Course Overview
Learn how to develop device drivers for Linux systems. This course will teach you about the different types of Linux device drivers as well as the appropriate APIs and methods through which devices interface with the kernel.
Who should attend
This course is designed for anyone interested in learning how to write device drivers for Linux. Students should be proficient in the C programming language and be familiar with basic Linux utilities and text editors.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of basic kernel interfaces and methods such as how to write, compile, load and unload modules, use synchronization primitives, and the basics of memory allocation and management, such as is provided by Linux Kernel Internals and Development (LFD420).
Course Content
- Introduction
- Preliminaries
- Device Drivers
- Modules and Device Drivers
- Memory Management and Allocation
- Character Devices
- Kernel Features
- Transferring Between User and Kernel Space
- Interrupts and Exceptions
- Timing Measurements
- Kernel Timers
- ioctls
- Unified Device Model and sysfs
- Firmware
- Sleeping and Wait Queues
- Interrupt Handling: Deferrable Functions and User Drivers
- Hardware I/O
- PCI
- Platform Drivers**
- Device Trees**
- Direct Memory Access (DMA)
- Network Drivers I: Basics
- Network Drivers II: Data Structures
- Network Drivers III: Transmission and Reception
- Network Drivers IV: Selected Topics
- USB Drivers
- Power Management
- Block Drivers
** These sections may be considered in part or in whole as optional. They contain either background reference material, specialized topics, or advanced subjects. The instructor may choose to cover or not cover them depending on classroom experience and time constraints.