Device Power State Transitions

A device driver can call pm_raise_power(9F) to request that a component be set to at least a given power level. Setting the power level in this manner is necessary before using a component that has been powered off. For example, the read(9E) routine of a SCSI disk target driver might need to spin up the disk, if the disk has been powered off. The pm_raise_power(9F) function requests the power management framework to initiate a device power state transition to a higher power level. Normally, reductions in component power levels are initiated by the framework. However, a device driver should call pm_lower_power(9F) when detaching, in order to reduce the power consumption of unused devices as much as possible.

Powering down can pose risks for some devices. For example, some tape drives damage tapes when power is removed. Similarly, some disk drives have a limited tolerance for power cycles, because each cycle results in a head landing. Use the no-involuntary-power-cycles(9P) property to notify the system that the device driver should control all power cycles for the device. This approach prevents power from being removed from a device while the device driver is detached unless the device was powered off by a driver's call to pm_lower_power(9F) from its detach(9E) entry point.

The pm_raise_power(9F) function is called when the driver discovers that a component needed for some operation is at an insufficient power level. This interface causes the driver to raise the current power level of the component to the needed level. All the devices that depend on this device are also brought back to full power by this call.

Call the pm_lower_power(9F) function when the device is detaching once access to the device is no longer needed. Call pm_lower_power(9F) to set each component at the lowest power so that the device uses as little power as possible while not in use. The pm_lower_power() function must be called from the detach() entry point. The pm_lower_power() function has no effect if it is called from any other part of the driver.

The pm_power_has_changed(9F) function is called to notify the framework about a power transition. The transition might be due to the device changing its own power level. The transition might also be due to an operation such as suspend-resume. The syntax for pm_power_has_changed(9F) is the same as the syntax for pm_raise_power(9F).