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@@ -645,4 +645,58 @@ X!Idrivers/video/console/fonts.c
645!Edrivers/i2c/i2c-core.c 645!Edrivers/i2c/i2c-core.c
646 </chapter> 646 </chapter>
647 647
648 <chapter id="clk">
649 <title>Clock Framework</title>
650
651 <para>
652 The clock framework defines programming interfaces to support
653 software management of the system clock tree.
654 This framework is widely used with System-On-Chip (SOC) platforms
655 to support power management and various devices which may need
656 custom clock rates.
657 Note that these "clocks" don't relate to timekeeping or real
658 time clocks (RTCs), each of which have separate frameworks.
659 These <structname>struct clk</structname> instances may be used
660 to manage for example a 96 MHz signal that is used to shift bits
661 into and out of peripherals or busses, or otherwise trigger
662 synchronous state machine transitions in system hardware.
663 </para>
664
665 <para>
666 Power management is supported by explicit software clock gating:
667 unused clocks are disabled, so the system doesn't waste power
668 changing the state of transistors that aren't in active use.
669 On some systems this may be backed by hardware clock gating,
670 where clocks are gated without being disabled in software.
671 Sections of chips that are powered but not clocked may be able
672 to retain their last state.
673 This low power state is often called a <emphasis>retention
674 mode</emphasis>.
675 This mode still incurs leakage currents, especially with finer
676 circuit geometries, but for CMOS circuits power is mostly used
677 by clocked state changes.
678 </para>
679
680 <para>
681 Power-aware drivers only enable their clocks when the device
682 they manage is in active use. Also, system sleep states often
683 differ according to which clock domains are active: while a
684 "standby" state may allow wakeup from several active domains, a
685 "mem" (suspend-to-RAM) state may require a more wholesale shutdown
686 of clocks derived from higher speed PLLs and oscillators, limiting
687 the number of possible wakeup event sources. A driver's suspend
688 method may need to be aware of system-specific clock constraints
689 on the target sleep state.
690 </para>
691
692 <para>
693 Some platforms support programmable clock generators. These
694 can be used by external chips of various kinds, such as other
695 CPUs, multimedia codecs, and devices with strict requirements
696 for interface clocking.
697 </para>
698
699!Iinclude/linux/clk.h
700 </chapter>
701
648</book> 702</book>