| <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
| <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN" |
| "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []> |
| |
| <book id="USB-Gadget-API"> |
| <bookinfo> |
| <title>USB Gadget API for Linux</title> |
| <date>20 August 2004</date> |
| <edition>20 August 2004</edition> |
| |
| <legalnotice> |
| <para> |
| This documentation is free software; you can redistribute |
| it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public |
| License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either |
| version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later |
| version. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| This program is distributed in the hope that it will be |
| useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied |
| warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. |
| See the GNU General Public License for more details. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public |
| License along with this program; if not, write to the Free |
| Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, |
| MA 02111-1307 USA |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| For more details see the file COPYING in the source |
| distribution of Linux. |
| </para> |
| </legalnotice> |
| <copyright> |
| <year>2003-2004</year> |
| <holder>David Brownell</holder> |
| </copyright> |
| |
| <author> |
| <firstname>David</firstname> |
| <surname>Brownell</surname> |
| <affiliation> |
| <address><email>dbrownell@users.sourceforge.net</email></address> |
| </affiliation> |
| </author> |
| </bookinfo> |
| |
| <toc></toc> |
| |
| <chapter id="intro"><title>Introduction</title> |
| |
| <para>This document presents a Linux-USB "Gadget" |
| kernel mode |
| API, for use within peripherals and other USB devices |
| that embed Linux. |
| It provides an overview of the API structure, |
| and shows how that fits into a system development project. |
| This is the first such API released on Linux to address |
| a number of important problems, including: </para> |
| |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>Supports USB 2.0, for high speed devices which |
| can stream data at several dozen megabytes per second. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Handles devices with dozens of endpoints just as |
| well as ones with just two fixed-function ones. Gadget drivers |
| can be written so they're easy to port to new hardware. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Flexible enough to expose more complex USB device |
| capabilities such as multiple configurations, multiple interfaces, |
| composite devices, |
| and alternate interface settings. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>USB "On-The-Go" (OTG) support, in conjunction |
| with updates to the Linux-USB host side. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Sharing data structures and API models with the |
| Linux-USB host side API. This helps the OTG support, and |
| looks forward to more-symmetric frameworks (where the same |
| I/O model is used by both host and device side drivers). |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Minimalist, so it's easier to support new device |
| controller hardware. I/O processing doesn't imply large |
| demands for memory or CPU resources. |
| </para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| |
| |
| <para>Most Linux developers will not be able to use this API, since they |
| have USB "host" hardware in a PC, workstation, or server. |
| Linux users with embedded systems are more likely to |
| have USB peripheral hardware. |
| To distinguish drivers running inside such hardware from the |
| more familiar Linux "USB device drivers", |
| which are host side proxies for the real USB devices, |
| a different term is used: |
| the drivers inside the peripherals are "USB gadget drivers". |
| In USB protocol interactions, the device driver is the master |
| (or "client driver") |
| and the gadget driver is the slave (or "function driver"). |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>The gadget API resembles the host side Linux-USB API in that both |
| use queues of request objects to package I/O buffers, and those requests |
| may be submitted or canceled. |
| They share common definitions for the standard USB |
| <emphasis>Chapter 9</emphasis> messages, structures, and constants. |
| Also, both APIs bind and unbind drivers to devices. |
| The APIs differ in detail, since the host side's current |
| URB framework exposes a number of implementation details |
| and assumptions that are inappropriate for a gadget API. |
| While the model for control transfers and configuration |
| management is necessarily different (one side is a hardware-neutral master, |
| the other is a hardware-aware slave), the endpoint I/0 API used here |
| should also be usable for an overhead-reduced host side API. |
