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An Introduction To Device Drivers: Sarah Diesburg COP 5641 / CIS 4930

This document provides an introduction to device drivers in Linux. It explains that device drivers act as an interface between the operating system and hardware devices by mapping standard calls to device-specific operations. It describes the main roles and responsibilities of drivers, including implementing hardware access, not enforcing policies, and assisting users. It also discusses different types of drivers, loading modules, security considerations, version numbering, and licensing.

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Francis Arren De Guzman
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57 views

An Introduction To Device Drivers: Sarah Diesburg COP 5641 / CIS 4930

This document provides an introduction to device drivers in Linux. It explains that device drivers act as an interface between the operating system and hardware devices by mapping standard calls to device-specific operations. It describes the main roles and responsibilities of drivers, including implementing hardware access, not enforcing policies, and assisting users. It also discusses different types of drivers, loading modules, security considerations, version numbering, and licensing.

Uploaded by

Francis Arren De Guzman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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An Introduction to Device

Drivers

Sarah Diesburg
COP 5641 / CIS 4930
Introduction

 Device drivers
 Black boxes to hide details of hardware devices
 Use standardized calls
 Independent of the specific driver
 Main role
 Map standard calls to device-specific operations
 Can be developed separately from the rest of the
kernel
 Plugged in at runtime when needed
The Role of the Device Driver

 Implements the mechanisms to access the


hardware
 E.g., show a disk as an array of data blocks
 Does not force particular policies on the user
 Examples
 Who many access the drive
 Whether the drive is accessed via a file system
 Whether users may mount file systems on the drive
Policy-Free Drivers

 A common practice
 Support for synchronous/asynchronous operation
 Be opened multiple times
 Exploit the full capabilities of the hardware
 Easier user model
 Easier to write and maintain
 To assist users with policies, release device
drivers with user programs
Splitting the Kernel

 Process management
 Creates, destroys processes
 Supports communication among processes
 Signals, pipes, etc.
 Schedules how processes share the CPU
 Memory management
 Virtual addressing
Splitting the Kernel

 File systems
 Everything in UNIX can be treated as a file
 Linux supports multiple file systems
 Device control
 Every system operation maps to a physical device
 Few exceptions: CPU, memory, etc.
 Networking
 Handles packets
 Handles routing and network address resolution
issues
Splitting the Kernel
Loadable Modules

 The ability to add and remove kernel features


at runtime
 Each unit of extension is called a module
 Use insmod program to add a kernel module
 Use rmmod program to remove a kernel
module
Classes of Devices and Modules

 Character devices
 Block devices
 Network devices
 Others
Character Devices

 Abstraction: a stream of bytes


 Examples
 Text console (/dev/console)
 Serial ports (/dev/ttyS0)
 Usually supports open, close, read, write
 Accessed sequentially (in most cases)
 Might not support file seeks
 Exception: frame grabbers
 Can access acquired image using mmap or lseek
Block Devices

 Abstraction: array of storage blocks

 However, applications can access a block


device in bytes
 Block and char devices differ only at the kernel
level
 A block device can host a file system
Network Devices

 Abstraction: data packets


 Send and receive packets
 Do not know about individual connections
 Have unique names (e.g., eth0)
 Not in the file system
 Support protocols and streams related to packet
transmission (i.e., no read and write)
Other Classes of Devices

 Examples that do not fit to previous


categories:
 USB
 SCSI
 FireWire
 MTD
File System Modules

 Software drivers, not device drivers


 Serve as a layer between user API and block
devices
 Intended to be device-independent
Security Issues

 Deliberate vs. incidental damage


 Kernel modules present possibilities for both
 System does only rudimentary checks at
module load time
 Relies on limiting privilege to load modules
 And trusts the driver writers
 Driver writer must be on guard for security
problems
Security Issues

 Do not define security policies


 Provide mechanisms to enforce policies
 Be aware of operations that affect global
resources
 Setting up an interrupt line
 Could damage hardware
 Setting up a default block size
 Could affect other users
Security Issues

 Beware of bugs
 Buffer overrun
 Overwriting unrelated data
 Treat input/parameters with utmost suspicion
 Uninitialized memory
 Kernel memory should be zeroed before being made
available to a user
 Otherwise, information leakage could result
 Passwords
Security Issues

 Avoid running kernels compiled by an


untrusted friend
 Modified kernel could allow anyone to load a
module
Version Numbering

 Every software package used in Linux has a


release number
 You need a particular version of one package to
run a particular version of another package
 Prepackaged distribution contains matching
versions of various packages
Version Numbering

 Different throughout the years


 After version 1.0 but before 3.0
 <major>.<minor>.<release>.<bugfix>
 Time based releases (after two to three months)
 3.x
 Moved to 3.0 to commemorate 20th anniversary of
Linux
 <version>.<release>.<bugfix>
 https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/5/29/204
License Terms

 GNU General Public License (GPL2)


 GPL allows anybody to redistribute and sell a
product covered by GPL
 As long as the recipient has access to the source
 And is able to exercise the same rights
 Any software product derived from a product
covered by the GPL be released under GPL
License Terms

 If you want your code to go into the mainline


kernel
 Must use a GPL-compatible license
Joining the Kernel Development
Community
 The central gathering point
 Linux-kernel mailing list
 http://www.tux.org/lkml
 Chapter 20 of LKM further discusses the
community and accepted coding style

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