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Linux kernel media framework
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============================
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This document describes the Linux kernel media framework, its data structures,
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functions and their usage.
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The media controller API is documented in DocBook format in
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Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml. This document will focus on
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the kernel-side implementation of the media framework.
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Abstract media device model
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---------------------------
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Discovering a device internal topology, and configuring it at runtime, is one
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of the goals of the media framework. To achieve this, hardware devices are
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modeled as an oriented graph of building blocks called entities connected
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An entity is a basic media hardware building block. It can correspond to
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a large variety of logical blocks such as physical hardware devices
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(CMOS sensor for instance), logical hardware devices (a building block
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in a System-on-Chip image processing pipeline), DMA channels or physical
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A pad is a connection endpoint through which an entity can interact with
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other entities. Data (not restricted to video) produced by an entity
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flows from the entity's output to one or more entity inputs. Pads should
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not be confused with physical pins at chip boundaries.
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A link is a point-to-point oriented connection between two pads, either
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on the same entity or on different entities. Data flows from a source
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A media device is represented by a struct media_device instance, defined in
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include/media/media-device.h. Allocation of the structure is handled by the
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media device driver, usually by embedding the media_device instance in a
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larger driver-specific structure.
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Drivers register media device instances by calling
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media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev);
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The caller is responsible for initializing the media_device structure before
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registration. The following fields must be set:
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- dev must point to the parent device (usually a pci_dev, usb_interface or
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platform_device instance).
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- model must be filled with the device model name as a NUL-terminated UTF-8
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string. The device/model revision must not be stored in this field.
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The following fields are optional:
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- serial is a unique serial number stored as a NUL-terminated ASCII string.
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The field is big enough to store a GUID in text form. If the hardware
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doesn't provide a unique serial number this field must be left empty.
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- bus_info represents the location of the device in the system as a
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NUL-terminated ASCII string. For PCI/PCIe devices bus_info must be set to
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"PCI:" (or "PCIe:") followed by the value of pci_name(). For USB devices,
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the usb_make_path() function must be used. This field is used by
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applications to distinguish between otherwise identical devices that don't
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provide a serial number.
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- hw_revision is the hardware device revision in a driver-specific format.
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When possible the revision should be formatted with the KERNEL_VERSION
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- driver_version is formatted with the KERNEL_VERSION macro. The version
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minor must be incremented when new features are added to the userspace API
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without breaking binary compatibility. The version major must be
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incremented when binary compatibility is broken.
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Upon successful registration a character device named media[0-9]+ is created.
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The device major and minor numbers are dynamic. The model name is exported as
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Drivers unregister media device instances by calling
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media_device_unregister(struct media_device *mdev);
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Unregistering a media device that hasn't been registered is *NOT* safe.
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Entities, pads and links
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------------------------
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Entities are represented by a struct media_entity instance, defined in
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include/media/media-entity.h. The structure is usually embedded into a
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higher-level structure, such as a v4l2_subdev or video_device instance,
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although drivers can allocate entities directly.
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Drivers initialize entities by calling
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media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads,
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struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links);
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The media_entity name, type, flags, revision and group_id fields can be
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initialized before or after calling media_entity_init. Entities embedded in
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higher-level standard structures can have some of those fields set by the
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higher-level framework.
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As the number of pads is known in advance, the pads array is not allocated
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dynamically but is managed by the entity driver. Most drivers will embed the
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pads array in a driver-specific structure, avoiding dynamic allocation.
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Drivers must set the direction of every pad in the pads array before calling
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media_entity_init. The function will initialize the other pads fields.
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Unlike the number of pads, the total number of links isn't always known in
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advance by the entity driver. As an initial estimate, media_entity_init
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pre-allocates a number of links equal to the number of pads plus an optional
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number of extra links. The links array will be reallocated if it grows beyond
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the initial estimate.
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Drivers register entities with a media device by calling
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media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev,
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struct media_entity *entity);
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Entities are identified by a unique positive integer ID. Drivers can provide an
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ID by filling the media_entity id field prior to registration, or request the
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media controller framework to assign an ID automatically. Drivers that provide
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IDs manually must ensure that all IDs are unique. IDs are not guaranteed to be
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contiguous even when they are all assigned automatically by the framework.
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Drivers unregister entities by calling
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media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity);
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Unregistering an entity will not change the IDs of the other entities, and the
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ID will never be reused for a newly registered entity.
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When a media device is unregistered, all its entities are unregistered
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automatically. No manual entities unregistration is then required.
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Drivers free resources associated with an entity by calling
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media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity);
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This function must be called during the cleanup phase after unregistering the
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entity. Note that the media_entity instance itself must be freed explicitly by
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the driver if required.
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Entities have flags that describe the entity capabilities and state.
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MEDIA_ENT_FL_DEFAULT indicates the default entity for a given type.
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This can be used to report the default audio and video devices or the
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default camera sensor.
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Logical entity groups can be defined by setting the group ID of all member
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entities to the same non-zero value. An entity group serves no purpose in the
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kernel, but is reported to userspace during entities enumeration. The group_id
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field belongs to the media device driver and must not by touched by entity
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Media device drivers should define groups if several entities are logically
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bound together. Example usages include reporting
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- ALSA, VBI and video nodes that carry the same media stream
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- lens and flash controllers associated with a sensor
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Pads are represented by a struct media_pad instance, defined in
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include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores its pads in a pads array
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managed by the entity driver. Drivers usually embed the array in a
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driver-specific structure.
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Pads are identified by their entity and their 0-based index in the pads array.
