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author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@ppc970.osdl.org> | 2005-04-16 18:20:36 -0400 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@ppc970.osdl.org> | 2005-04-16 18:20:36 -0400 |
commit | 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 (patch) | |
tree | 0bba044c4ce775e45a88a51686b5d9f90697ea9d /Documentation/usb/URB.txt |
Linux-2.6.12-rc2v2.6.12-rc2
Initial git repository build. I'm not bothering with the full history,
even though we have it. We can create a separate "historical" git
archive of that later if we want to, and in the meantime it's about
3.2GB when imported into git - space that would just make the early
git days unnecessarily complicated, when we don't have a lot of good
infrastructure for it.
Let it rip!
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/usb/URB.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/usb/URB.txt | 252 |
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1 | Revised: 2000-Dec-05. | ||
2 | Again: 2002-Jul-06 | ||
3 | |||
4 | NOTE: | ||
5 | |||
6 | The USB subsystem now has a substantial section in "The Linux Kernel API" | ||
7 | guide (in Documentation/DocBook), generated from the current source | ||
8 | code. This particular documentation file isn't particularly current or | ||
9 | complete; don't rely on it except for a quick overview. | ||
10 | |||
11 | |||
12 | 1.1. Basic concept or 'What is an URB?' | ||
13 | |||
14 | The basic idea of the new driver is message passing, the message itself is | ||
15 | called USB Request Block, or URB for short. | ||
16 | |||
17 | - An URB consists of all relevant information to execute any USB transaction | ||
18 | and deliver the data and status back. | ||
19 | |||
20 | - Execution of an URB is inherently an asynchronous operation, i.e. the | ||
21 | usb_submit_urb(urb) call returns immediately after it has successfully queued | ||
22 | the requested action. | ||
23 | |||
24 | - Transfers for one URB can be canceled with usb_unlink_urb(urb) at any time. | ||
25 | |||
26 | - Each URB has a completion handler, which is called after the action | ||
27 | has been successfully completed or canceled. The URB also contains a | ||
28 | context-pointer for passing information to the completion handler. | ||
29 | |||
30 | - Each endpoint for a device logically supports a queue of requests. | ||
31 | You can fill that queue, so that the USB hardware can still transfer | ||
32 | data to an endpoint while your driver handles completion of another. | ||
33 | This maximizes use of USB bandwidth, and supports seamless streaming | ||
34 | of data to (or from) devices when using periodic transfer modes. | ||
35 | |||
36 | |||
37 | 1.2. The URB structure | ||
38 | |||
39 | Some of the fields in an URB are: | ||
40 | |||
41 | struct urb | ||
42 | { | ||
43 | // (IN) device and pipe specify the endpoint queue | ||
44 | struct usb_device *dev; // pointer to associated USB device | ||
45 | unsigned int pipe; // endpoint information | ||
46 | |||
47 | unsigned int transfer_flags; // ISO_ASAP, SHORT_NOT_OK, etc. | ||
48 | |||
49 | // (IN) all urbs need completion routines | ||
50 | void *context; // context for completion routine | ||
51 | void (*complete)(struct urb *); // pointer to completion routine | ||
52 | |||
53 | // (OUT) status after each completion | ||
54 | int status; // returned status | ||
55 | |||
56 | // (IN) buffer used for data transfers | ||
57 | void *transfer_buffer; // associated data buffer | ||
58 | int transfer_buffer_length; // data buffer length | ||
59 | int number_of_packets; // size of iso_frame_desc | ||
60 | |||
61 | // (OUT) sometimes only part of CTRL/BULK/INTR transfer_buffer is used | ||
62 | int actual_length; // actual data buffer length | ||
63 | |||
64 | // (IN) setup stage for CTRL (pass a struct usb_ctrlrequest) | ||
65 | unsigned char* setup_packet; // setup packet (control only) | ||
66 | |||
67 | // Only for PERIODIC transfers (ISO, INTERRUPT) | ||
68 | // (IN/OUT) start_frame is set unless ISO_ASAP isn't set | ||
69 | int start_frame; // start frame | ||
70 | int interval; // polling interval | ||
71 | |||
72 | // ISO only: packets are only "best effort"; each can have errors | ||
73 | int error_count; // number of errors | ||
74 | struct usb_iso_packet_descriptor iso_frame_desc[0]; | ||
75 | }; | ||
76 | |||
77 | Your driver must create the "pipe" value using values from the appropriate | ||
