This mode is the easiest and slowest to use. This mode is great for capturing a single field at little programming cost.

In this mode, the user opens the device, sets the capture mode and size (see: METEORSETGEO ioctl(2) call), and uses the read(2) system call to load the data into a buffer.

meteor_read.c; read 400x300 RGB24 into a viewable PPM file

#include <sys/fcntl.h>
#include <machine/ioctl_meteor.h>

extern int errno;
#define ROWS 300
#define COLS 400
#define SIZE (ROWS * COLS * 4)
main()
{
	struct meteor_geomet geo;
	char buf[SIZE],b[4],header[16],*p;
	int i,o,c;

	if ((i = open("/dev/meteor0", O_RDONLY)) < 0) {
		printf("open failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}
	/* set up the capture type and size */
        geo.rows = ROWS;
        geo.columns = COLS;
        geo.frames = 1;
        geo.oformat = METEOR_GEO_RGB24 ;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSETGEO, &geo) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_FMT_NTSC;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSFMT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_INPUT_DEV0;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSINPUT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	if ((c=read(i, &buf[0], SIZE)) < SIZE) {
		printf("read failed %d %d %d\n", c, i, errno);
		close(i);
		exit(1);
	}
	close(i);

	if ((o = open("rgb24.ppm", O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0644)) < 0) {
		printf("ppm open failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	/* make PPM header and save to file */
	strcpy(&header[0], "P6 400 300 255 ");
	header[2] = header[6]  = header[10] = header[14] = '\n';
	write (o, &header[0], 15);
	/* save the RGB data to PPM file */
	for (p = &buf[0]; p < &buf[SIZE]; ) {
		b[2] = *p++;		/* blue */
		b[1] = *p++;		/* green */
		b[0] = *p++;		/* red */
		*p++;			/* NULL byte */
		write(o,&b[0], 3);	/* not very efficient */
	}
	close(o);
	exit(0);
}
    

The single capture mode is designed for conferencing tools such as nv. These tools need to control the starting of the image capture and also need several frames a second. The continuous capture mode is designed for applications that want free-running data.

In this mode, the user opens the device, sets the capture mode and size (see: METEORSETGEO ioctl(2) call), mmap(2)s the frame buffer memory into the user process space, and issues either the single-capture or the continuous capture call (see: METEORCAPTUR ioctl(2) call) to load the data into the memory mapped buffer.

As explained in the METEORCAPTUR ioctl(2) call, the single frame capture ioctl(2) will block until the capture is complete, the continuous capture will return immediately.

meteor_mmap_single_continuous.c

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <sys/fcntl.h>
#include <machine/ioctl_meteor.h>

extern int errno;
#define ROWS 480
#define COLS 640
#define SIZE (ROWS * COLS * 2)
main()
{
	struct meteor_geomet geo;
	char buf[SIZE];
	char *mmbuf;
	int i,c;

	if ((i = open("/dev/meteor0", O_RDONLY)) < 0) {
		printf("open failed\n");
		exit(1);
	}

        geo.rows = ROWS;
        geo.columns = COLS;
        geo.frames = 1;
        geo.oformat = METEOR_GEO_RGB16 ;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSETGEO, &geo) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_FMT_NTSC;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSFMT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_INPUT_DEV0;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSINPUT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

        mmbuf=(char *)mmap((caddr_t)0, SIZE, PROT_READ,
		MAP_SHARED, i, (off_t)0);

#ifdef SINGLE_MODE
	/* single frame capture */
	c = METEOR_CAP_SINGLE ;
        ioctl(i, METEORCAPTUR, &c);	/* wait for the frame */

	/* directly access the frame buffer array data in mmbuf */
#else
	/* continuous frame capture */
	c = METEOR_CAP_CONTINOUS ;
        ioctl(i, METEORCAPTUR, &c);	/* returns immediately */

	/* directly access the frame buffer array data in mmbuf */

	c = METEOR_CAP_STOP_CONT ;
        ioctl(i, METEORCAPTUR, &c);	/* close will also stop capture */
#endif

	close(i);
	exit(0);
}
    

This continuous capture mode is synchronized with the application that processes up to 32 frames. This gives the advantages of both single and continuous capture modes.

The kernel notifies the application of a new data by raising an application defined signal. The driver also shares a structure with the application that allows them to communicate which frame has been written by the kernel and which frame has been read by the application.

The shared structure starts on the first page after your data. The structure address can be found by calculation:

The shared structure is of type struct meteor_mem. The two most important fields are called active and num_active_buf. active is a bitmap of frames written by the kernel. num_active_bufs is a count of frames marked in the active field. When a frame is read in by the driver, the num_active_bufs count is tested, if this count is below the threshold of number of active frames (value in meteor_mem's hiwat variable), the bit representing frame number in the buffer is stored in the active variable, the num_active_bufs is incremented, the kernel then raises the specified signal to activate the user application. The user application's responsibility when getting the signal is to check the active bitmap to determine the lowest active frame, use the data as the application desires, clear the bitmap entry for that frame, and decrement the num_active_bufs. If the threshold of number of active frames (hiwat) has been exceeded, no new frames or signal from the kernel will occur until the num_active_bufs is less than or equal to lowat.