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Both information are stored in the media_pad structure, making the media_pad
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pointer the canonical way to store and pass link references.
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Pads have flags that describe the pad capabilities and state.
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MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK indicates that the pad supports sinking data.
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MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE indicates that the pad supports sourcing data.
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One and only one of MEDIA_PAD_FL_SINK and MEDIA_PAD_FL_SOURCE must be set for
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Links are represented by a struct media_link instance, defined in
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include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores all links originating at or
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targeting any of its pads in a links array. A given link is thus stored
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twice, once in the source entity and once in the target entity. The array is
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pre-allocated and grows dynamically as needed.
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Drivers create links by calling
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media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad,
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struct media_entity *sink, u16 sink_pad,
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An entry in the link array of each entity is allocated and stores pointers
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to source and sink pads.
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Links have flags that describe the link capabilities and state.
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MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED indicates that the link is enabled and can be used
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to transfer media data. When two or more links target a sink pad, only
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one of them can be enabled at a time.
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MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE indicates that the link enabled state can't be
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modified at runtime. If MEDIA_LNK_FL_IMMUTABLE is set, then
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MEDIA_LNK_FL_ENABLED must also be set since an immutable link is always
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The media framework provides APIs to iterate over entities in a graph.
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To iterate over all entities belonging to a media device, drivers can use the
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media_device_for_each_entity macro, defined in include/media/media-device.h.
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struct media_entity *entity;
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media_device_for_each_entity(entity, mdev) {
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/* entity will point to each entity in turn */
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Drivers might also need to iterate over all entities in a graph that can be
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reached only through enabled links starting at a given entity. The media
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framework provides a depth-first graph traversal API for that purpose.
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Note that graphs with cycles (whether directed or undirected) are *NOT*
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supported by the graph traversal API. To prevent infinite loops, the graph
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traversal code limits the maximum depth to MEDIA_ENTITY_ENUM_MAX_DEPTH,
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currently defined as 16.
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Drivers initiate a graph traversal by calling
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media_entity_graph_walk_start(struct media_entity_graph *graph,
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struct media_entity *entity);
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The graph structure, provided by the caller, is initialized to start graph
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traversal at the given entity.
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Drivers can then retrieve the next entity by calling
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media_entity_graph_walk_next(struct media_entity_graph *graph);
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When the graph traversal is complete the function will return NULL.
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Graph traversal can be interrupted at any moment. No cleanup function call is
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required and the graph structure can be freed normally.
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Helper functions can be used to find a link between two given pads, or a pad
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connected to another pad through an enabled link
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media_entity_find_link(struct media_pad *source,
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struct media_pad *sink);
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media_entity_remote_source(struct media_pad *pad);
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Refer to the kerneldoc documentation for more information.
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Use count and power handling
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----------------------------
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Due to the wide differences between drivers regarding power management needs,
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the media controller does not implement power management. However, the
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media_entity structure includes a use_count field that media drivers can use to
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track the number of users of every entity for power management needs.
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The use_count field is owned by media drivers and must not be touched by entity
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drivers. Access to the field must be protected by the media device graph_mutex
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Link properties can be modified at runtime by calling
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media_entity_setup_link(struct media_link *link, u32 flags);
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The flags argument contains the requested new link flags.
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The only configurable property is the ENABLED link flag to enable/disable a
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link. Links marked with the IMMUTABLE link flag can not be enabled or disabled.
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When a link is enabled or disabled, the media framework calls the
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link_setup operation for the two entities at the source and sink of the link,
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in that order. If the second link_setup call fails, another link_setup call is
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made on the first entity to restore the original link flags.
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Media device drivers can be notified of link setup operations by setting the
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media_device::link_notify pointer to a callback function. If provided, the
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notification callback will be called before enabling and after disabling
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Entity drivers must implement the link_setup operation if any of their links
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is non-immutable. The operation must either configure the hardware or store
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the configuration information to be applied later.
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Link configuration must not have any side effect on other links. If an enabled
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link at a sink pad prevents another link at the same pad from being disabled,
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the link_setup operation must return -EBUSY and can't implicitly disable the
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Pipelines and media streams
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---------------------------
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When starting streaming, drivers must notify all entities in the pipeline to
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prevent link states from being modified during streaming by calling
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media_entity_pipeline_start(struct media_entity *entity,
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struct media_pipeline *pipe);
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The function will mark all entities connected to the given entity through
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enabled links, either directly or indirectly, as streaming.
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The media_pipeline instance pointed to by the pipe argument will be stored in
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every entity in the pipeline. Drivers should embed the media_pipeline structure
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in higher-level pipeline structures and can then access the pipeline through
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the media_entity pipe field.
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Calls to media_entity_pipeline_start() can be nested. The pipeline pointer must
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be identical for all nested calls to the function.
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When stopping the stream, drivers must notify the entities with
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media_entity_pipeline_stop(struct media_entity *entity);
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If multiple calls to media_entity_pipeline_start() have been made the same
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number of media_entity_pipeline_stop() calls are required to stop streaming. The
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media_entity pipe field is reset to NULL on the last nested stop call.
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Link configuration will fail with -EBUSY by default if either end of the link is
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a streaming entity. Links that can be modified while streaming must be marked
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with the MEDIA_LNK_FL_DYNAMIC flag.
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If other operations need to be disallowed on streaming entities (such as
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changing entities configuration parameters) drivers can explicitly check the
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media_entity stream_count field to find out if an entity is streaming. This
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operation must be done with the media_device graph_mutex held.