Hi Helen, On Mon, Aug 03, 2020 at 12:25:54PM -0300, Helen Koike wrote: > Hi Sakari, > > Thanks for this. Thanks for the comments! > > On 7/30/20 1:20 PM, Sakari Ailus wrote: > > While we have had some example drivers, there has been up to date no > > formal documentation on how camera sensor drivers should be written; what > > are the practices, why, and where they apply. > > > > Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > --- > > since v2: > > > > - More verbose explanation on sensor driver's responsibilities. > > > > - Reword the explanation on power state vs. v4l2_ctrl_handler_setup. > > > > .../driver-api/media/camera-sensor.rst | 134 ++++++++++++++++++ > > Documentation/driver-api/media/csi2.rst | 2 + > > Documentation/driver-api/media/index.rst | 1 + > > 3 files changed, 137 insertions(+) > > create mode 100644 Documentation/driver-api/media/camera-sensor.rst > > > > diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/media/camera-sensor.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/media/camera-sensor.rst > > new file mode 100644 > > index 000000000000..2121586e8ede > > --- /dev/null > > +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/media/camera-sensor.rst > > @@ -0,0 +1,134 @@ > > +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 > > + > > +Writing camera sensor drivers > > +============================= > > + > > +CSI-2 > > +----- > > + > > +Please see what is written on :ref:`MIPI_CSI_2`. > > + > > +Handling clocks > > +--------------- > > + > > +Camera sensors have an internal clock tree including a PLL and a number of > > +divisors. The clock tree is generally configured by the driver based on a few > > +input parameters that are specific to the hardware:: the external clock frequency > > Double colon This is ReST. This should translate into a single colon. > > > +and the link frequency. The two parameters generally are obtained from system > > +firmware. No other frequencies should be used in any circumstances. > > If I understand correctly, the firmware exposes a list of options that > userspace can chose from, right? Correct. > > > + > > +The reason why the clock frequencies are so important is that the clock signals > > +come out of the SoC, and in many cases a specific frequency is designed to be > > +used in the system. Using another frequency may cause harmful effects > > +elsewhere. Therefore only the pre-determined frequencies are configurable by the > > +user. > > + > > +Frame size > > +---------- > > + > > +There are two distinct ways to configure the frame size produced by camera > > +sensors. > > + > > +Freely configurable camera sensor drivers > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +Freely configurable camera sensor drivers expose the device's internal > > +processing pipeline as one or more sub-devices with different cropping and > > +scaling configurations. The output size of the device is the result of a series > > +of cropping and scaling operations from the device's pixel array's size. > > + > > +An example of such a driver is the smiapp driver (see drivers/media/i2c/smiapp). > > + > > +Register list based drivers > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +Register list based drivers generally, instead of able to configure the device > > +they control based on user requests, are limited to a number of preset > > +configurations that combine a number of different parameters that on hardware > > +level are independent. How a driver picks such configuration is based on the > > +format set on a source pad at the end of the device's internal pipeline. > > If I understand correctly, the difference between the first and second way, > is that the first allows userspace to change the format on the subdevice's pads, > and the second one needs to be calculated from the format set in the video devices, > is this correct? Yes, but video devices aren't necessarily involved. In a MC-centric drivers the interface is available through sub-device nodes in both above cases. > > > + > > +Most sensor drivers are implemented this way, see e.g. > > +drivers/media/i2c/imx319.c for an example. > > + > > +Frame interval configuration > > +---------------------------- > > + > > +There are two different methods for obtaining possibilities for different frame > > +intervals as well as configuring the frame interval. Which one to implement > > +depends on the type of the device. > > + > > +Raw camera sensors > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +Instead of a high level parameter such as frame interval, the frame interval is > > +a result of the configuration of a number of camera sensor implementation > > +specific parameters. Luckily, these parameters tend to be the same for more or > > +less all modern raw camera sensors. > > + > > +The frame interval is calculated using the following equation:: > > + > > + frame interval = (analogue crop width + horizontal blanking) * > > + (analogue crop height + vertical blanking) / pixel rate > > + > > +The formula is bus independent and is applicable for raw timing parameters on > > +large variety of devices beyond camera sensors. Devices that have no analogue > > +crop, use the full source image size, i.e. pixel array size. > > + > > +Horizontal and vertical blanking are specified by ``V4L2_CID_HBLANK`` and > > +``V4L2_CID_VBLANK``, respectively. The unit of these controls are lines. The > > +pixel rate is specified by ``V4L2_CID_PIXEL_RATE`` in the same sub-device. The > > +unit of that control is Hz. > > + > > +Register list based drivers need to implement read-only sub-device nodes for the > > +purpose. Devices that are not register list based need these to configure the > > +device's internal processing pipeline. > > + > > +The first entity in the linear pipeline is the pixel array. The pixel array may > > A pixel array entity is the one that represents the "source" of the image, right? Correct. Please wrap lines before 80. > > > +be followed by other entities that are there to allow configuring binning, > > +skipping, scaling or digital crop :ref:`v4l2-subdev-selections`. > > + > > +USB cameras etc. devices > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +USB video class hardware, as well as many cameras offering a higher level > > +control interface, generally use the concept of frame interval (or frame rate) > > +on the level of device hardware interface. This means lower level controls > > +exposed by raw cameras may not be used as an interface to control the frame > > +interval on these devices. > > Sorry, it's not clear to me if you are referring to driver->hardware configuration, or > userspace->driver configuration (but maybe it's just me and my lack of knowledge). Both actually. Would this be clearer: USB video class hardware, as well as many cameras offering a similar higher level interface natively, generally use the concept of frame interval (or frame rate) on device level in firmware or hardware. This means lower level controls implemented by raw cameras may not be used on uAPI (or even kAPI) to control the frame interval on these devices. -- Kind regards, Sakari Ailus
