Sensor Device Driver

A Mynewt sensor device driver uses the sensor framework abstraction and API to enable applications to access sensor data from any Mynewt sensor device using a common interface. The sensor device driver must also use the Mynewt HAL interface to communicate with and control a sensor device.

This guide describes what a sensor device driver must implement to enable a sensor device within the sensor framework. For information on using the HAL API to communicate with a sensor device, see the Hardware Layer Abstraction Guide.

The hw/drivers/sensors/<sensorname> package implements the device driver for the sensor named SENSORNAME.

Note: All example excerpts are from the BNO055 sensor device driver package.

Initializing and Configuring a Sensor Device

A driver package for a sensor named SENSORNAME must define and export the following data structures and functions to initialize and configure a device:

  • struct <sensorname>: This data structure represents a sensor device. The structure must include a dev field of type struct os_dev and a sensor field of type struct sensor. For example:

    struct bno055 {
        struct os_dev dev;
        struct sensor sensor;
        struct bno055_cfg cfg;
        os_time_t last_read_time;
    };
    
  • struct <sensorname>_cfg: This data structure defines the configuration for a sensor device. The structure fields are specific to the device. This is the data structure that a BSP, the sensor creator package, or an application sets to configure a sensor device. For example:

    struct bno055_cfg {
        uint8_t bc_opr_mode;
        uint8_t bc_pwr_mode;
        uint8_t bc_units;
        uint8_t bc_placement;
        uint8_t bc_acc_range;
        uint8_t bc_acc_bw;
    
             ...
    
        uint32_t bc_mask;
    };
    
  • <sensorname>_init(): This is the os device initialization callback of type int (*os_dev_init_func_t)(struct os_dev *, void *) that the os_dev_create() function calls to initialize the device. For example, the bno055 device driver package defines the following function:

    int bno055_init(struct os_dev *dev, void *arg)
    

    The BSP, which creates a device for an onboard sensor, and the sensor creator package, which creates a device for an off-board sensor, calls the os_dev_create() function and passes:

    • A pointer to a struct <sensorname> variable.

    • The <sensorname>_init() function pointer.

    • A pointer to a struct sensor_itf variable that specifies the interface the driver uses to communicate with the sensor device.

    See the Creating Sensor Devices page for more details.

    The os_dev_create() function calls the <sensorname>_init() function with a pointer to the struct <sensorname> for the dev parameter and a pointer to the struct sensor_itf for the arg parameter.

  • <sensorname>_config(): This is the sensor configuration function that the BSP, sensor creator package, or an application calls to configure the sensor device. For example:

    int bno055_config(struct bno055 *bno055, struct bno055_cfg *cfg)
    

Defining Functions to Read Sensor Data and Get Sensor Value Type

A device driver must implement the following functions that the sensor API uses to read sensor data and to get the configuration value type for a sensor:

  • A function of type int (*sensor_read_func_t)(struct sensor *, sensor_type_t, sensor_data_func_t, void *, uint32_t) that the sensor framework uses to read a single value from a sensor for the specified sensor types. The device driver must implement this function such that it reads, for each sensor type set in the bit mask, a single value from the sensor and calls the sensor_data_funct_t callback with the opaque callback argument , the sensor data, and the sensor type.

  • A function of type int (*sensor_get_config_func_t)(struct sensor *, sensor_type_t, struct sensor_cfg *) that returns the value type for the specified sensor type. For example, the value type for a SENSOR_VALUE_TYPE_TEMPERATURE sensor might be SENSOR_VALUE_TYPE_FLOAT and the value type for a SENSOR_TYPE_ACCELEROMETER sensor might be SENSOR_VALUE_TYPE_FLOAT_TRIPLET.

The driver initializes a sensor_driver structure, shown below, with the pointers to these functions:

struct sensor_driver {
    sensor_read_func_t sd_read;
    sensor_get_config_func_t sd_get_config;
};

For example:

static int bno055_sensor_read(struct sensor *, sensor_type_t,
        sensor_data_func_t, void *, uint32_t);
static int bno055_sensor_get_config(struct sensor *, sensor_type_t,
        struct sensor_cfg *);

static const struct sensor_driver g_bno055_sensor_driver = {
    bno055_sensor_read,
    bno055_sensor_get_config
};

Registering the Sensor in the Sensor Framework

The device driver must initialize and register a struct sensor object with the sensor manager. See the Sensor API and the Sensor Manager API pages for more details.