| </para> |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| <chapter id="structure"><title>Structure of Gadget Drivers</title> |
| |
| <para>A system running inside a USB peripheral |
| normally has at least three layers inside the kernel to handle |
| USB protocol processing, and may have additional layers in |
| user space code. |
| The "gadget" API is used by the middle layer to interact |
| with the lowest level (which directly handles hardware). |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>In Linux, from the bottom up, these layers are: |
| </para> |
| |
| <variablelist> |
| |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><emphasis>USB Controller Driver</emphasis></term> |
| |
| <listitem> |
| <para>This is the lowest software level. |
| It is the only layer that talks to hardware, |
| through registers, fifos, dma, irqs, and the like. |
| The <filename><linux/usb/gadget.h></filename> API abstracts |
| the peripheral controller endpoint hardware. |
| That hardware is exposed through endpoint objects, which accept |
| streams of IN/OUT buffers, and through callbacks that interact |
| with gadget drivers. |
| Since normal USB devices only have one upstream |
| port, they only have one of these drivers. |
| The controller driver can support any number of different |
| gadget drivers, but only one of them can be used at a time. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Examples of such controller hardware include |
| the PCI-based NetChip 2280 USB 2.0 high speed controller, |
| the SA-11x0 or PXA-25x UDC (found within many PDAs), |
| and a variety of other products. |
| </para> |
| |
| </listitem></varlistentry> |
| |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><emphasis>Gadget Driver</emphasis></term> |
| |
| <listitem> |
| <para>The lower boundary of this driver implements hardware-neutral |
| USB functions, using calls to the controller driver. |
| Because such hardware varies widely in capabilities and restrictions, |
| and is used in embedded environments where space is at a premium, |
| the gadget driver is often configured at compile time |
| to work with endpoints supported by one particular controller. |
| Gadget drivers may be portable to several different controllers, |
| using conditional compilation. |
| (Recent kernels substantially simplify the work involved in |
| supporting new hardware, by <emphasis>autoconfiguring</emphasis> |
| endpoints automatically for many bulk-oriented drivers.) |
| Gadget driver responsibilities include: |
| </para> |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>handling setup requests (ep0 protocol responses) |
| possibly including class-specific functionality |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>returning configuration and string descriptors |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>(re)setting configurations and interface |
| altsettings, including enabling and configuring endpoints |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>handling life cycle events, such as managing |
| bindings to hardware, |
| USB suspend/resume, remote wakeup, |
| and disconnection from the USB host. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>managing IN and OUT transfers on all currently |
| enabled endpoints |
| </para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| |
| <para> |
| Such drivers may be modules of proprietary code, although |
| that approach is discouraged in the Linux community. |
| </para> |
| </listitem></varlistentry> |
| |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><emphasis>Upper Level</emphasis></term> |
| |
| <listitem> |
| <para>Most gadget drivers have an upper boundary that connects |
| to some Linux driver or framework in Linux. |
| Through that boundary flows the data which the gadget driver |
| produces and/or consumes through protocol transfers over USB. |
| Examples include: |
| </para> |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>user mode code, using generic (gadgetfs) |
| or application specific files in |
| <filename>/dev</filename> |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>networking subsystem (for network gadgets, |
| like the CDC Ethernet Model gadget driver) |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>data capture drivers, perhaps video4Linux or |
| a scanner driver; or test and measurement hardware. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>input subsystem (for HID gadgets) |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>sound subsystem (for audio gadgets) |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>file system (for PTP gadgets) |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>block i/o subsystem (for usb-storage gadgets) |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>... and more </para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| </listitem></varlistentry> |
