Home ›

Dynamic Kernels: Modularized Device Drivers

Issue 23

From Issue #23
March 1996

Mar 01, 1996  By Alessandro Rubini
 in
This is the first in a series of four articles co-authored by Alessandro Rubini and Georg Zezchwitz which present a practical approach to writing Linux device drivers as kernel loadable modules. This installment presents and introduction to thte topic, preparing the reader to understand next month's installment.
Additional information

The Kernel Korner columns of the following months will introduce further points of module-writing. Code samples can be found inside the kernel and on ftp sites near you.

In particular, what I describe is based on my personal experience with device drivers: both the ceddrv-0.xx and cxdrv-0.xx resemble the code I describe. Georg Zezschwitz and I wrote the ceddrv, which drives a lab interface (A/D, D/A, bells and whistles). The cxdrv driver is simpler, and drives a memory-mapped frame grabber. The latest versions of both drivers are available on ftp://iride.unipv.it/pub/linux for public ftp. ceddrv is also on tsx-11.mit.edu, while cxdev is on sunsite.unc.edu in apps/video.

There are quite a few books about device drivers out there, but they're often too system-specific and describe an awkward interface—Linux is easier. Generic books about Unix internals and the kernel source are the best teachers. I'd suggest to get one of the following:

  • Maurice J. Bach, The Design of the UNIX Operating System, Prentice Hall, 1986

  • Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, Prentice Hall, 1987

  • Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Modern Operating Systems, Prentice Hall, 1992

Alessandro Rubini (rubini@foggy.systemy.it) is taking his PhD course in computer science and is breeding two small Linux boxes at home. Wild by his very nature, he loves trekking, canoeing, and riding his bike.

______________________

White Paper
More Resources
Fabric-Based Computing Enables Optimized Hyperscale Data Centers

Today’s modular x86 servers are compute-centric, designed as a least common denominator to support a wide range of IT workloads. Those generic, virtualized IT workloads have much different resource optimization requirements than hyperscale and cloud applications. They have resulted in a “one size fits all” enterprise IT architecture that is not optimized for a specific set of IT workloads, and especially not emerging hyperscale workloads, such as web applications, big data, and object storage. In this report, you will learn how shifting the focus from traditional compute-centric IT architectures to an innovative disaggregated fabric-based architecture can optimize and scale your data center.

Learn More

Sponsored by AMD

White Paper
More Resources
Red Hat White Paper: Using an Open Source Framework to Catch the Bad Guy

Built-in forensics, incident response, and security with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Every security policy provides guidance and requirements for ensuring adequate protection of information and data, as well as high-level technical and administrative security requirements for a system in a given environment. Traditionally, providing security for a system focuses on the confidentiality of the information on it. However, protecting the data integrity and system and data availability is just as important. For example, when processing United States intelligence information, there are three attributes that require protection: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Learn more about catching the bad guy in this free white paper.

Learn More

Sponsored by DLT Solutions