1This is an explanation of what i2c is, and what is supported in this package.
2
3I2C and SMBus
4=============
5
6I2C (pronounce: I squared C) is a protocol developed by Philips. It is a
7slow two-wire protocol (10-400 kHz), but it suffices for many types of
8devices.
9
10SMBus (System Management Bus) is a subset of the I2C protocol. Many
11modern mainboards have a System Management Bus. There are a lot of
12devices which can be connected to a SMBus; the most notable are modern
13memory chips with EEPROM memories and chips for hardware monitoring.
14
15Because the SMBus is just a special case of the generalized I2C bus, we
16can simulate the SMBus protocol on plain I2C busses. The reverse is
17regretfully impossible.
18
19
20Terminology
21===========
22
23When we talk about I2C, we use the following terms:
24  Bus    -> Algorithm
25            Adapter
26  Device -> Driver
27            Client
28
29An Algorithm driver contains general code that can be used for a whole class
30of I2C adapters. Each specific adapter driver depends on one algorithm
31driver.
32A Driver driver (yes, this sounds ridiculous, sorry) contains the general
33code to access some type of device. Each detected device gets its own
34data in the Client structure. Usually, Driver and Client are more closely
35integrated than Algorithm and Adapter.
36
37For a given configuration, you will need a driver for your I2C bus (usually
38a separate Adapter and Algorithm driver), and drivers for your I2C devices
39(usually one driver for each device). There are no I2C device drivers
40in this package. See the lm_sensors project http://www.lm-sensors.org/
41for device drivers.
42
43
44Included Bus Drivers
45====================
46Note that only stable drivers are patched into the kernel by 'mkpatch'.
47
48
49Base modules
50------------
51
52i2c-core: The basic I2C code, including the /proc/bus/i2c* interface
53i2c-dev:  The /dev/i2c-* interface
54i2c-proc: The /proc/sys/dev/sensors interface for device (client) drivers
55
56Algorithm drivers
57-----------------
58
59i2c-algo-8xx:    An algorithm for CPM's I2C device in Motorola 8xx processors (NOT BUILT BY DEFAULT)
60i2c-algo-bit:    A bit-banging algorithm
61i2c-algo-pcf:    A PCF 8584 style algorithm
62i2c-algo-ppc405: An algorithm for the I2C device in IBM 405xx processors (NOT BUILT BY DEFAULT)
63
64Adapter drivers
65---------------
66
67i2c-elektor:     Elektor ISA card (uses i2c-algo-pcf)
68i2c-elv:         ELV parallel port adapter (uses i2c-algo-bit)
69i2c-pcf-epp:     PCF8584 on a EPP parallel port (uses i2c-algo-pcf) (BROKEN - missing i2c-pcf-epp.h)
70i2c-philips-par: Philips style parallel port adapter (uses i2c-algo-bit)
71i2c-ppc405:      IBM 405xx processor I2C device (uses i2c-algo-ppc405) (NOT BUILT BY DEFAULT)
72i2c-pport:       Primitive parallel port adapter (uses i2c-algo-bit)
73i2c-rpx:         RPX board Motorola 8xx I2C device (uses i2c-algo-8xx) (NOT BUILT BY DEFAULT)
74i2c-velleman:    Velleman K8000 parallel port adapter (uses i2c-algo-bit)
75
76