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Is memory mapped I/O only used internally by the OS, not exposed to and used by programmers on top of Linux?
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In operating system concepts, memory mapped files and memory mapped I/O are two different things. See below about memory mapped I/O.
To use memory mapped files, we have mmap().
To use memory mapped I/O, what functions can we use? Is memory mapped I/O only used internally by OS, not exposed to and used by programmers on top of Linux?
In the case of I/O, as mentioned in Section 1.2.1, each I/O controller includes
registers to hold commands and the data being transferred. Usually, special I/O
instructions allow data transfers between these registers and system memory.
To allow more convenient access to I/O devices, many computer architectures
provide memory-mapped I/O. In this case, ranges of memory addresses are
set aside and are mapped to the device registers. Reads and writes to these
memory addresses cause the data to be transferred to and from the device
registers. This method is appropriate for devices that have fast response times,
such as video controllers. In the IBM PC, each location on the screen is mapped
to a memory location. Displaying text on the screen is almost as easy as writing
the text into the appropriate memory-mapped locations.
...
How can the processor give commands and data to a controller to
accomplish an I/O transfer? The short answer is that the controller has one
or more registers for data and control signals. The processor communicates
with the controller by reading and writing bit patterns in these registers. One
way in which this communication can occur is through the use of special
I/O instructions that specify the transfer of a byte or word to an I/O port
address. The I/O instruction triggers bus lines to select the proper device and
to move bits into or out of a device register. Alternatively, the device controller can support memory-mapped I/O. In this case, the device-control registers are mapped into the address space of the processor. The CPU executes I/O requests using the standard data-transfer instructions to read and write the
device-control registers at their mapped locations in physical memory.
linux io memory-mapped-file
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
In operating system concepts, memory mapped files and memory mapped I/O are two different things. See below about memory mapped I/O.
To use memory mapped files, we have mmap().
To use memory mapped I/O, what functions can we use? Is memory mapped I/O only used internally by OS, not exposed to and used by programmers on top of Linux?
In the case of I/O, as mentioned in Section 1.2.1, each I/O controller includes
registers to hold commands and the data being transferred. Usually, special I/O
instructions allow data transfers between these registers and system memory.
To allow more convenient access to I/O devices, many computer architectures
provide memory-mapped I/O. In this case, ranges of memory addresses are
set aside and are mapped to the device registers. Reads and writes to these
memory addresses cause the data to be transferred to and from the device
registers. This method is appropriate for devices that have fast response times,
such as video controllers. In the IBM PC, each location on the screen is mapped
to a memory location. Displaying text on the screen is almost as easy as writing
the text into the appropriate memory-mapped locations.
...
How can the processor give commands and data to a controller to
accomplish an I/O transfer? The short answer is that the controller has one
or more registers for data and control signals. The processor communicates
with the controller by reading and writing bit patterns in these registers. One
way in which this communication can occur is through the use of special
I/O instructions that specify the transfer of a byte or word to an I/O port
address. The I/O instruction triggers bus lines to select the proper device and
to move bits into or out of a device register. Alternatively, the device controller can support memory-mapped I/O. In this case, the device-control registers are mapped into the address space of the processor. The CPU executes I/O requests using the standard data-transfer instructions to read and write the
device-control registers at their mapped locations in physical memory.
linux io memory-mapped-file
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
In operating system concepts, memory mapped files and memory mapped I/O are two different things. See below about memory mapped I/O.
To use memory mapped files, we have mmap().
To use memory mapped I/O, what functions can we use? Is memory mapped I/O only used internally by OS, not exposed to and used by programmers on top of Linux?
In the case of I/O, as mentioned in Section 1.2.1, each I/O controller includes
registers to hold commands and the data being transferred. Usually, special I/O
instructions allow data transfers between these registers and system memory.
To allow more convenient access to I/O devices, many computer architectures
provide memory-mapped I/O. In this case, ranges of memory addresses are
set aside and are mapped to the device registers. Reads and writes to these
memory addresses cause the data to be transferred to and from the device
registers. This method is appropriate for devices that have fast response times,
such as video controllers. In the IBM PC, each location on the screen is mapped
to a memory location. Displaying text on the screen is almost as easy as writing
the text into the appropriate memory-mapped locations.
...
How can the processor give commands and data to a controller to
accomplish an I/O transfer? The short answer is that the controller has one
or more registers for data and control signals. The processor communicates
with the controller by reading and writing bit patterns in these registers. One
way in which this communication can occur is through the use of special
I/O instructions that specify the transfer of a byte or word to an I/O port
address. The I/O instruction triggers bus lines to select the proper device and
to move bits into or out of a device register. Alternatively, the device controller can support memory-mapped I/O. In this case, the device-control registers are mapped into the address space of the processor. The CPU executes I/O requests using the standard data-transfer instructions to read and write the
device-control registers at their mapped locations in physical memory.
linux io memory-mapped-file
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
In operating system concepts, memory mapped files and memory mapped I/O are two different things. See below about memory mapped I/O.
To use memory mapped files, we have mmap().
