1 GPIO Descriptor Consumer Interface
2 ==================================
4 This document describes the consumer interface of the GPIO framework. Note that
5 it describes the new descriptor-based interface. For a description of the
6 deprecated integer-based GPIO interface please refer to gpio-legacy.txt.
9 Guidelines for GPIOs consumers
10 ==============================
12 Drivers that can't work without standard GPIO calls should have Kconfig entries
13 that depend on GPIOLIB. The functions that allow a driver to obtain and use
14 GPIOs are available by including the following file:
16 #include <linux/gpio/consumer.h>
18 All the functions that work with the descriptor-based GPIO interface are
19 prefixed with gpiod_. The gpio_ prefix is used for the legacy interface. No
20 other function in the kernel should use these prefixes.
23 Obtaining and Disposing GPIOs
24 =============================
26 With the descriptor-based interface, GPIOs are identified with an opaque,
27 non-forgeable handler that must be obtained through a call to one of the
28 gpiod_get() functions. Like many other kernel subsystems, gpiod_get() takes the
29 device that will use the GPIO and the function the requested GPIO is supposed to
32 struct gpio_desc *gpiod_get(struct device *dev, const char *con_id)
34 If a function is implemented by using several GPIOs together (e.g. a simple LED
35 device that displays digits), an additional index argument can be specified:
37 struct gpio_desc *gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
38 const char *con_id, unsigned int idx)
40 Both functions return either a valid GPIO descriptor, or an error code checkable
41 with IS_ERR() (they will never return a NULL pointer). -ENOENT will be returned
42 if and only if no GPIO has been assigned to the device/function/index triplet,
43 other error codes are used for cases where a GPIO has been assigned but an error
44 occured while trying to acquire it. This is useful to discriminate between mere
45 errors and an absence of GPIO for optional GPIO parameters.
47 Device-managed variants of these functions are also defined:
49 struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get(struct device *dev, const char *con_id)
51 struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
55 A GPIO descriptor can be disposed of using the gpiod_put() function:
57 void gpiod_put(struct gpio_desc *desc)
59 It is strictly forbidden to use a descriptor after calling this function. The
60 device-managed variant is, unsurprisingly:
62 void devm_gpiod_put(struct device *dev, struct gpio_desc *desc)
70 The first thing a driver must do with a GPIO is setting its direction. This is
71 done by invoking one of the gpiod_direction_*() functions:
73 int gpiod_direction_input(struct gpio_desc *desc)
74 int gpiod_direction_output(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
76 The return value is zero for success, else a negative errno. It should be
77 checked, since the get/set calls don't return errors and since misconfiguration
78 is possible. You should normally issue these calls from a task context. However,
79 for spinlock-safe GPIOs it is OK to use them before tasking is enabled, as part
82 For output GPIOs, the value provided becomes the initial output value. This
83 helps avoid signal glitching during system startup.
85 A driver can also query the current direction of a GPIO:
87 int gpiod_get_direction(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
89 This function will return either GPIOF_DIR_IN or GPIOF_DIR_OUT.
91 Be aware that there is no default direction for GPIOs. Therefore, **using a GPIO
92 without setting its direction first is illegal and will result in undefined
96 Spinlock-Safe GPIO Access
97 -------------------------
98 Most GPIO controllers can be accessed with memory read/write instructions. Those
99 don't need to sleep, and can safely be done from inside hard (non-threaded) IRQ
100 handlers and similar contexts.
102 Use the following calls to access GPIOs from an atomic context:
104 int gpiod_get_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc);
105 void gpiod_set_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value);
107 The values are boolean, zero for low, nonzero for high. When reading the value
108 of an output pin, the value returned should be what's seen on the pin. That
109 won't always match the specified output value, because of issues including
110 open-drain signaling and output latencies.
112 The get/set calls do not return errors because "invalid GPIO" should have been
113 reported earlier from gpiod_direction_*(). However, note that not all platforms
114 can read the value of output pins; those that can't should always return zero.
115 Also, using these calls for GPIOs that can't safely be accessed without sleeping
116 (see below) is an error.
119 GPIO Access That May Sleep
120 --------------------------
121 Some GPIO controllers must be accessed using message based buses like I2C or
122 SPI. Commands to read or write those GPIO values require waiting to get to the
123 head of a queue to transmit a command and get its response. This requires
124 sleeping, which can't be done from inside IRQ handlers.
126 Platforms that support this type of GPIO distinguish them from other GPIOs by
127 returning nonzero from this call:
129 int gpiod_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
131 To access such GPIOs, a different set of accessors is defined:
133 int gpiod_get_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
134 void gpiod_set_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
136 Accessing such GPIOs requires a context which may sleep, for example a threaded
137 IRQ handler, and those accessors must be used instead of spinlock-safe
138 accessors without the cansleep() name suffix.
140 Other than the fact that these accessors might sleep, and will work on GPIOs
141 that can't be accessed from hardIRQ handlers, these calls act the same as the
145 Active-low State and Raw GPIO Values
146 ------------------------------------
147 Device drivers like to manage the logical state of a GPIO, i.e. the value their
148 device will actually receive, no matter what lies between it and the GPIO line.
149 In some cases, it might make sense to control the actual GPIO line value. The
150 following set of calls ignore the active-low property of a GPIO and work on the
153 int gpiod_get_raw_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
154 void gpiod_set_raw_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
155 int gpiod_get_raw_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
156 void gpiod_set_raw_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
158 The active-low state of a GPIO can also be queried using the following call:
160 int gpiod_is_active_low(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
162 Note that these functions should only be used with great moderation ; a driver
163 should not have to care about the physical line level.
167 GPIO lines can quite often be used as IRQs. You can get the IRQ number
168 corresponding to a given GPIO using the following call:
170 int gpiod_to_irq(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
172 It will return an IRQ number, or an negative errno code if the mapping can't be
173 done (most likely because that particular GPIO cannot be used as IRQ). It is an
174 unchecked error to use a GPIO that wasn't set up as an input using
175 gpiod_direction_input(), or to use an IRQ number that didn't originally come
176 from gpiod_to_irq(). gpiod_to_irq() is not allowed to sleep.
178 Non-error values returned from gpiod_to_irq() can be passed to request_irq() or
179 free_irq(). They will often be stored into IRQ resources for platform devices,
180 by the board-specific initialization code. Note that IRQ trigger options are
181 part of the IRQ interface, e.g. IRQF_TRIGGER_FALLING, as are system wakeup
185 Interacting With the Legacy GPIO Subsystem
186 ==========================================
187 Many kernel subsystems still handle GPIOs using the legacy integer-based
188 interface. Although it is strongly encouraged to upgrade them to the safer
189 descriptor-based API, the following two functions allow you to convert a GPIO
190 descriptor into the GPIO integer namespace and vice-versa:
192 int desc_to_gpio(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
193 struct gpio_desc *gpio_to_desc(unsigned gpio)
195 The GPIO number returned by desc_to_gpio() can be safely used as long as the
196 GPIO descriptor has not been freed. All the same, a GPIO number passed to
197 gpio_to_desc() must have been properly acquired, and usage of the returned GPIO
198 descriptor is only possible after the GPIO number has been released.
200 Freeing a GPIO obtained by one API with the other API is forbidden and an