The driver loads the frames in a round-robin fashion. It is expected that the user removes them in the same order. The driver does not check to see if the frame is already active.

The frame_size and number of frames in the buffer are also provided to the meteor_mem structure, but changing these fields in the application will not change the operation of the driver.

In programming for this mode, the user opens the device, sets the geometry, mmap(2)s the data/common control structure, then starts the continuous capture mode. A special signal catcher is required to process the frames as they are read by the kernel.

When specifying the geometry (see: METEORSETGEO ioctl(2) call), it is important that the number of frames is set greater than 1.

skeleton_capture_n.c

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <sys/fcntl.h>
#include <sys/signal.h>
#include <machine/ioctl_meteor.h>

int video;  /* made global if you wish to stop capture in signal handler */
caddr_t data_frames;
struct meteor_mem *common_mem;
extern int errno;

#define FRAME_MAX

void
usr2_catcher()
{
#ifdef SIGNAL_STOP
	struct meteor_capframe capframe;	/* for ioctl */
#endif
	char *frame;

	/* find frame */
	frame = (char *) (data_frames + sig_cnt * common_mem->frame_size) ;

	/* add frame processing here */
	/* deactivate frame */
	common_mem->active &= ~(1 << (sig_cnt % 16));
	common_mem->num_active_bufs--;

	/* process next frame on next interrupt */
	sig_cnt = ((sig_cnt+1) % FRAME_MAX);

#ifdef SIGNAL_STOP
	if (some_condition_requiring_stopping) {
		capframe.command=METEOR_CAP_STOP_FRAMES;

		if (ioctl(i, METEORCAPFRM, &capframe) < 0) {
			printf("METEORCAPFRM failed %d\n", errno);
			exit(1);
		}
	}
#endif
}

main()
{
	struct meteor_geomet geo;
	int height, width, depth, frames, size;
	struct meteor_capframe capframe;

	if ((i = open("/dev/meteor0", O_RDONLY)) < 0) {
		printf("open failed\n");
		exit(1);
	}
	printf("test %d %d\n", errno, i);

        height = geo.rows = 120;
        width= geo.columns = 320;
        frames = geo.frames = FRAME_MAX;
	depth = 2;	/* 2 bytes per pixel for RGB*/


        geo.oformat = METEOR_GEO_RGB16;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSETGEO, &geo) < 0) {
		printf("METEORSETGEO failed %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_FMT_NTSC;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSFMT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	c = METEOR_INPUT_DEV0;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORSINPUT, &c) < 0) {
		printf("ioctl failed: %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	size = ((width*height*depth*frames+4095)/4096)*4096;
	/* add one page after data for meteor_mem */
	data_frames = mmap((caddr_t)0, size + 4096, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
						MAP_SHARED, i, (off_t)0);

	if (data_frames == (caddr_t) MAP_FAILED) return (0);

	/* common_mem is located at page following data */
	common_mem = (struct meteor_mem *) (y + size);

	signal(SIGUSR2, usr2_catcher);	/* catch new frame message */

	capframe.command=METEOR_CAP_N_FRAMES;
	capframe.signal=SIGUSR2;
	capframe.lowat=12;		/* must be < hiwat */
	capframe.hiwat=14;		/* must be < FRAME_MAX */

					/* start the sync capture */
        if (ioctl(i, METEORCAPFRM, &capframe) < 0) {
		printf("METEORCAPFRM failed %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}

	/* this is the background working area, or you can sleep */


	/* to stop capture */
	capframe.command=METEOR_CAP_STOP_FRAMES;

        if (ioctl(i, METEORCAPFRM, &capframe) < 0) {
		printf("METEORCAPFRM failed %d\n", errno);
		exit(1);
	}
}
    

METEORSETGEO and METEORGETGEO are used to set and read the input size, input device, and output format for frame capture.

These ioctl(2) routines use the meteor_geomet structure that has the following entries:

rows

number of rows (lines high) in output image

columns

number of pixels in a row (width) in output image

frames

number of frames in buffer. Should be 1, unless using the multi-framed synchronous capture mode (METEORCAPFRM) which REQUIRES frames to be larger than 1.