To use memory mapped I/O, what functions can we use? Is memory mapped I/O only used internally by OS, not exposed to and used by programmers on top of Linux?
In the case of I/O, as mentioned in Section 1.2.1, each I/O controller includes
registers to hold commands and the data being transferred. Usually, special I/O
instructions allow data transfers between these registers and system memory.
To allow more convenient access to I/O devices, many computer architectures
provide memory-mapped I/O. In this case, ranges of memory addresses are
set aside and are mapped to the device registers. Reads and writes to these
memory addresses cause the data to be transferred to and from the device
registers. This method is appropriate for devices that have fast response times,
such as video controllers. In the IBM PC, each location on the screen is mapped
to a memory location. Displaying text on the screen is almost as easy as writing
the text into the appropriate memory-mapped locations.
...
How can the processor give commands and data to a controller to
accomplish an I/O transfer? The short answer is that the controller has one
or more registers for data and control signals. The processor communicates
with the controller by reading and writing bit patterns in these registers. One
way in which this communication can occur is through the use of special
I/O instructions that specify the transfer of a byte or word to an I/O port
address. The I/O instruction triggers bus lines to select the proper device and
to move bits into or out of a device register. Alternatively, the device controller can support memory-mapped I/O. In this case, the device-control registers are mapped into the address space of the processor. The CPU executes I/O requests using the standard data-transfer instructions to read and write the
device-control registers at their mapped locations in physical memory.
linux io memory-mapped-file
linux io memory-mapped-file
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
83358
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
asked 6 hours ago
Tim
24.1k67233422
24.1k67233422
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
7
down vote
On Linux, MMIO is possible from user-space using mmap on /dev/mem. For example, the X server does
fd = open("/dev/mem", O_RDWR);
if (ioBase == NULL) PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, fd, ioBase_phys);
close(fd);
in some cases. This is going out of fashion though and the kernel strictly controls what can be done using this type of access: accessing /dev/mem requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, and distribution kernels nowadays tend to be built with STRICT_DEVMEM and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM which restrict access via /dev/mem to a few ranges in memory, either required for DOSEMU or X, or mapped to devices and otherwise unused (i.e. providing MMIO for a device which isn’t handled by a driver).
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's anothermmap()possibility.
– JdeBP
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Memory mapped I/O is done by mmap()ing a region of a file and then using the mapped data.
If you use a modern OS, the OS does most I/O mmapp'ing internally:
map parts of the file into a transient kernel area
copyout()the mapped data to the user address space. This causes the file content to be faulted into the transient memory area of the kernel.unmap the region
BTW: if you are referring to accessing hardware from user space, this is usually done e.g. by the X Server that mmap()s the hardware from the graphics board and accesses it from user space.
The device registers are accessible as memory addresses in that case and you just write code that looks as if you were inside the kernel. In other words: you do not use read() or write(), but just dereference pointers that point to the addresses of the hardware registers.
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed tommap()the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.
– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
7
down vote
On Linux, MMIO is possible from user-space using mmap on /dev/mem. For example, the X server does
fd = open("/dev/mem", O_RDWR);
if (ioBase == NULL) PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, fd, ioBase_phys);
close(fd);
in some cases. This is going out of fashion though and the kernel strictly controls what can be done using this type of access: accessing /dev/mem requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, and distribution kernels nowadays tend to be built with STRICT_DEVMEM and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM which restrict access via /dev/mem to a few ranges in memory, either required for DOSEMU or X, or mapped to devices and otherwise unused (i.e. providing MMIO for a device which isn’t handled by a driver).
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's anothermmap()possibility.
– JdeBP
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
On Linux, MMIO is possible from user-space using mmap on /dev/mem. For example, the X server does
fd = open("/dev/mem", O_RDWR);
if (ioBase == NULL) PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, fd, ioBase_phys);
close(fd);
in some cases. This is going out of fashion though and the kernel strictly controls what can be done using this type of access: accessing /dev/mem requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, and distribution kernels nowadays tend to be built with STRICT_DEVMEM and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM which restrict access via /dev/mem to a few ranges in memory, either required for DOSEMU or X, or mapped to devices and otherwise unused (i.e. providing MMIO for a device which isn’t handled by a driver).
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's anothermmap()possibility.
– JdeBP
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
7
down vote
up vote
7
down vote
On Linux, MMIO is possible from user-space using mmap on /dev/mem. For example, the X server does
fd = open("/dev/mem", O_RDWR);
if (ioBase == NULL) PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, fd, ioBase_phys);
close(fd);
in some cases. This is going out of fashion though and the kernel strictly controls what can be done using this type of access: accessing /dev/mem requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, and distribution kernels nowadays tend to be built with STRICT_DEVMEM and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM which restrict access via /dev/mem to a few ranges in memory, either required for DOSEMU or X, or mapped to devices and otherwise unused (i.e. providing MMIO for a device which isn’t handled by a driver).
