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You're reading from  Linux Device Driver Development - Second Edition

Product typeBook
Published inApr 2022
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803240060
Edition2nd Edition
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Author (1)
John Madieu
John Madieu
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John Madieu

John Madieu is an embedded Linux and kernel engineer living in Paris, France. His main activities consist of developing device drivers and Board Support Packages (BSPs) for companies in domains such as IoT, automation, transport, healthcare, energy, and the military. John is the founder and chief consultant at LABCSMART, a company that provides training and services for embedded Linux and Linux kernel engineering. He is an open source and embedded systems enthusiast, convinced that it is only by sharing knowledge that we can learn more. He is passionate about boxing, which he practiced for 6 years professionally, and continues to channel this passion through training sessions that he provides voluntarily.
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Introduction to some hardware terms

The Linux kernel GPIO subsystem is not just about GPIO toggling. It is tightly coupled to the pin controller subsystem; they share some terms and concepts that we need to introduce:

  • Pin and pad: A pin is a physical input or output wire/line that transports an electrical signal from or to a component. In schematics, the term "pin" is widely used. Contact pads, on the other hand, are the contact surface areas of a printed circuit board or an integrated circuit. As a result, a pin comes from a pad, and a pin is a pad by default.
  • GPIO: Most MCUs and CPUs can share one pad among several functional blocks. This is accomplished by multiplexing the input and output signals of the pad. The different modes the pin/pad can operate in are known as ALT modes (or alternate modes), and it is common for CPUs to support up to eight settings (or modes) per pad. GPIO is one of these modes. It allows changing the pin direction and reading its value...
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Linux Device Driver Development - Second Edition
Published in: Apr 2022Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781803240060

Author (1)

author image
John Madieu

John Madieu is an embedded Linux and kernel engineer living in Paris, France. His main activities consist of developing device drivers and Board Support Packages (BSPs) for companies in domains such as IoT, automation, transport, healthcare, energy, and the military. John is the founder and chief consultant at LABCSMART, a company that provides training and services for embedded Linux and Linux kernel engineering. He is an open source and embedded systems enthusiast, convinced that it is only by sharing knowledge that we can learn more. He is passionate about boxing, which he practiced for 6 years professionally, and continues to channel this passion through training sessions that he provides voluntarily.
Read more about John Madieu