Note: if rows, columns or frames is not changed, then the existing values are used. The system defaults is 640x480x1.

oformat

you may choose one of the following output format:

METEOR_GEO_RGB16

(RGB 16 bits xrrrrrgg gggbbbbb default)

METEOR_GEO_RGB24

(RGB 24 bits packed in 32 bits: 00000000 rrrrrrrr gggggggg bbbbbbbb)

METEOR_GEO_YUV_PACKED

(4-2-2 YUV 16 bits packed byte format: u0 y0 v0 y1 u1 y2 v1 y3 ...)

METEOR_GEO_YUV_PLANER

(4-2-2 YUV 16 bits planer format: rows * columns bytes of y rows * column / 4 bytes of even u rows * column / 4 bytes of even v rows * column / 4 bytes of odd u rows * column / 4 bytes of odd v)

The METEORSETGEO ioctl(2) will fail if more than one entry from a category is selected. It is highly recommended that a METEORSETGEO is done before capturing data because you cannot guarantee the initial mode the card.

The METEORSETGEO will also attempt to reallocate a new contiguous kernel buffer if the new geometry exceeds the old geometry. On the other hand, if the new geometry will fit in the existing buffer, the existing buffer is used.

If METEORSETGEO fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid meteor_geomet structure pointer, rows, columns, frames were invalid.

[ENOMEM]

could not allocate the contiguous block.

METEORSFMT and METEORGFMT are used to set and read the camera input standard format.

Possible formats are:

METEOR_FMT_NTSC

NTSC (default mode)

METEOR_FMT_PAL

PAL

METEOR_FMT_SECAM

SECAM

METEOR_FMT_AUTOMODE

Autodetect.

METEORSINPUT and METEORGINPUT are used to set and read the camera input device. Using the DB9 connector on the Meteor card, 4 input devices can be connected and an input camera can be selected with this ioctl(2).

Possible formats are:

METEOR_INPUT_DEV0

(default if none specified)

METEOR_INPUT_DEV_RCA

(same as METEOR_INPUT_DEV0)

METEOR_INPUT_DEV1

 

METEOR_INPUT_DEV2

 

METEOR_INPUT_DEV_SVIDEO

(same as METEOR_INPUT_DEV2)

METEORSTATUS is used to read the status of the Meteor capture card and returns the following information:

METEORCAPTUR is used to single frame capture or unsynchronized continuous capture.

The single frame capture ioctl(2) request will return only after a frame has been captured and transferred to the frame buffer.

The unsynchronized continuous capture will return immediately and data is directly deposited into the buffer when it is available. Since this is unsynchronized, it is possible the data is being written by the kernel while being read by the application.

These ioctl(2) routines use the following settings:

METEOR_CAP_SINGLE

capture one frame

METEOR_CAP_CONTINOUS

unsynchronized continuous capture

METEOR_CAP_STOP_CONT

stop the unsynchronized continuous capture

If METEORCAPTUR fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid capture command value

[ENXIO]

there is not internal buffer to hold the frame. This indicates the previous set geometry ioctl(2) failed.

[EIO]

card is already capturing.

METEORCAPFRM is used for synchronous capture of multiple frames.

This ioctl(2) routine uses the meteor_capture structure that has the following entries:

command

possible values for command are:

METEOR_CAP_STOP_FRAMES

stop the capture; does not use the other variable in structure.

METEOR_CAP_N_FRAMES

start the capture using the other variables in the structure as inputs

signal

signal to send to application when a new frame has been captured. This signal will only be raised if the captured frame is saved.

lowat

see below

hiwat

see below

When a new frame is completed, the driver checks the current unread frame count stored in shared variable (the shared variable is stored in the meteor_mem structure) num_active_buf; if the count is larger than hiwat, the driver will not store any new frames and will not send capture signal to the user application until the num_active_buf is lower than lowat.

If METEORCAPFRM fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid meteor_geomet structure pointer or bad command.

[ENXIO]

there is not internal buffer to hold the frame. This indicates the previous set geometry ioctl(2) failed.

[EIO]

card is already capturing.

METEORSCHCV and METEORGCHCV are used to set and get the chrominance gain control and effects the UV output amplitude.

If METEORSCHCV or METEORGCHCV fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid unsigned char pointer.

METEORGHUE and METEORSHUE are used to get and set the hue. The signed character has legal values are from +127 which represent +178.6 degrees to -128 which represents -180 degrees.

If METEORGHUE or METEORSHUE fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid signed char pointer.

METEORGCOUNT is used to get the count of frame errors, DMA errors and count of the number of frames captured that have occurred since the device was opened. METEORSCOUNT can be used to reinitialize the counters.

This ioctl(2) routines use the meteor_counts structure that has the following entries:

fifo_errors

number of FIFO errors since device was opened.

dma_errors

number of DMA errors since device was opened.

frame_count

number of frames captured since device was opened.

If METEORSCOUNT or METEORGCOUNT fails the ioctl(2) will return a value of -1 and the external variable errno will be set to:

[EINVAL]

invalid meteor_counts structure pointer.