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author | Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu> | 2009-06-07 12:22:15 +0200 |
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committer | Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu> | 2009-06-07 12:22:15 +0200 |
commit | 5f4457a4f62cc9d78e04c0eb12ff0540899aad89 (patch) | |
tree | 0b973d527ea6b2ae31e08da0746b4965a3c5a6d8 /Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt | |
parent | 9b94b3a19b13e094c10f65f24bc358f6ffe4eacd (diff) | |
parent | b87297fb405ef13cac375f202d114323b076a56d (diff) |
Merge branch 'linus' into x86/cpu
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt | 195 |
1 files changed, 195 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt b/Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..a12ea3b586e --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/input/multi-touch-protocol.txt @@ -0,0 +1,195 @@ +Multi-touch (MT) Protocol +------------------------- + Copyright (C) 2009 Henrik Rydberg <rydberg@euromail.se> + + +Introduction +------------ + +In order to utilize the full power of the new multi-touch devices, a way to +report detailed finger data to user space is needed. This document +describes the multi-touch (MT) protocol which allows kernel drivers to +report details for an arbitrary number of fingers. + + +Usage +----- + +Anonymous finger details are sent sequentially as separate packets of ABS +events. Only the ABS_MT events are recognized as part of a finger +packet. The end of a packet is marked by calling the input_mt_sync() +function, which generates a SYN_MT_REPORT event. This instructs the +receiver to accept the data for the current finger and prepare to receive +another. The end of a multi-touch transfer is marked by calling the usual +input_sync() function. This instructs the receiver to act upon events +accumulated since last EV_SYN/SYN_REPORT and prepare to receive a new +set of events/packets. + +A set of ABS_MT events with the desired properties is defined. The events +are divided into categories, to allow for partial implementation. The +minimum set consists of ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR, ABS_MT_POSITION_X and +ABS_MT_POSITION_Y, which allows for multiple fingers to be tracked. If the +device supports it, the ABS_MT_WIDTH_MAJOR may be used to provide the size +of the approaching finger. Anisotropy and direction may be specified with +ABS_MT_TOUCH_MINOR, ABS_MT_WIDTH_MINOR and ABS_MT_ORIENTATION. The +ABS_MT_TOOL_TYPE may be used to specify whether the touching tool is a +finger or a pen or something else. Devices with more granular information +may specify general shapes as blobs, i.e., as a sequence of rectangular +shapes grouped together by an ABS_MT_BLOB_ID. Finally, for the few devices +that currently support it, the ABS_MT_TRACKING_ID event may be used to +report finger tracking from hardware [5]. + +Here is what a minimal event sequence for a two-finger touch would look +like: + + ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR + ABS_MT_POSITION_X + ABS_MT_POSITION_Y + SYN_MT_REPORT + ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR + ABS_MT_POSITION_X + ABS_MT_POSITION_Y + SYN_MT_REPORT + SYN_REPORT + + +Event Semantics +--------------- + +The word "contact" is used to describe a tool which is in direct contact +with the surface. A finger, a pen or a rubber all classify as contacts. + +ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR + +The length of the major axis of the contact. The length should be given in +surface units. If the surface has an X times Y resolution, the largest +possible value of ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR is sqrt(X^2 + Y^2), the diagonal [4]. + +ABS_MT_TOUCH_MINOR + +The length, in surface units, of the minor axis of the contact. If the +contact is circular, this event can be omitted [4]. + +ABS_MT_WIDTH_MAJOR + +The length, in surface units, of the major axis of the approaching +tool. This should be understood as the size of the tool itself. The +orientation of the contact and the approaching tool are assumed to be the +same [4]. + +ABS_MT_WIDTH_MINOR + +The length, in surface units, of the minor axis of the approaching +tool. Omit if circular [4]. + +The above four values can be used to derive additional information about +the contact. The ratio ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR / ABS_MT_WIDTH_MAJOR approximates +the notion of pressure. The fingers of the hand and the palm all have +different characteristic widths [1]. + +ABS_MT_ORIENTATION + +The orientation of the ellipse. The value should describe a signed quarter +of a revolution clockwise around the touch center. The signed value range +is arbitrary, but zero should be returned for a finger aligned along the Y +axis of the surface, a negative value when finger is turned to the left, and +a positive value when finger turned to the right. When completely aligned with +the X axis, the range max should be returned. Orientation can be omitted +if the touching object is circular, or if the information is not available +in the kernel driver. Partial orientation support is possible if the device +can distinguish between the two axis, but not (uniquely) any values in +between. In such cases, the range of ABS_MT_ORIENTATION should be [0, 1] +[4]. + +ABS_MT_POSITION_X + +The surface X coordinate of the center of the touching ellipse. + +ABS_MT_POSITION_Y + +The surface Y coordinate of the center of the touching ellipse. + +ABS_MT_TOOL_TYPE + +The type of approaching tool. A lot of kernel drivers cannot distinguish +between different tool types, such as a finger or a pen. In such cases, the +event should be omitted. The protocol currently supports MT_TOOL_FINGER and +MT_TOOL_PEN [2]. + +ABS_MT_BLOB_ID + +The BLOB_ID groups several packets together into one arbitrarily shaped +contact. This is a low-level anonymous grouping, and should not be confused +with the high-level trackingID [5]. Most kernel drivers will not have blob +capability, and can safely omit the event. + +ABS_MT_TRACKING_ID + +The TRACKING_ID identifies an initiated contact throughout its life cycle +[5]. There are currently only a few devices that support it, so this event +should normally be omitted. + + +Event Computation +----------------- + +The flora of different hardware unavoidably leads to some devices fitting +better to the MT protocol than others. To simplify and unify the mapping, +this section gives recipes for how to compute certain events. + +For devices reporting contacts as rectangular shapes, signed orientation +cannot be obtained. Assuming X and Y are the lengths of the sides of the +touching rectangle, here is a simple formula that retains the most +information possible: + + ABS_MT_TOUCH_MAJOR := max(X, Y) + ABS_MT_TOUCH_MINOR := min(X, Y) + ABS_MT_ORIENTATION := bool(X > Y) + +The range of ABS_MT_ORIENTATION should be set to [0, 1], to indicate that +the device can distinguish between a finger along the Y axis (0) and a +finger along the X axis (1). + + +Finger Tracking +--------------- + +The kernel driver should generate an arbitrary enumeration of the set of +anonymous contacts currently on the surface. The order in which the packets +appear in the event stream is not important. + +The process of finger tracking, i.e., to assign a unique trackingID to each +initiated contact on the surface, is left to user space; preferably the +multi-touch X driver [3]. In that driver, the trackingID stays the same and +unique until the contact vanishes (when the finger leaves the surface). The +problem of assigning a set of anonymous fingers to a set of identified +fingers is a euclidian bipartite matching problem at each event update, and +relies on a sufficiently rapid update rate. + +There are a few devices that support trackingID in hardware. User space can +make use of these native identifiers to reduce bandwidth and cpu usage. + + +Notes +----- + +In order to stay compatible with existing applications, the data +reported in a finger packet must not be recognized as single-touch +events. In addition, all finger data must bypass input filtering, +since subsequent events of the same type refer to different fingers. + +The first kernel driver to utilize the MT protocol is the bcm5974 driver, +where examples can be found. + +[1] With the extension ABS_MT_APPROACH_X and ABS_MT_APPROACH_Y, the +difference between the contact position and the approaching tool position +could be used to derive tilt. +[2] The list can of course be extended. +[3] The multi-touch X driver is currently in the prototyping stage. At the +time of writing (April 2009), the MT protocol is not yet merged, and the +prototype implements finger matching, basic mouse support and two-finger +scrolling. The project aims at improving the quality of current multi-touch +functionality available in the Synaptics X driver, and in addition +implement more advanced gestures. +[4] See the section on event computation. +[5] See the section on finger tracking. |