Linaro Connect Bangkok

BoF to discuss current state of opensource GPU drivers on ARM and plans for the future.

Cameras are complex devices that need heavy hardware image processing operations. Control of the processing is based on advanced algorithms that must run on a programmable processor. This has traditionally been implemented in a dedicated MCU in the camera, but in embedded devices algorithms have been moved to the main CPU to save cost. Blurring the boundary between camera devices and Linux often left the user with no other option than a vendor-specific closed-source solution.

To address this problem the V4L2 community is collaborating with industry leaders to develop a camera stack that will be open-source-friendly while still protecting vendor core IP. Libcamera is under active development and interested vendors have the opportunity to contribute and provide feedback to ensure we cover all use cases before the API is finalised.

This talk will examine the libcamera architecture, and how it applies to embedded ARM devices. We will look at how vendors and developers can use the stack to their advantage, the areas they can contribute to, the benefits the stack will bring to them, and how they can influence the design.