1 files changed, 151 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/media-framework.txt b/Documentation/media-framework.txt
index 1844c3f10728..0257bad2a104 100644
--- a/Documentation/media-framework.txt
+++ b/Documentation/media-framework.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,30 @@ Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml. This document will focus on
 the kernel-side implementation of the media framework.
 
 
+Abstract media device model
+---------------------------
+
+Discovering a device internal topology, and configuring it at runtime, is one
+of the goals of the media framework. To achieve this, hardware devices are
+modeled as an oriented graph of building blocks called entities connected
+through pads.
+
+An entity is a basic media hardware building block. It can correspond to
+a large variety of logical blocks such as physical hardware devices
+(CMOS sensor for instance), logical hardware devices (a building block
+in a System-on-Chip image processing pipeline), DMA channels or physical
+connectors.
+
+A pad is a connection endpoint through which an entity can interact with
+other entities. Data (not restricted to video) produced by an entity
+flows from the entity's output to one or more entity inputs. Pads should
+not be confused with physical pins at chip boundaries.
+
+A link is a point-to-point oriented connection between two pads, either
+on the same entity or on different entities. Data flows from a source
+pad to a sink pad.
+
+
 Media device
 ------------
 
@@ -65,3 +89,130 @@ Drivers unregister media device instances by calling
         media_device_unregister(struct media_device *mdev);
 
 Unregistering a media device that hasn't been registered is *NOT* safe.
+
+
+Entities, pads and links
+------------------------
+
+- Entities
+
+Entities are represented by a struct media_entity instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. The structure is usually embedded into a
+higher-level structure, such as a v4l2_subdev or video_device instance,
+although drivers can allocate entities directly.
+
+Drivers initialize entities by calling
+
+        media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads,
+                          struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links);
+
+The media_entity name, type, flags, revision and group_id fields can be
+initialized before or after calling media_entity_init. Entities embedded in
+higher-level standard structures can have some of those fields set by the
+higher-level framework.
+
+As the number of pads is known in advance, the pads array is not allocated
+dynamically but is managed by the entity driver. Most drivers will embed the
+pads array in a driver-specific structure, avoiding dynamic allocation.
+
+Drivers must set the direction of every pad in the pads array before calling
+media_entity_init. The function will initialize the other pads fields.
+
+Unlike the number of pads, the total number of links isn't always known in
+advance by the entity driver. As an initial estimate, media_entity_init
+pre-allocates a number of links equal to the number of pads plus an optional
+number of extra links. The links array will be reallocated if it grows beyond
+the initial estimate.
+
+Drivers register entities with a media device by calling
+
+        media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev,
+                                     struct media_entity *entity);
+
+Entities are identified by a unique positive integer ID. Drivers can provide an
+ID by filling the media_entity id field prior to registration, or request the
+media controller framework to assign an ID automatically. Drivers that provide
+IDs manually must ensure that all IDs are unique. IDs are not guaranteed to be
+contiguous even when they are all assigned automatically by the framework.
+
+Drivers unregister entities by calling
+
+        media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity);
+
+Unregistering an entity will not change the IDs of the other entities, and the
+ID will never be reused for a newly registered entity.
+
+When a media device is unregistered, all its entities are unregistered
+automatically. No manual entities unregistration is then required.
+
+Drivers free resources associated with an entity by calling
+
+        media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity);
+
+This function must be called during the cleanup phase after unregistering the
+entity. Note that the media_entity instance itself must be freed explicitly by
+the driver if required.
+
+Entities have flags that describe the entity capabilities and state.
+
+        MEDIA_ENT_FL_DEFAULT indicates the default entity for a given type.
+        This can be used to report the default audio and video devices or the
+        default camera sensor.
+
+Logical entity groups can be defined by setting the group ID of all member
+entities to the same non-zero value. An entity group serves no purpose in the
+kernel, but is reported to userspace during entities enumeration. The group_id
+field belongs to the media device driver and must not by touched by entity
+drivers.
+
+Media device drivers should define groups if several entities are logically
+bound together. Example usages include reporting
+
+        - ALSA, VBI and video nodes that carry the same media stream
+        - lens and flash controllers associated with a sensor
+
+- Pads
+
+Pads are represented by a struct media_pad instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores its pads in a pads array
+managed by the entity driver. Drivers usually embed the array in a
+driver-specific structure.
+
+Pads are identified by their entity and their 0-based index in the pads array.
+Both information are stored in the media_pad structure, making the media_pad
+pointer the canonical way to store and pass link references.
+
+Pads have flags that describe the pad capabilities and state.
+
+        MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK indicates that the pad supports sinking data.
+        MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE indicates that the pad supports sourcing data.
+
+One and only one of MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK and MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE must be set for
+each pad.
+
+- Links
+
+Links are represented by a struct media_link instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores all links originating at or
+targetting any of its pads in a links array. A given link is thus stored
+twice, once in the source entity and once in the target entity. The array is
+pre-allocated and grows dynamically as needed.
+
+Drivers create links by calling
+
+        media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad,
+                                 struct media_entity *sink,   u16 sink_pad,
+                                 u32 flags);
+
+An entry in the link array of each entity is allocated and stores pointers
+to source and sink pads.
+
+Links have flags that describe the link capabilities and state.
+
+        MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED indicates that the link is enabled and can be used
+        to transfer media data. When two or more links target a sink pad, only
+        one of them can be enabled at a time.
+        MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE indicates that the link enabled state can't be
+        modified at runtime. If MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE is set, then
+        MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED must also be set since an immutable link is always
+        enabled.