78 | endpoint descriptor in an interface that it's claimed. | ||
79 | |||
80 | |||
81 | 1.3. How to get an URB? | ||
82 | |||
83 | URBs are allocated with the following call | ||
84 | |||
85 | struct urb *usb_alloc_urb(int isoframes, int mem_flags) | ||
86 | |||
87 | Return value is a pointer to the allocated URB, 0 if allocation failed. | ||
88 | The parameter isoframes specifies the number of isochronous transfer frames | ||
89 | you want to schedule. For CTRL/BULK/INT, use 0. The mem_flags parameter | ||
90 | holds standard memory allocation flags, letting you control (among other | ||
91 | things) whether the underlying code may block or not. | ||
92 | |||
93 | To free an URB, use | ||
94 | |||
95 | void usb_free_urb(struct urb *urb) | ||
96 | |||
97 | You may not free an urb that you've submitted, but which hasn't yet been | ||
98 | returned to you in a completion callback. | ||
99 | |||
100 | |||
101 | 1.4. What has to be filled in? | ||
102 | |||
103 | Depending on the type of transaction, there are some inline functions | ||
104 | defined in <linux/usb.h> to simplify the initialization, such as | ||
105 | fill_control_urb() and fill_bulk_urb(). In general, they need the usb | ||
106 | device pointer, the pipe (usual format from usb.h), the transfer buffer, | ||
107 | the desired transfer length, the completion handler, and its context. | ||
108 | Take a look at the some existing drivers to see how they're used. | ||
109 | |||
110 | Flags: | ||
111 | For ISO there are two startup behaviors: Specified start_frame or ASAP. | ||
112 | For ASAP set URB_ISO_ASAP in transfer_flags. | ||
113 | |||
114 | If short packets should NOT be tolerated, set URB_SHORT_NOT_OK in | ||
115 | transfer_flags. | ||
116 | |||
117 | |||
118 | 1.5. How to submit an URB? | ||
119 | |||
120 | Just call | ||
121 | |||
122 | int usb_submit_urb(struct urb *urb, int mem_flags) | ||
123 | |||
124 | The mem_flags parameter, such as SLAB_ATOMIC, controls memory allocation, | ||
125 | such as whether the lower levels may block when memory is tight. | ||
126 | |||
127 | It immediately returns, either with status 0 (request queued) or some | ||
128 | error code, usually caused by the following: | ||
129 | |||
130 | - Out of memory (-ENOMEM) | ||
131 | - Unplugged device (-ENODEV) | ||
132 | - Stalled endpoint (-EPIPE) | ||
133 | - Too many queued ISO transfers (-EAGAIN) | ||
134 | - Too many requested ISO frames (-EFBIG) | ||
135 | - Invalid INT interval (-EINVAL) | ||
136 | - More than one packet for INT (-EINVAL) | ||
137 | |||
138 | After submission, urb->status is -EINPROGRESS; however, you should never | ||
139 | look at that value except in your completion callback. | ||
140 | |||
141 | For isochronous endpoints, your completion handlers should (re)submit | ||
142 | URBs to the same endpoint with the ISO_ASAP flag, using multi-buffering, | ||
143 | to get seamless ISO streaming. | ||
144 | |||
145 | |||
146 | 1.6. How to cancel an already running URB? | ||
147 | |||
148 | For an URB which you've submitted, but which hasn't been returned to | ||
149 | your driver by the host controller, call | ||
150 | |||
151 | int usb_unlink_urb(struct urb *urb) | ||
152 | |||
153 | It removes the urb from the internal list and frees all allocated | ||
154 | HW descriptors. The status is changed to reflect unlinking. After | ||
155 | usb_unlink_urb() returns with that status code, you can free the URB | ||
156 | with usb_free_urb(). | ||
157 | |||
158 | There is also an asynchronous unlink mode. To use this, set the | ||
159 | the URB_ASYNC_UNLINK flag in urb->transfer flags before calling | ||
160 | usb_unlink_urb(). When using async unlinking, the URB will not | ||
161 | normally be unlinked when usb_unlink_urb() returns. Instead, wait | ||
162 | for the completion handler to be called. | ||
163 | |||
164 | |||
165 | 1.7. What about the completion handler? | ||
166 | |||
167 | The handler is of the following type: | ||
168 | |||
169 | typedef void (*usb_complete_t)(struct urb *); | ||
170 | |||
171 | i.e. it gets just the URB that caused the completion call. | ||
172 | In the completion handler, you should have a look at urb->status to | ||
173 | detect any USB errors. Since the context parameter is included in the URB, | ||
174 | you can pass information to the completion handler. | ||
175 | |||
176 | Note that even when an error (or unlink) is reported, data may have been | ||
177 | transferred. That's because USB transfers are packetized; it might take | ||
