Writing Device Drivers

Device Access Functions

Drivers use the ddi_get8(9F) and ddi_put8(9F) family of routines in conjunction with the handle returned by ddi_regs_map_setup(9F) to transfer data to and from a device. The DDI framework automatically handles any byte-swapping that is required to meet the endian format for the host or device, and enforces any store-ordering constraints the device might have.

The DDI provides interfaces for transferring data in 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit quantities, as well as interfaces for transferring multiple values repeatedly. See the man pages for the ddi_get8(9F), ddi_put8(9F), ddi_rep_get8(9F) and ddi_rep_put8(9F) families of routines for a complete listing and description of these interfaces.

The following example builds on Example 7–1 where the driver mapped the device's CSR and data registers. Here, the driver's write(9E) entry point, when called, writes a buffer of data to the device one byte at a time.


Example 7–2 Mapping Setup: Buffer

static  int
pio_write(dev_t dev, struct uio *uiop, cred_t *credp)
{
    int  retval;
    int  error = OK;
    Pio *pio_p = ddi_get_soft_state(pio_softstate, getminor(dev));

    if (pio_p == NULL)
        return (ENXIO);
    mutex_enter(&pio_p->mutex);
    /*
     * enable interrupts from the device by setting the Interrupt
     * Enable bit in the devices CSR register
     */
    ddi_put8(pio_p->csr_handle, pio_p->csr,
      (ddi_get8(pio_p->csr_handle, pio_p->csr) | PIO_INTR_ENABLE));

    while (uiop->uio_resid > 0) {
    /*
     * This device issues an IDLE interrupt when it is ready
     * to accept a character; the interrupt can be cleared
     * by setting PIO_INTR_CLEAR.  The interrupt is reasserted
     * after the next character is written or the next time
     * PIO_INTR_ENABLE is toggled on.
     *
     * wait for interrupt (see pio_intr)
     */
        cv_wait(&pio_p->cv, &pio_p->mutex);

    /*
     * get a character from the user's write request
     * fail the write request if any errors are encountered
     */
        if ((retval = uwritec(uiop)) == -1) {
            error = retval;
            break;
        }

    /*
     * pass the character to the device by writing it to
     * the device's data register
     */
        ddi_put8(pio_p->data_handle, pio_p->data, (uchar_t)retval);
    }

    /*
     * disable interrupts by clearing the Interrupt Enable bit
     * in the CSR
     */
    ddi_put8(pio_p->csr_handle, pio_p->csr,
      (ddi_get8(pio_p->csr_handle, pio_p->csr) & ~PIO_INTR_ENABLE));

    mutex_exit(&pio_p->mutex);
    return (error);
}

Alternate Device Access Interfaces

In addition to implementing all device accesses through the ddi_get8(9F) and ddi_put8(9F) families of interfaces, the Oracle Solaris OS provides interfaces that are specific to particular bus implementations. While these functions can be more efficient on some platforms, use of these routines can limit the ability of the driver to remain portable across different bus versions of the device.

Memory Space Access

With memory mapped access, device registers appear in memory address space. The ddi_getX family of routines and the ddi_putX family are available for use by drivers as an alternative to the standard device access interfaces.

I/O Space Access

With I/O space access, the device registers appear in I/O space, where each addressable element is called an I/O port. The ddi_io_get8(9F) and ddi_io_put8(9F) routines are available for use by drivers as an alternative to the standard device access interfaces.

PCI Configuration Space Access

To access PCI configuration space without using the normal device access interfaces, a driver is required to map PCI configuration space by calling pci_config_setup(9F) in place of ddi_regs_map_setup(9F). The driver can then call the pci_config_get8(9F) and pci_config_put8(9F) families of interfaces to access PCI configuration space.