Introduction to Linux Device Drivers

The kernel is driven by a device.ProgramInteraction with I/O devices.

The device driver is included in the kernel and consists of data structures and functions that control one or more devices, these devices include hard disk, keyboard, mouse, monitor, network interface, and devices connected to the SCSI bus. Through a specific interface, each driver interacts with the rest of the kernel (including other drivers.

 

This method has the following advantages:

You canCodeEncapsulated in a specific module

If you do not know about the kernelSource codeNew devices can be added only when the interface specification is known.

The kernel treats all devices in a unified manner and accesses these devices through the same interface.

You can write the device drivers as modules and dynamically load them into the kernel instead of restarting the system. You can also dynamically detach a module when it is no longer needed to reduce the size of the kernel image stored in Ram.

 

Describes the interface between the device driver and other parts of the kernel and processes: