1 files changed, 97 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/leds/leds-class.txt b/Documentation/leds/leds-class.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79699c20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/leds/leds-class.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+
+LED handling under Linux
+========================
+
+If you're reading this and thinking about keyboard leds, these are
+handled by the input subsystem and the led class is *not* needed.
+
+In its simplest form, the LED class just allows control of LEDs from
+userspace. LEDs appear in /sys/class/leds/. The maximum brightness of the
+LED is defined in max_brightness file. The brightness file will set the brightness
+of the LED (taking a value 0-max_brightness). Most LEDs don't have hardware
+brightness support so will just be turned on for non-zero brightness settings.
+
+The class also introduces the optional concept of an LED trigger. A trigger
+is a kernel based source of led events. Triggers can either be simple or
+complex. A simple trigger isn't configurable and is designed to slot into
+existing subsystems with minimal additional code. Examples are the ide-disk,
+nand-disk and sharpsl-charge triggers. With led triggers disabled, the code
+optimises away.
+
+Complex triggers whilst available to all LEDs have LED specific
+parameters and work on a per LED basis. The timer trigger is an example.
+The timer trigger will periodically change the LED brightness between
+LED_OFF and the current brightness setting. The "on" and "off" time can
+be specified via /sys/class/leds/<device>/delay_{on,off} in milliseconds.
+You can change the brightness value of a LED independently of the timer
+trigger. However, if you set the brightness value to LED_OFF it will
+also disable the timer trigger.
+
+You can change triggers in a similar manner to the way an IO scheduler
+is chosen (via /sys/class/leds/<device>/trigger). Trigger specific
+parameters can appear in /sys/class/leds/<device> once a given trigger is
+selected.
+
+
+Design Philosophy
+=================
+
+The underlying design philosophy is simplicity. LEDs are simple devices
+and the aim is to keep a small amount of code giving as much functionality
+as possible.  Please keep this in mind when suggesting enhancements.
+
+
+LED Device Naming
+=================
+
+Is currently of the form:
+
+"devicename:colour:function"
+
+There have been calls for LED properties such as colour to be exported as
+individual led class attributes. As a solution which doesn't incur as much
+overhead, I suggest these become part of the device name. The naming scheme
+above leaves scope for further attributes should they be needed. If sections
+of the name don't apply, just leave that section blank.
+
+
+Hardware accelerated blink of LEDs
+==================================
+
+Some LEDs can be programmed to blink without any CPU interaction. To
+support this feature, a LED driver can optionally implement the
+blink_set() function (see <linux/leds.h>). To set an LED to blinking,
+however, it is better to use the API function led_blink_set(), as it
+will check and implement software fallback if necessary.
+
+To turn off blinking again, use the API function led_brightness_set()
+as that will not just set the LED brightness but also stop any software
+timers that may have been required for blinking.
+
+The blink_set() function should choose a user friendly blinking value
+if it is called with *delay_on==0 && *delay_off==0 parameters. In this
+case the driver should give back the chosen value through delay_on and
+delay_off parameters to the leds subsystem.
+
+Setting the brightness to zero with brightness_set() callback function
+should completely turn off the LED and cancel the previously programmed
+hardware blinking function, if any.
+
+
+Known Issues
+============
+
+The LED Trigger core cannot be a module as the simple trigger functions
+would cause nightmare dependency issues. I see this as a minor issue
+compared to the benefits the simple trigger functionality brings. The
+rest of the LED subsystem can be modular.
+
+
+Future Development
+==================
+
+At the moment, a trigger can't be created specifically for a single LED.
+There are a number of cases where a trigger might only be mappable to a
+particular LED (ACPI?). The addition of triggers provided by the LED driver
+should cover this option and be possible to add without breaking the
+current interface.