_. The gpio_ prefix is used for the legacy interface. No
+other function in the kernel should use these prefixes.
+
+
+Obtaining and Disposing GPIOs
+=============================
+
+With the descriptor-based interface, GPIOs are identified with an opaque,
+non-forgeable handler that must be obtained through a call to one of the
+gpiod_get() functions. Like many other kernel subsystems, gpiod_get() takes the
+device that will use the GPIO and the function the requested GPIO is supposed to
+fulfill:
+
+ struct gpio_desc *gpiod_get(struct device *dev, const char *con_id)
+
+If a function is implemented by using several GPIOs together (e.g. a simple LED
+device that displays digits), an additional index argument can be specified:
+
+ struct gpio_desc *gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
+ const char *con_id, unsigned int idx)
+
+Both functions return either a valid GPIO descriptor, or an error code checkable
+with IS_ERR(). They will never return a NULL pointer.
+
+Device-managed variants of these functions are also defined:
+
+ struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get(struct device *dev, const char *con_id)
+
+ struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
+ const char *con_id,
+ unsigned int idx)
+
+A GPIO descriptor can be disposed of using the gpiod_put() function:
+
+ void gpiod_put(struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+It is strictly forbidden to use a descriptor after calling this function. The
+device-managed variant is, unsurprisingly:
+
+ void devm_gpiod_put(struct device *dev, struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+
+Using GPIOs
+===========
+
+Setting Direction
+-----------------
+The first thing a driver must do with a GPIO is setting its direction. This is
+done by invoking one of the gpiod_direction_*() functions:
+
+ int gpiod_direction_input(struct gpio_desc *desc)
+ int gpiod_direction_output(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
+
+The return value is zero for success, else a negative errno. It should be
+checked, since the get/set calls don't return errors and since misconfiguration
+is possible. You should normally issue these calls from a task context. However,
+for spinlock-safe GPIOs it is 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.
+
+A driver can also query the current direction of a GPIO:
+
+ int gpiod_get_direction(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+This function will return either GPIOF_DIR_IN or GPIOF_DIR_OUT.
+
+Be aware that there is no default direction for GPIOs. Therefore, **using a GPIO
+without setting its direction first is illegal and will result in undefined
+behavior!**
+
+
+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 (non-threaded) IRQ
+handlers and similar contexts.
+
+Use the following calls to access GPIOs from an atomic context:
+
+ int gpiod_get_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc);
+ void gpiod_set_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, 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 do not return errors because "invalid GPIO" should have been
+reported earlier from gpiod_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.
+
+
+GPIO Access That May Sleep
+--------------------------
+Some GPIO controllers must be accessed using message based buses 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:
+
+ int gpiod_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+To access such GPIOs, a different set of accessors is defined:
+
+ int gpiod_get_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+ void gpiod_set_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, 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.
+
+
+Active-low State and Raw GPIO Values
+------------------------------------
+Device drivers like to manage the logical state of a GPIO, i.e. the value their
+device will actually receive, no matter what lies between it and the GPIO line.
+In some cases, it might make sense to control the actual GPIO line value. The
+following set of calls ignore the active-low property of a GPIO and work on the
+raw line value:
+
+ int gpiod_get_raw_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+ void gpiod_set_raw_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
+ int gpiod_get_raw_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+ void gpiod_set_raw_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
+
+The active-low state of a GPIO can also be queried using the following call:
+
+ int gpiod_is_active_low(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+Note that these functions should only be used with great moderation ; a driver
+should not have to care about the physical line level.
+
+GPIOs mapped to IRQs
+--------------------
+GPIO lines can quite often be used as IRQs. You can get the IRQ number
+corresponding to a given GPIO using the following call:
+
+ int gpiod_to_irq(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+It will return an IRQ number, or an negative errno code if the mapping can't be
+done (most likely because that particular GPIO cannot be used as IRQ). It is an
+unchecked error to use a GPIO that wasn't set up as an input using
+gpiod_direction_input(), or to use an IRQ number that didn't originally come
+from gpiod_to_irq(). gpiod_to_irq() is not allowed to sleep.
+
+Non-error values returned from gpiod_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.
+
+
+Interacting With the Legacy GPIO Subsystem
+==========================================
+Many kernel subsystems still handle GPIOs using the legacy integer-based
+interface. Although it is strongly encouraged to upgrade them to the safer
+descriptor-based API, the following two functions allow you to convert a GPIO
+descriptor into the GPIO integer namespace and vice-versa:
+
+ int desc_to_gpio(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
+ struct gpio_desc *gpio_to_desc(unsigned gpio)
+
+The GPIO number returned by desc_to_gpio() can be safely used as long as the
+GPIO descriptor has not been freed. All the same, a GPIO number passed to
+gpio_to_desc() must have been properly acquired, and usage of the returned GPIO
+descriptor is only possible after the GPIO number has been released.
+
+Freeing a GPIO obtained by one API with the other API is forbidden and an
+unchecked error.
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt b/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9da0bfa7478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/driver.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+GPIO Descriptor Driver Interface
+================================
+
+This document serves as a guide for GPIO chip drivers writers. Note that it
+describes the new descriptor-based interface. For a description of the
+deprecated integer-based GPIO interface please refer to gpio-legacy.txt.
+
+Each GPIO controller driver needs to include the following header, which defines
+the structures used to define a GPIO driver:
+
+ #include <linux/gpio/driver.h>
+
+
+Internal Representation of GPIOs
+================================
+
+Inside a GPIO driver, individual GPIOs are identified by their hardware number,
+which is a unique number between 0 and n, n being the number of GPIOs managed by
+the chip. This number is purely internal: the hardware number of a particular
+GPIO descriptor is never made visible outside of the driver.
