* Interrupts handling?
@ 2005-03-15 13:14 Garcia Jérémie
2005-03-15 16:47 ` James Chapman
0 siblings, 1 reply; 2+ messages in thread
From: Garcia Jérémie @ 2005-03-15 13:14 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: linuxppc-dev
Hi everybody,
Although I am a newbie in linux powerPC development, I am in charge of a =
related project.
The project is the following: I have to move a vXWorks application to a =
Linux (montavista) environnment with a 405EP processor. Unfotunately, my =
knowledges are very limited in BSP and with all the board specific =
functions (device drivers too...).
In my application, we assign IRQ only at its early beginning and we =
never change them after. Furthermore, this application uses an OS API =
layer in order to make it independant of the OS used. For exemple we =
encapsulate all the OS calls in this layer ; as that we theoretically =
only have to change this file to use another OS. To finish, we use POSIX =
pthreads to get an equivalent of vxWorks tasks.
Giving that, here are my questions:
- is it possible to write a driver in this "file" (OS API Layer) or =
wherever I want?
- do I need to use kernel modules even if I need to register my driver =
only one time?
- is it possible for my application to register itself a driver or is =
it only a "kernel job"?
- I have to map other vxWorks routines as "intEnable", "intDisable" =
which respectively enable/disable specified interrupt bit : may I use =
the linux equivalent "enable_irq" and "disqble_irq" and that wherever =
and whenever I want? (same question for the "request_irq" routine)=20
Tks a lot for your precious help cause over here I am really alone on =
that project and none use Linux!
J=E9r=E9mie
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
* Re: Interrupts handling?
2005-03-15 13:14 Interrupts handling? Garcia Jérémie
@ 2005-03-15 16:47 ` James Chapman
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: James Chapman @ 2005-03-15 16:47 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Garcia Jérémie; +Cc: linuxppc-dev
Garcia Jérémie wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> Although I am a newbie in linux powerPC development, I am in charge
> of a related project.
>
> The project is the following: I have to move a vXWorks application
> to a Linux (montavista) environnment with a 405EP
> processor. Unfotunately, my knowledges are very limited in BSP and
> with all the board specific functions (device drivers too...).
>
> In my application, we assign IRQ only at its early beginning and we
> never change them after.
What sort of device does your application need to talk to?
You need to separate your "application" into kernel and userspace parts.
Hooking up interrupt handlers would be done by a device driver.
Depending on what your device is, there might already be a Linux device
driver for it.
> Furthermore, this application uses an OS
> API layer in order to make it independant of the OS used. For
> exemple we encapsulate all the OS calls in this layer ; as that we
> theoretically only have to change this file to use another OS.
Nice theory but it's unlikely to cope with the paradigm shift of moving
from vxworks to Linux. You'll need to change your application to use
Unix system calls to access the device rather than making direct BSP
calls that it does today.
> To
> finish, we use POSIX pthreads to get an equivalent of vxWorks tasks.
The pthread code should be straightforward to port into a Linux
userspace application. However, if it touches the device (messes with
irqs etc) then bigger changes might be needed. I've seen some vxworks
code that combines device driver and application functions in one big
blob. Linux enforces separation.
> Giving that, here are my questions:
>
> - is it possible to write a driver in this "file" (OS API Layer) or
> wherever I want?
I don't really understand the question. Linux device drivers live in the
kernel. They may be statically linked in the kernel or they may be
dynamically loaded on-demand by the kernel. Your userspace pthread
application would be another separately linked application. You can't
call kernel C functions directly from your application like you can call
BSP or device driver functions in RTOS applications.
> - do I need to use kernel modules even if I need to register my
> driver only one time?
Kernel modules are just shared libraries that are linked in at runtime
by the kernel. It doesn't matter whether you implement a Linux driver as
a kernel module or not. Actually, Linux device drivers can often be
built statically or as kernel modules, selectable at kernel compile time.
> - is it possible for my application to register itself a driver or
> is it only a "kernel job"?
If you mean can your application load a driver into the kernel then the
answer is yes. But it's often automatic. It might happen, for example,
when your application opens a device file of your driver.
If you mean can your application be a device driver for the kernel then
the answer is no.
> - I have to map other vxWorks routines as "intEnable", "intDisable"
> which respectively enable/disable specified interrupt bit : may I
> use the linux equivalent "enable_irq" and "disqble_irq" and that
> wherever and whenever I want? (same question for the
> "request_irq" routine)
This is kernel code. I suggest you try to study how Linux device drivers
work. Some books are available on the subject. Google.
Hope I helped.
/james
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