The device driver <sensorname>_init() function initializes and registers a sensor object as follows:

  • Calls the sensor_init() function to initialize the struct sensor object.

  • Calls the sensor_set_driver() function to specify the sensor types that the sensor device supports, and the pointer to the struct sensor_driver variable that specifies the driver functions to read the sensor data and to get the value type for a sensor.

  • Calls the sensor_set_interface() function to set the interface that the device driver uses to communicate with the sensor device. The BSP, or sensor creator package for an off-board sensors, sets up the sensor_itf and passes it to the <sensorname>_init() function. The sensor_set_interface() functions saves this information in the sensor object. The device driver uses the SENSOR_GET_ITF() macro to retrieve the sensor_itf when it needs to communicate with the sensor device.

  • Calls the sensor_mgr_register() function to register the sensor with the sensor manager.

For example:

int
bno055_init(struct os_dev *dev, void *arg)
{
    struct bno055 *bno055;
    struct sensor *sensor;
    int rc;

    if (!arg || !dev) {
        rc = SYS_ENODEV;
        goto err;
    }

    bno055 = (struct bno055 *) dev;

    rc = bno055_default_cfg(&bno055->cfg);
    if (rc) {
        goto err;
    }

    sensor = &bno055->sensor;

    /* Code to setup logging and stats may go here */
    ....

    rc = sensor_init(sensor, dev);
    if (rc != 0) {
        goto err;
    }

    /* Add the accelerometer/magnetometer driver */
    rc = sensor_set_driver(sensor, SENSOR_TYPE_ACCELEROMETER         |
            SENSOR_TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD | SENSOR_TYPE_GYROSCOPE       |
            SENSOR_TYPE_TEMPERATURE    | SENSOR_TYPE_ROTATION_VECTOR |
            SENSOR_TYPE_GRAVITY        | SENSOR_TYPE_LINEAR_ACCEL    |
            SENSOR_TYPE_EULER, (struct sensor_driver *) &g_bno055_sensor_driver);
    if (rc != 0) {
        goto err;
    }

    /* Set the interface */
    rc = sensor_set_interface(sensor, arg);
    if (rc) {
        goto err;
    }

    rc = sensor_mgr_register(sensor);
    if (rc != 0) {
        goto err;
    }

    return (0);

err:
    return (rc);
}

Configuring the Sensor Device and Setting the Configured Sensor Types

After the BSP, or the sensor creator package for an off-board sensor, creates the OS device for a sensor, it calls the <sensorname>_config() function to configure sensor device information such as mode, power mode, and to set the configured sensor types. The <sensorname>_config() function configures the settings on the sensor device. It must also call the sensor_set_type_mask() function to set the configured sensor types in the sensor object. The configured sensor types are a subset of the sensor types that the sensor device supports and the sensor framework only reads sensor data for configured sensor types.

Notes:

  • The device driver uses the SENSOR_GET_ITF() macro to retrieve the sensor interface to communicate with the sensor.

  • If a sensor device has a chip ID that can be queried, we recommend that the device driver read and verify the chip ID with the data sheet.

  • An application may call the <sensorname>_config() function to configure the sensor device.

For example:

int
bno055_config(struct bno055 *bno055, struct bno055_cfg *cfg)
{
    int rc;
    uint8_t id;
    uint8_t mode;
    struct sensor_itf *itf;

    itf = SENSOR_GET_ITF(&(bno055->sensor));

    /* Check if we can read the chip address */
    rc = bno055_get_chip_id(itf, &id);
    if (rc) {
        goto err;
    }

    if (id != BNO055_ID) {
        os_time_delay((OS_TICKS_PER_SEC * 100)/1000 + 1);

        rc = bno055_get_chip_id(itf, &id);
        if (rc) {
            goto err;
        }

        if(id != BNO055_ID) {
            rc = SYS_EINVAL;
            goto err;
        }
    }

       ....

