Create Your Own Custom Linux Driver

Character Drivers | Block Drivers | PCI Interfacing | Device Driver in Embedded System

Linux Device Drivers - Course Overview

The Device Drivers play an important role when a custom hardware is brought up with Linux as an Embedded OS. In this course you will be ramping up yourself in the Linux device drivers from the scratch.

The Embedded Systems domain is growing with more diversified set of hardware. When a new board is brought up for a particular functionality, device drivers play an important role by enabling communication via a particular interface.

Our Linux Device Driver course starts with an introduction to the drivers ecosystem. It further deep dives into topics like creating character drivers, block drivers, USB drivers and PCI drivers. This workshop also covers various Kernel debugging techniques with KDB / KGDB based on real-practical use cases.

Hands-on approach, Expert mentors, Workshop based delivery followed by structured intervention for project work makes this as a unique course for UpSkilling.

Prerequisites and Key Takeaways

Linux device drivers courses start with introduction to the drivers ecosystem and take further deeper topics consisting of character driver, block driver, USB driver and PCI driver. This workshop also covers various Kernel debugging techniques based on real-practical use cases. Hands-on approach, Expert mentors, Workshop based online delivery followed by structured project interventions makes Emertxe the best institute for linux device drivers courses and workshops.

Key Takeaways:

To write character drivers, using serial and USB interfaces
Learn how to access I/O and memory mapped devices
Create interrupt handlers efficiently using deferred execution methods
Develop block device drivers and mount file system drivers using them
Become proficient in USB device drivers.
Learn PCI interfacing
Kernel Debugging using KDB / KGDB

Topics Covered:

Day1: Introduction & Character device drivers
Day2: HW access mechanisms, Interrupts, Time keeping, delays and deferred work
Day3: Concurrency, USB drivers
Day4: Block drivers, PCI drivers, Kernel debugging techniques
Special Focus: Live hands-on with Character and USB “Device” Drivers
One month lab assistance

Prerequisites:

Good C & Programming Skills
Basic Hands – On Linux Usage
Good to have – Understanding of basic File related system calls

Platform Details:

OS – Ubuntu Linux
Hardware – Beaglebone Board
Kernel version – 3.x/4.x

Upskill & Get Ahead in Your Career

Linux Device Drivers - Course Syllabus

The Linux Device course delivered online in a workshop model. Each session consists of a concept explainer followed by a power packed hands-on session. Overall day and session wise plan is given below.

Using our project intervention sessions, you will get continued support to build on upskilling projects. With these additional projects you will be able to get ahead in your career.

Day-1

Introduction

Linux Driver Ecosystem
The Kernel Source Organization
Driver Development Environment
Knowing the commands

Writing Your Driver

/proc files
/boot contents

Character Drivers

Major & Minor Numbers
Registering & Unregistering
Device Files & Device Classes

File Operations

File Operations & its related Kernel Data Structures
Special Focus on open, release, read, write
Memory Access in Kernel Space
Multiple minors
Module arguments

Day-2

Hardware Access Mechanisms

System Memory
Device Memory
I/O Ports

Getting Familiar With Hw

Getting familiar with Beaglebone Board
Memory allocation
ioctl system call
Writing a character driver for a serial based device

Interrupts

IRQs & their Registration
IRQ Handling & Control
Soft IRQs
Top & Bottom Halves
Illustration of Interrupt handler of Keyboard device (i8042 controller)

Time Keeping, Delays, And Deferred Work

Time since bootup
Knowing the Current Time
Delaying Execution
Kernel Timers
Tasklets
Workqueues
Illustration of these concepts using demo drivers

Day-3

Concurrency

Concurrency and Its Management
Semaphores and Mutexes
Spinlocks
Alternatives to Locking
Other Synchronization mechanisms
Illustration of these concepts using demo drivers

USB Drivers

USB Device Layout
USB Driver Layout
USB Core & Sysfs

USB Driver Registration

USB Device Hot-plug-ability
URB & its Operations
Special Focus on Control & Bulk Transfers
Loading the firmware for Emertxe LDD kit.

Implementation Of USB Driver

Implementation of USB driver for CDC-ACM
URB & its Operations

Day-4

Block Drivers

Introduction
Driver Registration
Disk Drive Registration
Block Device Operations & its related Kernel DS

Request Queues & Their Processing

Creating partitions
Implementation of memory based block driver
Testing the block driver using dd command
Associating a file system driver with block driver (mounting)

PCI Driver

PCI Interface
PCI Configuration Space
PCI Driver Registration
PCI Device Access & Operations

Debugging

Debugging Support in the Kernel
Debugging by Printing
Debugging by Querying
Debugging by Watching
Debugging using KDB

Emertxe Courses - Schedule

Embedded Systems Courses with Placements for Students & Professionals

Course name	Start date	Duration	Registration Status
Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional - Advanced(Onsite /Classroom-based)	23/12/2024	6 Months*	Register Now
Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional(Online)	20/12/2024	6 Months*	Register Now
Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional (Online)	03/01/2025	6 Months/Evening*	Register Now
Embedded Systems Internship	30/11/2024	1 Month	Register Now

Embedded Systems Courses with Placements for Students & Professionals

Course name

Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional - Advanced(Onsite /Classroom-based)

Start date

23/12/2024

Duration

6 Months*

Registration Status

Course name

Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional(Online)

Start date

20/12/2024

Duration

6 Months*

Registration Status

Course name

Emertxe Certified Embedded Professional (Online)

Start date

03/01/2025

Duration

6 Months/Evening*

Registration Status

Course name

Embedded Systems Internship

Start date

30/11/2024

Duration

1 Month

Registration Status

Working Professionals - Testimonials

Everyone hits the career crossroads one time or another. UpSkilling is the best way forward. Here is the list of professionals from the past who have won over their career challenges.

