56 lines
2 KiB
Text
56 lines
2 KiB
Text
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Linux Control and Measurement Device Interface (comedi)
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David Schleef
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<ds@stm.lbl.gov>
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A new minor version of comedi, 0.6.0, is now available at
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<ftp://stm.lbl.gov/pub/comedi/>. The change in minor version
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level to 6 represents a complete redesign and rewrite of
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the kernel interface. Because of this, 0.6.0 is almost
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completely incompatible with previous versions.
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This redesign was necessary for current and future growth
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of comedi. The current needs that have been addressed are
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SMP and RT compatibility, the need to be more friendly to
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high-level programming, and an overall simplification of
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the interface. Using the 0.6 series should eventually be
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easier and more understandable.
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The major changes from the 0.5 series are:
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- Comedi devices are now divided into "subdevices",
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such as a A/D subsystem or D/A subsystem, instead
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of channels. This eliminates much of the redundant
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information and coding that was present in the 0.5
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series, and also allows proper locking of devices
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necessary for proper SMP and RT performance.
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- The 0.6 series will allow multiple methods for
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data transfer from hardware to your user-level
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process, including read()/write(), ioctl(), and
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mmap(), giving users needed flexibility.
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- Hardware drivers that are real-time compatibile will
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now be able to perform RTLinux tasks timed by device
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interrupts.
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Upgrading to 0.6 should not be too difficult, although it
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will require editing and recompiling all programs that use
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comedi, since the interface has changed.
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Comedi includes hardware drivers for many boards. See ./drivers
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for details.
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If you want to add support for another hardware device, you
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will want to look at the comedi hardware driver writing HOWTO
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in the doc directory. It is fairly simple to write a new hardware
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driver for comedi, but I am always willing to answer any questions
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you might have.
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Comedi may be freely distibuted and modified in accordance with the
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GNU General Public License.
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