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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@woody.linux-foundation.org>2007-02-09 08:24:04 -0800
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@woody.linux-foundation.org>2007-02-09 08:24:04 -0800
commit6026179519896e7d35b2564e7544487d1c8948e7 (patch)
treec78c7032abce24d846423572204f1cd4e97d8efc /Documentation/sound/alsa/soc/overview.txt
parentd27146dd5b72ab7d7e641f56f4bee1484dabd0b7 (diff)
parentc2902c8ae06762d941fab64198467f78cab6f8cd (diff)
downloadlinux-rt-6026179519896e7d35b2564e7544487d1c8948e7.tar.gz
Merge branch 'linus' of master.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/perex/alsa
* 'linus' of master.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/perex/alsa: (212 commits) [PATCH] Fix breakage with CONFIG_SYSFS_DEPRECATED [ALSA] version 1.0.14rc2 [ALSA] ASoC documentation updates [ALSA] ca0106 - Add missing sysfs device assignment [ALSA] aoa i2sbus: Stop Apple i2s DMA gracefully [ALSA] hda-codec - Add support for Fujitsu PI1556 Realtek ALC880 [ALSA] aoa: remove suspend/resume printks [ALSA] Fix possible deadlocks in sequencer at removal of ports [ALSA] emu10k1 - Fix STAC9758 front channel [ALSA] soc - Clean up with kmemdup() [ALSA] snd-ak4114: Fix two array overflows [ALSA] ac97_bus power management [ALSA] usbaudio - Add support for Edirol UA-101 [ALSA] hda-codec - Add ALC861VD/ALC660VD support [ALSA] soc - ASoC 0.13 Sharp poodle machine [ALSA] soc - ASoC 0.13 Sharp tosa machine [ALSA] soc - ASoC 0.13 spitz machine [ALSA] soc - ASoC Sharp corgi machine [ALSA] soc - ASoC 0.13 pxa2xx DMA [ALSA] soc - ASoC 0.13 pxa2xx AC97 driver ...
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+ALSA SoC Layer
+==============
+
+The overall project goal of the ALSA System on Chip (ASoC) layer is to provide
+better ALSA support for embedded system on chip procesors (e.g. pxa2xx, au1x00,
+iMX, etc) and portable audio codecs. Currently there is some support in the
+kernel for SoC audio, however it has some limitations:-
+
+ * Currently, codec drivers are often tightly coupled to the underlying SoC
+ cpu. This is not ideal and leads to code duplication i.e. Linux now has 4
+ different wm8731 drivers for 4 different SoC platforms.
+
+ * There is no standard method to signal user initiated audio events.
+ e.g. Headphone/Mic insertion, Headphone/Mic detection after an insertion
+ event. These are quite common events on portable devices and ofter require
+ machine specific code to re route audio, enable amps etc after such an event.
+
+ * Current drivers tend to power up the entire codec when playing
+ (or recording) audio. This is fine for a PC, but tends to waste a lot of
+ power on portable devices. There is also no support for saving power via
+ changing codec oversampling rates, bias currents, etc.
+
+
+ASoC Design
+===========
+
+The ASoC layer is designed to address these issues and provide the following
+features :-
+
+ * Codec independence. Allows reuse of codec drivers on other platforms
+ and machines.
+
+ * Easy I2S/PCM audio interface setup between codec and SoC. Each SoC interface
+ and codec registers it's audio interface capabilities with the core and are
+ subsequently matched and configured when the application hw params are known.
+
+ * Dynamic Audio Power Management (DAPM). DAPM automatically sets the codec to
+ it's minimum power state at all times. This includes powering up/down
+ internal power blocks depending on the internal codec audio routing and any
+ active streams.
+
+ * Pop and click reduction. Pops and clicks can be reduced by powering the
+ codec up/down in the correct sequence (including using digital mute). ASoC
+ signals the codec when to change power states.
+
+ * Machine specific controls: Allow machines to add controls to the sound card
+ e.g. volume control for speaker amp.
+
+To achieve all this, ASoC basically splits an embedded audio system into 3
+components :-
+
+ * Codec driver: The codec driver is platform independent and contains audio
+ controls, audio interface capabilities, codec dapm definition and codec IO
+ functions.
+
+ * Platform driver: The platform driver contains the audio dma engine and audio
+ interface drivers (e.g. I2S, AC97, PCM) for that platform.
+
+ * Machine driver: The machine driver handles any machine specific controls and
+ audio events. i.e. turing on an amp at start of playback.
+
+
+Documentation
+=============
+
+The documentation is spilt into the following sections:-
+
+overview.txt: This file.
+
+codec.txt: Codec driver internals.
+
+DAI.txt: Description of Digital Audio Interface standards and how to configure
+a DAI within your codec and CPU DAI drivers.
+
+dapm.txt: Dynamic Audio Power Management
+
+platform.txt: Platform audio DMA and DAI.
+
+machine.txt: Machine driver internals.
+
+pop_clicks.txt: How to minimise audio artifacts.
+
+clocking.txt: ASoC clocking for best power performance. \ No newline at end of file