Introduction to CSI Camera Driver Programming

Welcome to the CSI Camera Driver Programming course! In this course, you will learn how to develop camera drivers for CSI (Camera Serial Interface) devices in the Linux kernel.

To provide you with a comprehensive understanding of CSI camera driver programming, we have structured this course into several modules that cover various aspects of camera driver development. Let's take a closer look at the contents of this course:

Module 1: Camera Driver Basics

• Introduction to Device Drivers: Get acquainted with the fundamentals of device drivers and their role in the Linux kernel.
• Hello World Device Driver: Dive into the development of a simple device driver to grasp the essential concepts.
• Introduction to Char Driver: Explore the basics of character device drivers and their relevance to camera drivers.

Module 2: Camera Driver Architecture

• Camera Driver Architecture: Understand the high-level architecture of a camera driver and its components.
• Structure of the Camera Device Driver: Learn about the internal structures, operations, entry, and exit points of a camera driver.

Module 3: Camera Sensor Understanding

• Introduction to MIPI/CSI Ports: Gain insights into MIPI/CSI ports and their significance in camera sensor communication.
• Study of Camera Sensors: Explore the different types of camera sensors and their functionalities.

Module 4: Camera Image Capture and Processing

• Introduction to Gstreamer: Familiarize yourself with Gstreamer, a powerful framework for multimedia applications.
• Color Formats RGB vs YUV: Learn about the differences between RGB and YUV color formats in camera image processing.
• Internal Working of the Camera Sensor: Gain an understanding of the internal workings of a camera sensor.
• Image Processing Pipeline: Explore the stages involved in the image processing pipeline.

Module 5: Device Trees and Camera Driver Initialization

• Introduction to Device Trees: Discover the concept of Device Trees and their usage in configuring hardware devices in Linux.
• Write Device Tree for the Camera Module: Learn how to write a Device Tree entry for the camera module.
• Camera Driver Power and Startup Block: Understand the power management and startup operations of a camera driver.
• Camera Driver Initialization: Explore the initialization process of a camera driver.

Module 6: Integration and Conclusion

• Combining All Blocks: Put together all the knowledge gained in the previous modules to create a fully functional camera driver.

By the end of this course, you will have an understanding of CSI camera driver programming, this course is not meant for others and is primarly designed for my own understanding. Hence after this course it is expected that you will have some loopholes in your knowledge. And it is expected that you will practice writing some camera sensor drivers and this will fill all the gaps in your knowledge.

Additional references

Additional references are just there to add to the course, it is there incase there are knowledge holes still left buy the course.

1. Nvidia Jetson Camera driver docs - Explains the camera driver development and porting in detail.