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,
33 enum gpiod_flags flags)
35 If a function is implemented by using several GPIOs together (e.g. a simple LED
36 device that displays digits), an additional index argument can be specified:
38 struct gpio_desc *gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
39 const char *con_id, unsigned int idx,
40 enum gpiod_flags flags)
42 The flags parameter is used to optionally specify a direction and initial value
43 for the GPIO. Values can be:
45 * GPIOD_ASIS or 0 to not initialize the GPIO at all. The direction must be set
46 later with one of the dedicated functions.
47 * GPIOD_IN to initialize the GPIO as input.
48 * GPIOD_OUT_LOW to initialize the GPIO as output with a value of 0.
49 * GPIOD_OUT_HIGH to initialize the GPIO as output with a value of 1.
51 Both functions return either a valid GPIO descriptor, or an error code checkable
52 with IS_ERR() (they will never return a NULL pointer). -ENOENT will be returned
53 if and only if no GPIO has been assigned to the device/function/index triplet,
54 other error codes are used for cases where a GPIO has been assigned but an error
55 occurred while trying to acquire it. This is useful to discriminate between mere
56 errors and an absence of GPIO for optional GPIO parameters.
58 Device-managed variants of these functions are also defined:
60 struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get(struct device *dev, const char *con_id,
61 enum gpiod_flags flags)
63 struct gpio_desc *devm_gpiod_get_index(struct device *dev,
66 enum gpiod_flags flags)
68 A GPIO descriptor can be disposed of using the gpiod_put() function:
70 void gpiod_put(struct gpio_desc *desc)
72 It is strictly forbidden to use a descriptor after calling this function. The
73 device-managed variant is, unsurprisingly:
75 void devm_gpiod_put(struct device *dev, struct gpio_desc *desc)
83 The first thing a driver must do with a GPIO is setting its direction. If no
84 direction-setting flags have been given to gpiod_get*(), this is done by
85 invoking one of the gpiod_direction_*() functions:
87 int gpiod_direction_input(struct gpio_desc *desc)
88 int gpiod_direction_output(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
90 The return value is zero for success, else a negative errno. It should be
91 checked, since the get/set calls don't return errors and since misconfiguration
92 is possible. You should normally issue these calls from a task context. However,
93 for spinlock-safe GPIOs it is OK to use them before tasking is enabled, as part
96 For output GPIOs, the value provided becomes the initial output value. This
97 helps avoid signal glitching during system startup.
99 A driver can also query the current direction of a GPIO:
101 int gpiod_get_direction(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
103 This function will return either GPIOF_DIR_IN or GPIOF_DIR_OUT.
105 Be aware that there is no default direction for GPIOs. Therefore, **using a GPIO
106 without setting its direction first is illegal and will result in undefined
110 Spinlock-Safe GPIO Access
111 -------------------------
112 Most GPIO controllers can be accessed with memory read/write instructions. Those
113 don't need to sleep, and can safely be done from inside hard (non-threaded) IRQ
114 handlers and similar contexts.
116 Use the following calls to access GPIOs from an atomic context:
118 int gpiod_get_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc);
119 void gpiod_set_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value);
121 The values are boolean, zero for low, nonzero for high. When reading the value
122 of an output pin, the value returned should be what's seen on the pin. That
123 won't always match the specified output value, because of issues including
124 open-drain signaling and output latencies.
126 The get/set calls do not return errors because "invalid GPIO" should have been
127 reported earlier from gpiod_direction_*(). However, note that not all platforms
128 can read the value of output pins; those that can't should always return zero.
129 Also, using these calls for GPIOs that can't safely be accessed without sleeping
130 (see below) is an error.
133 GPIO Access That May Sleep
134 --------------------------
135 Some GPIO controllers must be accessed using message based buses like I2C or
136 SPI. Commands to read or write those GPIO values require waiting to get to the
137 head of a queue to transmit a command and get its response. This requires
138 sleeping, which can't be done from inside IRQ handlers.
140 Platforms that support this type of GPIO distinguish them from other GPIOs by
141 returning nonzero from this call:
143 int gpiod_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
145 To access such GPIOs, a different set of accessors is defined:
147 int gpiod_get_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
148 void gpiod_set_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
150 Accessing such GPIOs requires a context which may sleep, for example a threaded
151 IRQ handler, and those accessors must be used instead of spinlock-safe
152 accessors without the cansleep() name suffix.
154 Other than the fact that these accessors might sleep, and will work on GPIOs
155 that can't be accessed from hardIRQ handlers, these calls act the same as the
159 Active-low State and Raw GPIO Values
160 ------------------------------------
161 Device drivers like to manage the logical state of a GPIO, i.e. the value their
162 device will actually receive, no matter what lies between it and the GPIO line.
163 In some cases, it might make sense to control the actual GPIO line value. The
164 following set of calls ignore the active-low property of a GPIO and work on the
167 int gpiod_get_raw_value(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
168 void gpiod_set_raw_value(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
169 int gpiod_get_raw_value_cansleep(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
170 void gpiod_set_raw_value_cansleep(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
171 int gpiod_direction_output_raw(struct gpio_desc *desc, int value)
173 The active-low state of a GPIO can also be queried using the following call:
175 int gpiod_is_active_low(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
177 Note that these functions should only be used with great moderation ; a driver
178 should not have to care about the physical line level.
182 GPIO lines can quite often be used as IRQs. You can get the IRQ number
183 corresponding to a given GPIO using the following call:
185 int gpiod_to_irq(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
187 It will return an IRQ number, or an negative errno code if the mapping can't be
188 done (most likely because that particular GPIO cannot be used as IRQ). It is an
189 unchecked error to use a GPIO that wasn't set up as an input using
190 gpiod_direction_input(), or to use an IRQ number that didn't originally come
191 from gpiod_to_irq(). gpiod_to_irq() is not allowed to sleep.
193 Non-error values returned from gpiod_to_irq() can be passed to request_irq() or
194 free_irq(). They will often be stored into IRQ resources for platform devices,
195 by the board-specific initialization code. Note that IRQ trigger options are
196 part of the IRQ interface, e.g. IRQF_TRIGGER_FALLING, as are system wakeup
200 Interacting With the Legacy GPIO Subsystem
201 ==========================================
202 Many kernel subsystems still handle GPIOs using the legacy integer-based
203 interface. Although it is strongly encouraged to upgrade them to the safer
204 descriptor-based API, the following two functions allow you to convert a GPIO
205 descriptor into the GPIO integer namespace and vice-versa:
207 int desc_to_gpio(const struct gpio_desc *desc)
208 struct gpio_desc *gpio_to_desc(unsigned gpio)
210 The GPIO number returned by desc_to_gpio() can be safely used as long as the
211 GPIO descriptor has not been freed. All the same, a GPIO number passed to
212 gpio_to_desc() must have been properly acquired, and usage of the returned GPIO
213 descriptor is only possible after the GPIO number has been released.
215 Freeing a GPIO obtained by one API with the other API is forbidden and an