178 | sixteen packets to transfer your 1KByte buffer, and ten of them might | ||
179 | have transferred succesfully before the completion is called. | ||
180 | |||
181 | |||
182 | NOTE: ***** WARNING ***** | ||
183 | Don't use urb->dev field in your completion handler; it's cleared | ||
184 | as part of giving urbs back to drivers. (Addressing an issue with | ||
185 | ownership of periodic URBs, which was otherwise ambiguous.) Instead, | ||
186 | use urb->context to hold all the data your driver needs. | ||
187 | |||
188 | NOTE: ***** WARNING ***** | ||
189 | Also, NEVER SLEEP IN A COMPLETION HANDLER. These are normally called | ||
190 | during hardware interrupt processing. If you can, defer substantial | ||
191 | work to a tasklet (bottom half) to keep system latencies low. You'll | ||
192 | probably need to use spinlocks to protect data structures you manipulate | ||
193 | in completion handlers. | ||
194 | |||
195 | |||
196 | 1.8. How to do isochronous (ISO) transfers? | ||
197 | |||
198 | For ISO transfers you have to fill a usb_iso_packet_descriptor structure, | ||
199 | allocated at the end of the URB by usb_alloc_urb(n,mem_flags), for each | ||
200 | packet you want to schedule. You also have to set urb->interval to say | ||
201 | how often to make transfers; it's often one per frame (which is once | ||
202 | every microframe for highspeed devices). The actual interval used will | ||
203 | be a power of two that's no bigger than what you specify. | ||
204 | |||
205 | The usb_submit_urb() call modifies urb->interval to the implemented interval | ||
206 | value that is less than or equal to the requested interval value. If | ||
207 | ISO_ASAP scheduling is used, urb->start_frame is also updated. | ||
208 | |||
209 | For each entry you have to specify the data offset for this frame (base is | ||
210 | transfer_buffer), and the length you want to write/expect to read. | ||
211 | After completion, actual_length contains the actual transferred length and | ||
212 | status contains the resulting status for the ISO transfer for this frame. | ||
213 | It is allowed to specify a varying length from frame to frame (e.g. for | ||
214 | audio synchronisation/adaptive transfer rates). You can also use the length | ||
215 | 0 to omit one or more frames (striping). | ||
216 | |||
217 | For scheduling you can choose your own start frame or ISO_ASAP. As explained | ||
218 | earlier, if you always keep at least one URB queued and your completion | ||
219 | keeps (re)submitting a later URB, you'll get smooth ISO streaming (if usb | ||
220 | bandwidth utilization allows). | ||
221 | |||
222 | If you specify your own start frame, make sure it's several frames in advance | ||
223 | of the current frame. You might want this model if you're synchronizing | ||
224 | ISO data with some other event stream. | ||
225 | |||
226 | |||
227 | 1.9. How to start interrupt (INT) transfers? | ||
228 | |||
229 | Interrupt transfers, like isochronous transfers, are periodic, and happen | ||
230 | in intervals that are powers of two (1, 2, 4 etc) units. Units are frames | ||
231 | for full and low speed devices, and microframes for high speed ones. | ||
232 | |||
233 | Currently, after you submit one interrupt URB, that urb is owned by the | ||
234 | host controller driver until you cancel it with usb_unlink_urb(). You | ||
235 | may unlink interrupt urbs in their completion handlers, if you need to. | ||
236 | |||
237 | After a transfer completion is called, the URB is automagically resubmitted. | ||
238 | THIS BEHAVIOR IS EXPECTED TO BE REMOVED!! | ||
239 | |||
240 | Interrupt transfers may only send (or receive) the "maxpacket" value for | ||
241 | the given interrupt endpoint; if you need more data, you will need to | ||
242 | copy that data out of (or into) another buffer. Similarly, you can't | ||
243 | queue interrupt transfers. | ||
244 | THESE RESTRICTIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE REMOVED!! | ||
245 | |||
246 | Note that this automagic resubmission model does make it awkward to use | ||
247 | interrupt OUT transfers. The portable solution involves unlinking those | ||
248 | OUT urbs after the data is transferred, and perhaps submitting a final | ||
249 | URB for a short packet. | ||
250 | |||
251 | The usb_submit_urb() call modifies urb->interval to the implemented interval | ||
252 | value that is less than or equal to the requested interval value. | ||