Got 5 Job Offers After UpSkilling

Developing solutions on my own and the belief in Best return on investment is in improving self-skills were the key motivating factors that made me reach Emertxe. Mentors helped me advance diversified skills in the Embedded domain. I could enhance my profile and started giving interviews. At one point I had 5 offers in hand to make a choice. Thanks to Emertxe.

Pavankumar K Arakere Eximius Design

Career Transition into Embedded

I was working in a non Embedded domain, and wanted to get back into the core. Hence I quit my job and joined Emertxe. I got help from mentors who helped me to get back into hands-on programming. Because of Helped to achieve a career transition. Mentors Helped to get the basics of embedded systems and build a career in the core domain.

Haripriya Nair HCL

Getting Edge Over Other Job Seekers

Training provided at Emertxe is more about practical knowledge necessary to become ready for industry. Practice sessions and assignments at Emertxe are well-designed to give candidates the edge over other job seekers in the market. I have worked on IoT, Linux drivers, Low level drivers, firmware, RTOS, currently working at Toshiba Software India.

Rohan N Patil Toshiba

Academia to Industry Transition

I was working as a faculty in an engineering college. Wanted to get into Embedded, which has been my area of interest. However I had a skill-gap. Mentors understood my challenge and aspirations. They helped me by giving hands-on mentoring and close guidance. I could make a transition into the industry, which was not possible without Emertxe.

Harish HCL

Projects Based UpSkilling - Linux Device Drivers

For working professionals applied learning plays a paramount of importance. In our workshops our mentors ensure participants are provided with a list of projects. These projects will ensure you will be able to build on what you have learnt during the workshop and have something working.

Such a comprehensive approach makes us the best institute for Linux device drivers courses and workshops for working professionals.

Project 01
Project 02
Project 03

Project 01

Project 02

Project 03

Get Ahead in Your Career

UpSkilling Courses For Professionals

Our UpSkilling courses are designed by keeping working professionals in mind. It will enable them to take the next successful step in their careers. Please register here with your area of interest, one of the senior career counselors will get in touch with you.

Registration

Additional Benefits and Support

In WSA we believe in knowledge sharing and spreading a word of positivity. Here are the various ways using which you can get additional benefits and support from our team.

Technical Resource Library

In Emertxe we believe in sharing all our resources. Here is our online digital library where you will find all our course materials for free.

Ask us Anything

We have a pool of experts who can clarify your career related questions and doubts. Feel free to reach out and get your queries answered.

Free Webinars

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Linux Device Drivers - Short Term Course - FAQs

We are pretty sure you will have a lot of questions before joining our courses. Here are the frequently asked questions for your reference. In case you still have anything specific write to us at training@emertxe.com

What is the difference between this and Linux device drivers?

The Linux device drivers (intermediate) course is to provide developers a kick-start with device drivers. It covers essential parts of driver development, but it doesn’t talk about advanced aspects like network drivers, platform drivers, file-systems drivers etc. In the advanced course it covers such topics to provide you with a complete device driver development exposure. By taking up advanced course you will get comprehensive knowledge about device drivers. Such approach makes us the best institute in India to learn advanced Linux device drivers course.

Why debugging techniques are highlighted in this course?

driver development happens inside the Kernel, doing effective debugging plays a crucial part. Sine we are introducing advanced topics of device drivers in the course, it will remain incomplete if developers are not aware how to troubleshoot / fix issues. Hence a variety of hands-on topics introduced under the debugging techniques (Querying, Printing, Watching, Tracing etc…) which in combination provides power tools & techniques that will help you in real time problem solving.

I already have idea about device drivers. How will this help me?

We understand target audience will have different level of understanding about Linux drivers. It is our best interest to deliver the workshop where the whole class can benefit. If you already have some idea, it will be an added advantage to grasp workshop contents better. During hands-on session we will specifically provide some advanced aspects of drivers (ex: USB) for you to practice and build deeper skills. I already have some idea about device drivers. How does this workshop help me?

What projects can I work on after course completion?

There are many projects that you can work on based on the course learning. A sample list of projects are provided below.

USB Mass Storage (MMC) driver
USB to Serial converter
Complex matrix keypad driver using interrupts and synchronization
Ethernet based network drivers
File system drivers
Platform drivers

Such comprehensive list of project based learning makes us the best Institute in India to learn advanced linux device drivers course.

Who are the trainers for Linux device drivers workshop?

Trainers (mentors in Emertxe) for this workshop are professionals having worked with organizations like Samsung, HP, Novell, Huawei etc., that makes Emertxe as one of the best Linux training institutes in Bangalore. They bring in 18+ years of experience on average. Our mentors understand industry requirements very well in order to maximize the value. Added to that, our mentors are passionate about training, which enables you to write a device driver on your own by the end of the workshop.