/* Other code to set the configuration on the sensor device. */

       ....

    rc = sensor_set_type_mask(&(bno055->sensor), cfg->bc_mask);
    if (rc) {
        goto err;
    }

    bno055->cfg.bc_mask = cfg->bc_mask;

    return 0;

err:
    return rc;
}

Implementing a Sensor Device Shell Command

A sensor device driver package may optionally implement a sensor device shell command that retrieves and sets sensor device information to aid in testing and debugging. While the sensor framework sensor shell command reads sensor data for configured sensor types and is useful for testing an application, it does not access low level device information, such as reading register values and setting hardware configurations, that might be needed to test a sensor device or to debug the sensor device driver code. A sensor device shell command implementation is device specific but should minimally support reading sensor data for all the sensor types that the device supports because the sensor framework sensor shell command only reads sensor data for configured sensor types.

The package should:

  • Name the sensor device shell command <sensorname>. For example, the sensor device shell command for the BNO055 sensor device is bno055.

  • Define a <SENSORNAME>_CLI syscfg setting to specify whether the shell command is enabled and disable the setting by default.

  • Export a <sensorname>_shell_init() function that an application calls to initialize the sensor shell command when the SENSORNAME_CLI setting is enabled.

For an example on how to implement a sensor device shell command, see the bno055 shell command source code. See the Enabling an Off-Board Sensor in an Existing Application Tutorial for examples of the bno055 shell command.

Defining Logs

A sensor device driver should define logs for testing purposes. See the Log OS Guide for more details on how to add logs. The driver should define a <SENSORNAME>_LOG syscfg setting to specify whether logging is enabled and disable the setting by default.

Here is an example from the BNO055 sensor driver package:

#if MYNEWT_VAL(BNO055_LOG)
#include "log/log.h"
#endif

#if MYNEWT_VAL(BNO055_LOG)
#define LOG_MODULE_BNO055 (305)
#define BNO055_INFO(...) LOG_INFO(&_log, LOG_MODULE_BNO055, _VA_ARGS_)
#define BNO055_ERR(...) LOG_ERROR(&_log, LOG_MODULE_BNO055,_VA_ARGS_)
static struct log _log;
#else
#define BNO055_INFO(...)
#define BNO055_ERR(...)
#endif

 ...

int
bno055_init(struct os_dev *dev, void *arg)
{

 ...

    rc = bno055_default_cfg(&bno055->cfg);
    if (rc) {
        goto err;
    }

#if MYNEWT_VAL(BNO055_LOG)
    log_register(dev->od_name, &_log, &log_console_handler, NULL, LOG_SYSLEVEL);
#endif

  ...

}

Defining Stats

A sensor device driver may also define stats for the sensor. See the Stats OS Guide for more details on how to add stats. The driver should define a <SENSORNAME>_STATS syscfg setting to specify whether stats is enabled and disable the setting by default.

Here is an example from the BNO055 sensor driver package:

#if MYNEWT_VAL(BNO055_STATS)
#include "stats/stats.h"
#endif

#if MYNEWT_VAL(BNO055_STATS)

/* Define the stats section and records */
STATS_SECT_START(bno055_stat_section)
STATS_SECT_ENTRY(errors)
STATS_SECT_END

/* Define stat names for querying */
STATS_NAME_START(bno055_stat_section)
STATS_NAME(bno055_stat_section, errors)
STATS_NAME_END(bno055_stat_section)

/* Global variable used to hold stats data */
STATS_SECT_DECL(bno055_stat_section) g_bno055stats;
#endif

...

int
bno055_init(struct os_dev *dev, void *arg)
{

  ...

#if MYNEWT\_VAL(BNO055\_STATS)

    /* Initialise the stats entry */
    rc = stats_init(
        STATS_HDR(g_bno055stats),
        STATS_SIZE_INIT_PARMS(g_bno055stats, STATS_SIZE_32),
        STATS_NAME_INIT_PARMS(bno055_stat_section));
    SYSINIT_PANIC_ASSERT(rc == 0);
    /* Register the entry with the stats registry */
    rc = stats_register(dev->od_name, STATS_HDR(g_bno055stats));
    SYSINIT_PANIC_ASSERT(rc == 0);

#endif

  ...

}