| |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><emphasis>Additional Layers</emphasis></term> |
| |
| <listitem> |
| <para>Other layers may exist. |
| These could include kernel layers, such as network protocol stacks, |
| as well as user mode applications building on standard POSIX |
| system call APIs such as |
| <emphasis>open()</emphasis>, <emphasis>close()</emphasis>, |
| <emphasis>read()</emphasis> and <emphasis>write()</emphasis>. |
| On newer systems, POSIX Async I/O calls may be an option. |
| Such user mode code will not necessarily be subject to |
| the GNU General Public License (GPL). |
| </para> |
| </listitem></varlistentry> |
| |
| |
| </variablelist> |
| |
| <para>OTG-capable systems will also need to include a standard Linux-USB |
| host side stack, |
| with <emphasis>usbcore</emphasis>, |
| one or more <emphasis>Host Controller Drivers</emphasis> (HCDs), |
| <emphasis>USB Device Drivers</emphasis> to support |
| the OTG "Targeted Peripheral List", |
| and so forth. |
| There will also be an <emphasis>OTG Controller Driver</emphasis>, |
| which is visible to gadget and device driver developers only indirectly. |
| That helps the host and device side USB controllers implement the |
| two new OTG protocols (HNP and SRP). |
| Roles switch (host to peripheral, or vice versa) using HNP |
| during USB suspend processing, and SRP can be viewed as a |
| more battery-friendly kind of device wakeup protocol. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Over time, reusable utilities are evolving to help make some |
| gadget driver tasks simpler. |
| For example, building configuration descriptors from vectors of |
| descriptors for the configurations interfaces and endpoints is |
| now automated, and many drivers now use autoconfiguration to |
| choose hardware endpoints and initialize their descriptors. |
| |
| A potential example of particular interest |
| is code implementing standard USB-IF protocols for |
| HID, networking, storage, or audio classes. |
| Some developers are interested in KDB or KGDB hooks, to let |
| target hardware be remotely debugged. |
| Most such USB protocol code doesn't need to be hardware-specific, |
| any more than network protocols like X11, HTTP, or NFS are. |
| Such gadget-side interface drivers should eventually be combined, |
| to implement composite devices. |
| </para> |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| |
| <chapter id="api"><title>Kernel Mode Gadget API</title> |
| |
| <para>Gadget drivers declare themselves through a |
| <emphasis>struct usb_gadget_driver</emphasis>, which is responsible for |
| most parts of enumeration for a <emphasis>struct usb_gadget</emphasis>. |
| The response to a set_configuration usually involves |
| enabling one or more of the <emphasis>struct usb_ep</emphasis> objects |
| exposed by the gadget, and submitting one or more |
| <emphasis>struct usb_request</emphasis> buffers to transfer data. |
| Understand those four data types, and their operations, and |
| you will understand how this API works. |
| </para> |
| |
| <note><title>Incomplete Data Type Descriptions</title> |
| |
| <para>This documentation was prepared using the standard Linux |
| kernel <filename>docproc</filename> tool, which turns text |
| and in-code comments into SGML DocBook and then into usable |
| formats such as HTML or PDF. |
| Other than the "Chapter 9" data types, most of the significant |
| data types and functions are described here. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>However, docproc does not understand all the C constructs |
| that are used, so some relevant information is likely omitted from |
| what you are reading. |
| One example of such information is endpoint autoconfiguration. |
| You'll have to read the header file, and use example source |
| code (such as that for "Gadget Zero"), to fully understand the API. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>The part of the API implementing some basic |
| driver capabilities is specific to the version of the |
| Linux kernel that's in use. |
| The 2.6 kernel includes a <emphasis>driver model</emphasis> |
| framework that has no analogue on earlier kernels; |
| so those parts of the gadget API are not fully portable. |
| (They are implemented on 2.4 kernels, but in a different way.) |
| The driver model state is another part of this API that is |
| ignored by the kerneldoc tools. |
| </para> |
| </note> |
| |
| <para>The core API does not expose |
| every possible hardware feature, only the most widely available ones. |
| There are significant hardware features, such as device-to-device DMA |
| (without temporary storage in a memory buffer) |
| that would be added using hardware-specific APIs. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>This API allows drivers to use conditional compilation to handle |
| endpoint capabilities of different hardware, but doesn't require that. |
| Hardware tends to have arbitrary restrictions, relating to |