+
+On top of this internal number, each GPIO also need to have a global number in
+the integer GPIO namespace so that it can be used with the legacy GPIO
+interface. Each chip must thus have a "base" number (which can be automatically
+assigned), and for each GPIO the global number will be (base + hardware number).
+Although the integer representation is considered deprecated, it still has many
+users and thus needs to be maintained.
+
+So for example one platform could use numbers 32-159 for GPIOs, with a
+controller defining 128 GPIOs at a "base" of 32 ; while another platform 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.
+
+
+Controller Drivers: gpio_chip
+=============================
+
+In the gpiolib framework each GPIO controller is packaged as a "struct
+gpio_chip" (see linux/gpio/driver.h for its complete definition) with members
+common to each controller of that type:
+
+ - methods to establish GPIO direction
+ - methods used to access GPIO values
+ - method to return the IRQ number associated to a given GPIO
+ - flag saying whether calls to its methods may sleep
+ - optional debugfs dump method (showing extra state like pullup config)
+ - optional base number (will be automatically assigned if omitted)
+ - label for diagnostics and GPIOs mapping using platform data
+
+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.
+
+Locking IRQ usage
+-----------------
+Input GPIOs can be used as IRQ signals. When this happens, a driver is requested
+to mark the GPIO as being used as an IRQ:
+
+ int gpiod_lock_as_irq(struct gpio_desc *desc)
+
+This will prevent the use of non-irq related GPIO APIs until the GPIO IRQ lock
+is released:
+
+ void gpiod_unlock_as_irq(struct gpio_desc *desc)
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio.txt b/Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt
index 6f83fa965b4..6f83fa965b4 100644
--- a/Documentation/gpio.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/gpio-legacy.txt
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/gpio.txt b/Documentation/gpio/gpio.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cd9b356e88c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/gpio.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+GPIO Interfaces
+===============
+
+The documents in this directory give detailed instructions on how to access
+GPIOs in drivers, and how to write a driver for a device that provides GPIOs
+itself.
+
+Due to the history of GPIO interfaces in the kernel, there are two different
+ways to obtain and use GPIOs:
+
+ - The descriptor-based interface is the preferred way to manipulate GPIOs,
+and is described by all the files in this directory excepted gpio-legacy.txt.
+ - The legacy integer-based interface which is considered deprecated (but still
+usable for compatibility reasons) is documented in gpio-legacy.txt.
+
+The remainder of this document applies to the new descriptor-based interface.
+gpio-legacy.txt contains the same information applied to the legacy
+integer-based interface.
+
+
+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 buses.
+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 write-protect status, driving
+a LED, configuring a transceiver, bit-banging a serial bus, poking a hardware
+watchdog, sensing a switch, and so on.
+
+
+Common GPIO Properties
+======================
+
+These properties are met through all the other documents of the GPIO interface
+and it is useful to understand them, especially if you need to define GPIO
+mappings.
+
+Active-High and Active-Low
+--------------------------
+It is natural to assume that a GPIO is "active" when its output signal is 1
+("high"), and inactive when it is 0 ("low"). However in practice the signal of a
+GPIO may be inverted before is reaches its destination, or a device could decide
+to have different conventions about what "active" means. Such decisions should
+be transparent to device drivers, therefore it is possible to define a GPIO as
+being either active-high ("1" means "active", the default) or active-low ("0"
+means "active") so that drivers only need to worry about the logical signal and
+not about what happens at the line level.
+
+Open Drain and Open Source
+--------------------------
+Sometimes shared signals need to use "open drain" (where only the low signal
+level is actually driven), or "open source" (where only the high signal level is
+driven) signaling. That term applies to CMOS transistors; "open collector" is
+used for TTL. A pullup or pulldown resistor causes the high or low 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 and open source 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: gpiod_direction_output(gpio, 0) ... this drives the signal and overrides
+ the pullup.
+
+ HIGH: gpiod_direction_input(gpio) ... this turns off the output, so the pullup
+ (or some other device) controls the signal.
+
+The same logic can be applied to emulate open source signaling, by driving the
+high signal and configuring the GPIO as input for low. This open drain/open
+source emulation can be handled transparently by the GPIO framework.
+
+If you are "driving" the signal high but gpiod_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.
diff --git a/Documentation/gpio/sysfs.txt b/Documentation/gpio/sysfs.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c2c3a97f8ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/gpio/sysfs.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+GPIO Sysfs Interface for Userspace
+==================================
+
+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 gpiod_export(struct gpio_desc *desc, bool direction_may_change);
+
+ /* reverse gpio_export() */
+ void gpiod_unexport(struct gpio_desc *desc);
+
+ /* create a sysfs link to an exported GPIO node */
+ int gpiod_export_link(struct device *dev, const char *name,
+ struct gpio_desc *desc);
+
+ /* change the polarity of a GPIO node in sysfs */
+ int gpiod_sysfs_set_active_low(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value);
+
+After a kernel driver requests a GPIO, it may only be made available in
+the sysfs interface by gpiod_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, gpiod_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 gpiod_sysfs_set_active_low() to hide GPIO line polarity
+differences between boards from user space. Polarity change can be done both
+before and after gpiod_export(), and previously enabled poll(2) support for
+either rising or falling edge will be reconfigured to follow this setting.