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
On Linux, MMIO is possible from user-space using mmap on /dev/mem. For example, the X server does
fd = open("/dev/mem", O_RDWR);
if (ioBase == NULL) PROT_WRITE,
MAP_SHARED, fd, ioBase_phys);
close(fd);
in some cases. This is going out of fashion though and the kernel strictly controls what can be done using this type of access: accessing /dev/mem requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO, and distribution kernels nowadays tend to be built with STRICT_DEVMEM and IO_STRICT_DEVMEM which restrict access via /dev/mem to a few ranges in memory, either required for DOSEMU or X, or mapped to devices and otherwise unused (i.e. providing MMIO for a device which isn’t handled by a driver).
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen Kitt
151k23335402
151k23335402
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's anothermmap()possibility.
– JdeBP
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's anothermmap()possibility.
– JdeBP
5 hours ago
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's another
mmap() possibility.– JdeBP
5 hours ago
By the definition quoted in the question, the framebuffer counts as memory-mapped I/O space. So there's another
mmap() possibility.– JdeBP
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Memory mapped I/O is done by mmap()ing a region of a file and then using the mapped data.
If you use a modern OS, the OS does most I/O mmapp'ing internally:
map parts of the file into a transient kernel area
copyout()the mapped data to the user address space. This causes the file content to be faulted into the transient memory area of the kernel.unmap the region
BTW: if you are referring to accessing hardware from user space, this is usually done e.g. by the X Server that mmap()s the hardware from the graphics board and accesses it from user space.
The device registers are accessible as memory addresses in that case and you just write code that looks as if you were inside the kernel. In other words: you do not use read() or write(), but just dereference pointers that point to the addresses of the hardware registers.
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed tommap()the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.
– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Memory mapped I/O is done by mmap()ing a region of a file and then using the mapped data.
If you use a modern OS, the OS does most I/O mmapp'ing internally:
map parts of the file into a transient kernel area
copyout()the mapped data to the user address space. This causes the file content to be faulted into the transient memory area of the kernel.unmap the region
BTW: if you are referring to accessing hardware from user space, this is usually done e.g. by the X Server that mmap()s the hardware from the graphics board and accesses it from user space.
The device registers are accessible as memory addresses in that case and you just write code that looks as if you were inside the kernel. In other words: you do not use read() or write(), but just dereference pointers that point to the addresses of the hardware registers.
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed tommap()the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.
– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
Memory mapped I/O is done by mmap()ing a region of a file and then using the mapped data.
If you use a modern OS, the OS does most I/O mmapp'ing internally:
map parts of the file into a transient kernel area
copyout()the mapped data to the user address space. This causes the file content to be faulted into the transient memory area of the kernel.unmap the region
BTW: if you are referring to accessing hardware from user space, this is usually done e.g. by the X Server that mmap()s the hardware from the graphics board and accesses it from user space.
The device registers are accessible as memory addresses in that case and you just write code that looks as if you were inside the kernel. In other words: you do not use read() or write(), but just dereference pointers that point to the addresses of the hardware registers.
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
Memory mapped I/O is done by mmap()ing a region of a file and then using the mapped data.
If you use a modern OS, the OS does most I/O mmapp'ing internally:
map parts of the file into a transient kernel area
copyout()the mapped data to the user address space. This causes the file content to be faulted into the transient memory area of the kernel.unmap the region
BTW: if you are referring to accessing hardware from user space, this is usually done e.g. by the X Server that mmap()s the hardware from the graphics board and accesses it from user space.
The device registers are accessible as memory addresses in that case and you just write code that looks as if you were inside the kernel. In other words: you do not use read() or write(), but just dereference pointers that point to the addresses of the hardware registers.
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
edited 17 mins ago
Peter Mortensen
83358
83358
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
answered 6 hours ago
schily
9,83031537
9,83031537
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed tommap()the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.
– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
add a comment |Â
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed tommap()the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.
– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed to
mmap() the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.– schily
5 hours ago
I would not use the term memory mapped IO in relation to UNIX while talking about hardware access. If you however like to access hardware from user space, you need special privileges to be allowed to
mmap() the addresses that are used by interface hardware. Then you can use the hardware from user space as if you were in the kernel.– schily
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
@StephenKitt In MMIO, are the device controllers' registers and memory exposed as device files, so that system calls including read(), write(), and mmap() can apply to the device files?
– Tim
5 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
I added an explanation on how the device registers are accessed in such a case.
– schily
4 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
Obviously the quoted text refers to memory mapped I/O in the hardware sense. Instead of the "special I/O instructions", of which the 8086 IN and OUT instructions are an example, the hardware is designed so that the I/O device registers appear in the memory address space, and normal memory access instructions like MOV are used. This is done in the in-kernel device driver, and no files are involved. The Operating System Concepts book is not a Unix-specific book, but intends to "provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding operating systems."
– Johan Myréen
3 hours ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
libdrm would also be worth mentioning - it's what the Mesa OpenGL drivers use to map video memory into a user process (and is probably a wrapper around a kernel interface). Then other drivers could also provide kernel interfaces where appropriate, such as the RDMA interface wrapped in the ibverbs and rdmacm libraries (though that's probably a bit different - there, a user process registers a region of its virtual memory locked to be resident for the RDMA card to read/write directly).
– Daniel Schepler
58 mins ago
add a comment |Â
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