| transfer types, addressing, packet sizes, buffering, and availability. |
| As a rule, such differences only matter for "endpoint zero" logic |
| that handles device configuration and management. |
| The API supports limited run-time |
| detection of capabilities, through naming conventions for endpoints. |
| Many drivers will be able to at least partially autoconfigure |
| themselves. |
| In particular, driver init sections will often have endpoint |
| autoconfiguration logic that scans the hardware's list of endpoints |
| to find ones matching the driver requirements |
| (relying on those conventions), to eliminate some of the most |
| common reasons for conditional compilation. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Like the Linux-USB host side API, this API exposes |
| the "chunky" nature of USB messages: I/O requests are in terms |
| of one or more "packets", and packet boundaries are visible to drivers. |
| Compared to RS-232 serial protocols, USB resembles |
| synchronous protocols like HDLC |
| (N bytes per frame, multipoint addressing, host as the primary |
| station and devices as secondary stations) |
| more than asynchronous ones |
| (tty style: 8 data bits per frame, no parity, one stop bit). |
| So for example the controller drivers won't buffer |
| two single byte writes into a single two-byte USB IN packet, |
| although gadget drivers may do so when they implement |
| protocols where packet boundaries (and "short packets") |
| are not significant. |
| </para> |
| |
| <sect1 id="lifecycle"><title>Driver Life Cycle</title> |
| |
| <para>Gadget drivers make endpoint I/O requests to hardware without |
| needing to know many details of the hardware, but driver |
| setup/configuration code needs to handle some differences. |
| Use the API like this: |
| </para> |
| |
| <orderedlist numeration='arabic'> |
| |
| <listitem><para>Register a driver for the particular device side |
| usb controller hardware, |
| such as the net2280 on PCI (USB 2.0), |
| sa11x0 or pxa25x as found in Linux PDAs, |
| and so on. |
| At this point the device is logically in the USB ch9 initial state |
| ("attached"), drawing no power and not usable |
| (since it does not yet support enumeration). |
| Any host should not see the device, since it's not |
| activated the data line pullup used by the host to |
| detect a device, even if VBUS power is available. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>Register a gadget driver that implements some higher level |
| device function. That will then bind() to a usb_gadget, which |
| activates the data line pullup sometime after detecting VBUS. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>The hardware driver can now start enumerating. |
| The steps it handles are to accept USB power and set_address requests. |
| Other steps are handled by the gadget driver. |
| If the gadget driver module is unloaded before the host starts to |
| enumerate, steps before step 7 are skipped. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>The gadget driver's setup() call returns usb descriptors, |
| based both on what the bus interface hardware provides and on the |
| functionality being implemented. |
| That can involve alternate settings or configurations, |
| unless the hardware prevents such operation. |
| For OTG devices, each configuration descriptor includes |
| an OTG descriptor. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>The gadget driver handles the last step of enumeration, |
| when the USB host issues a set_configuration call. |
| It enables all endpoints used in that configuration, |
| with all interfaces in their default settings. |
| That involves using a list of the hardware's endpoints, enabling each |
| endpoint according to its descriptor. |
| It may also involve using <function>usb_gadget_vbus_draw</function> |
| to let more power be drawn from VBUS, as allowed by that configuration. |
| For OTG devices, setting a configuration may also involve reporting |
| HNP capabilities through a user interface. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>Do real work and perform data transfers, possibly involving |
| changes to interface settings or switching to new configurations, until the |
| device is disconnect()ed from the host. |
| Queue any number of transfer requests to each endpoint. |
| It may be suspended and resumed several times before being disconnected. |
| On disconnect, the drivers go back to step 3 (above). |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>When the gadget driver module is being unloaded, |
| the driver unbind() callback is issued. That lets the controller |
| driver be unloaded. |
| </para></listitem> |
| |
| </orderedlist> |
| |
| <para>Drivers will normally be arranged so that just loading the |
| gadget driver module (or statically linking it into a Linux kernel) |
| allows the peripheral device to be enumerated, but some drivers |
