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Add a new subsystem for GNSS (e.g. GPS) receivers.
While GNSS receivers are typically accessed using a UART interface they
often also support other I/O interfaces such as I2C, SPI and USB, while
yet other devices use iomem or even some form of remote-processor
messaging (rpmsg).
The new GNSS subsystem abstracts the underlying interface and provides a
new "gnss" class type, which exposes a character-device interface (e.g.
/dev/gnss0) to user space. This allows GNSS receivers to have a
representation in the Linux device model, something which is important
not least for power management purposes.
Note that the character-device interface provides raw access to whatever
protocol the receiver is (currently) using, such as NMEA 0183, UBX or
SiRF Binary. These protocols are expected to be continued to be handled
by user space for the time being, even if some hybrid solutions are also
conceivable (e.g. to have kernel drivers issue management commands).
This will still allow for better platform integration by allowing GNSS
devices and their resources (e.g. regulators and enable-gpios) to be
described by firmware and managed by kernel drivers rather than
platform-specific scripts and services.
While the current interface is kept minimal, it could be extended using
IOCTLs, sysfs or uevents as needs and proper abstraction levels are
identified and determined (e.g. for device and feature identification).
Signed-off-by: Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
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Loys Ollivier
Johan Hovold