| will defer enumeration until some higher level component (like |
| a user mode daemon) enables it. |
| Note that at this lowest level there are no policies about how |
| ep0 configuration logic is implemented, |
| except that it should obey USB specifications. |
| Such issues are in the domain of gadget drivers, |
| including knowing about implementation constraints |
| imposed by some USB controllers |
| or understanding that composite devices might happen to |
| be built by integrating reusable components. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Note that the lifecycle above can be slightly different |
| for OTG devices. |
| Other than providing an additional OTG descriptor in each |
| configuration, only the HNP-related differences are particularly |
| visible to driver code. |
| They involve reporting requirements during the SET_CONFIGURATION |
| request, and the option to invoke HNP during some suspend callbacks. |
| Also, SRP changes the semantics of |
| <function>usb_gadget_wakeup</function> |
| slightly. |
| </para> |
| |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="ch9"><title>USB 2.0 Chapter 9 Types and Constants</title> |
| |
| <para>Gadget drivers |
| rely on common USB structures and constants |
| defined in the |
| <filename><linux/usb/ch9.h></filename> |
| header file, which is standard in Linux 2.6 kernels. |
| These are the same types and constants used by host |
| side drivers (and usbcore). |
| </para> |
| |
| !Iinclude/linux/usb/ch9.h |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="core"><title>Core Objects and Methods</title> |
| |
| <para>These are declared in |
| <filename><linux/usb/gadget.h></filename>, |
| and are used by gadget drivers to interact with |
| USB peripheral controller drivers. |
| </para> |
| |
| <!-- yeech, this is ugly in nsgmls PDF output. |
| |
| the PDF bookmark and refentry output nesting is wrong, |
| and the member/argument documentation indents ugly. |
| |
| plus something (docproc?) adds whitespace before the |
| descriptive paragraph text, so it can't line up right |
| unless the explanations are trivial. |
| --> |
| |
| !Iinclude/linux/usb/gadget.h |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="utils"><title>Optional Utilities</title> |
| |
| <para>The core API is sufficient for writing a USB Gadget Driver, |
| but some optional utilities are provided to simplify common tasks. |
| These utilities include endpoint autoconfiguration. |
| </para> |
| |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/usbstring.c |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/config.c |
| <!-- !Edrivers/usb/gadget/epautoconf.c --> |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="composite"><title>Composite Device Framework</title> |
| |
| <para>The core API is sufficient for writing drivers for composite |
| USB devices (with more than one function in a given configuration), |
| and also multi-configuration devices (also more than one function, |
| but not necessarily sharing a given configuration). |
| There is however an optional framework which makes it easier to |
| reuse and combine functions. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Devices using this framework provide a <emphasis>struct |
| usb_composite_driver</emphasis>, which in turn provides one or |
| more <emphasis>struct usb_configuration</emphasis> instances. |
| Each such configuration includes at least one |
| <emphasis>struct usb_function</emphasis>, which packages a user |
| visible role such as "network link" or "mass storage device". |
| Management functions may also exist, such as "Device Firmware |
| Upgrade". |
| </para> |
| |
| !Iinclude/linux/usb/composite.h |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/composite.c |
| |
| </sect1> |
| |
| <sect1 id="functions"><title>Composite Device Functions</title> |
| |
| <para>At this writing, a few of the current gadget drivers have |
| been converted to this framework. |
| Near-term plans include converting all of them, except for "gadgetfs". |
| </para> |
| |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/f_acm.c |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/f_ecm.c |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/f_subset.c |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/f_obex.c |
| !Edrivers/usb/gadget/f_serial.c |
| |
| </sect1> |
| |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| <chapter id="controllers"><title>Peripheral Controller Drivers</title> |
| |
| <para>The first hardware supporting this API was the NetChip 2280 |
| controller, which supports USB 2.0 high speed and is based on PCI. |
| This is the <filename>net2280</filename> driver module. |
| The driver supports Linux kernel versions 2.4 and 2.6; |
| contact NetChip Technologies for development boards and product |
| information. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Other hardware working in the "gadget" framework includes: |
| Intel's PXA 25x and IXP42x series processors |
| (<filename>pxa2xx_udc</filename>), |
| Toshiba TC86c001 "Goku-S" (<filename>goku_udc</filename>), |
| Renesas SH7705/7727 (<filename>sh_udc</filename>), |
| MediaQ 11xx (<filename>mq11xx_udc</filename>), |
| Hynix HMS30C7202 (<filename>h7202_udc</filename>), |
| National 9303/4 (<filename>n9604_udc</filename>), |
| Texas Instruments OMAP (<filename>omap_udc</filename>), |
| Sharp LH7A40x (<filename>lh7a40x_udc</filename>), |
| and more. |
| Most of those are full speed controllers. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>At this writing, there are people at work on drivers in |
| this framework for several other USB device controllers, |
| with plans to make many of them be widely available. |
| </para> |
| |
| <!-- !Edrivers/usb/gadget/net2280.c --> |
| |
| <para>A partial USB simulator, |
| the <filename>dummy_hcd</filename> driver, is available. |
| It can act like a net2280, a pxa25x, or an sa11x0 in terms |
| of available endpoints and device speeds; and it simulates |
| control, bulk, and to some extent interrupt transfers. |
| That lets you develop some parts of a gadget driver on a normal PC, |
| without any special hardware, and perhaps with the assistance |
| of tools such as GDB running with User Mode Linux. |
| At least one person has expressed interest in adapting that |
| approach, hooking it up to a simulator for a microcontroller. |
| Such simulators can help debug subsystems where the runtime hardware |
| is unfriendly to software development, or is not yet available. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Support for other controllers is expected to be developed |
| and contributed |
| over time, as this driver framework evolves. |
| </para> |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| <chapter id="gadget"><title>Gadget Drivers</title> |
| |
| <para>In addition to <emphasis>Gadget Zero</emphasis> |
| (used primarily for testing and development with drivers |
| for usb controller hardware), other gadget drivers exist. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>There's an <emphasis>ethernet</emphasis> gadget |
| driver, which implements one of the most useful |
| <emphasis>Communications Device Class</emphasis> (CDC) models. |
| One of the standards for cable modem interoperability even |
| specifies the use of this ethernet model as one of two |
| mandatory options. |
| Gadgets using this code look to a USB host as if they're |
| an Ethernet adapter. |
| It provides access to a network where the gadget's CPU is one host, |
| which could easily be bridging, routing, or firewalling |
| access to other networks. |
| Since some hardware can't fully implement the CDC Ethernet |
| requirements, this driver also implements a "good parts only" |
| subset of CDC Ethernet. |
| (That subset doesn't advertise itself as CDC Ethernet, |
| to avoid creating problems.) |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Support for Microsoft's <emphasis>RNDIS</emphasis> |
| protocol has been contributed by Pengutronix and Auerswald GmbH. |
| This is like CDC Ethernet, but it runs on more slightly USB hardware |
| (but less than the CDC subset). |
| However, its main claim to fame is being able to connect directly to |
| recent versions of Windows, using drivers that Microsoft bundles |
| and supports, making it much simpler to network with Windows. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>There is also support for user mode gadget drivers, |
| using <emphasis>gadgetfs</emphasis>. |
| This provides a <emphasis>User Mode API</emphasis> that presents |
| each endpoint as a single file descriptor. I/O is done using |
| normal <emphasis>read()</emphasis> and <emphasis>read()</emphasis> calls. |
| Familiar tools like GDB and pthreads can be used to |
| develop and debug user mode drivers, so that once a robust |
| controller driver is available many applications for it |
| won't require new kernel mode software. |
| Linux 2.6 <emphasis>Async I/O (AIO)</emphasis> |
| support is available, so that user mode software |
| can stream data with only slightly more overhead |
| than a kernel driver. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>There's a USB Mass Storage class driver, which provides |
| a different solution for interoperability with systems such |
| as MS-Windows and MacOS. |
| That <emphasis>File-backed Storage</emphasis> driver uses a |
| file or block device as backing store for a drive, |
| like the <filename>loop</filename> driver. |
| The USB host uses the BBB, CB, or CBI versions of the mass |
| storage class specification, using transparent SCSI commands |
| to access the data from the backing store. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>There's a "serial line" driver, useful for TTY style |
| operation over USB. |
| The latest version of that driver supports CDC ACM style |
| operation, like a USB modem, and so on most hardware it can |
| interoperate easily with MS-Windows. |
| One interesting use of that driver is in boot firmware (like a BIOS), |
| which can sometimes use that model with very small systems without |
| real serial lines. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Support for other kinds of gadget is expected to |
| be developed and contributed |
| over time, as this driver framework evolves. |
| </para> |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| <chapter id="otg"><title>USB On-The-GO (OTG)</title> |
| |
| <para>USB OTG support on Linux 2.6 was initially developed |
| by Texas Instruments for |
| <ulink url="http://www.omap.com">OMAP</ulink> 16xx and 17xx |
| series processors. |
| Other OTG systems should work in similar ways, but the |
| hardware level details could be very different. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para>Systems need specialized hardware support to implement OTG, |
| notably including a special <emphasis>Mini-AB</emphasis> jack |
| and associated transciever to support <emphasis>Dual-Role</emphasis> |
| operation: |
| they can act either as a host, using the standard |
| Linux-USB host side driver stack, |
| or as a peripheral, using this "gadget" framework. |
| To do that, the system software relies on small additions |
| to those programming interfaces, |
| and on a new internal component (here called an "OTG Controller") |
| affecting which driver stack connects to the OTG port. |
| In each role, the system can re-use the existing pool of |
| hardware-neutral drivers, layered on top of the controller |
| driver interfaces (<emphasis>usb_bus</emphasis> or |
| <emphasis>usb_gadget</emphasis>). |
| Such drivers need at most minor changes, and most of the calls |
| added to support OTG can also benefit non-OTG products. |
| </para> |
| |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>Gadget drivers test the <emphasis>is_otg</emphasis> |
| flag, and use it to determine whether or not to include |
| an OTG descriptor in each of their configurations. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Gadget drivers may need changes to support the |
| two new OTG protocols, exposed in new gadget attributes |
| such as <emphasis>b_hnp_enable</emphasis> flag. |
| HNP support should be reported through a user interface |
| (two LEDs could suffice), and is triggered in some cases |
| when the host suspends the peripheral. |
| SRP support can be user-initiated just like remote wakeup, |
| probably by pressing the same button. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>On the host side, USB device drivers need |
| to be taught to trigger HNP at appropriate moments, using |
| <function>usb_suspend_device()</function>. |
| That also conserves battery power, which is useful even |
| for non-OTG configurations. |
| </para></listitem> |
| <listitem><para>Also on the host side, a driver must support the |
| OTG "Targeted Peripheral List". That's just a whitelist, |
| used to reject peripherals not supported with a given |
| Linux OTG host. |
| <emphasis>This whitelist is product-specific; |
| each product must modify <filename>otg_whitelist.h</filename> |
| to match its interoperability specification. |
| </emphasis> |
| </para> |
| <para>Non-OTG Linux hosts, like PCs and workstations, |
| normally have some solution for adding drivers, so that |
| peripherals that aren't recognized can eventually be supported. |
| That approach is unreasonable for consumer products that may |
| never have their firmware upgraded, and where it's usually |
| unrealistic to expect traditional PC/workstation/server kinds |
| of support model to work. |
| For example, it's often impractical to change device firmware |
| once the product has been distributed, so driver bugs can't |
| normally be fixed if they're found after shipment. |
| </para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| |
| <para> |
| Additional changes are needed below those hardware-neutral |
| <emphasis>usb_bus</emphasis> and <emphasis>usb_gadget</emphasis> |
| driver interfaces; those aren't discussed here in any detail. |
| Those affect the hardware-specific code for each USB Host or Peripheral |
| controller, and how the HCD initializes (since OTG can be active only |
| on a single port). |
| They also involve what may be called an <emphasis>OTG Controller |
| Driver</emphasis>, managing the OTG transceiver and the OTG state |
| machine logic as well as much of the root hub behavior for the |
| OTG port. |
| The OTG controller driver needs to activate and deactivate USB |
| controllers depending on the relevant device role. |
| Some related changes were needed inside usbcore, so that it |
| can identify OTG-capable devices and respond appropriately |
| to HNP or SRP protocols. |
| </para> |
| |
| </chapter> |
| |
| </book> |
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