struct i2c_board_info — template for device creation
struct i2c_board_info {
char type[I2C_NAME_SIZE];
unsigned short flags;
unsigned short addr;
void * platform_data;
int irq;
}; chip type, to initialize i2c_client.name
to initialize i2c_client.flags
stored in i2c_client.addr
stored in i2c_client.dev.platform_data
stored in i2c_client.irq
I2C doesn't actually support hardware probing, although controllers and devices may be able to use I2C_SMBUS_QUICK to tell whether or not there's a device at a given address. Drivers commonly need more information than that, such as chip type, configuration, associated IRQ, and so on.
i2c_board_info is used to build tables of information listing I2C devices
that are present. This information is used to grow the driver model tree
for “new style” I2C drivers. For mainboards this is done statically using
i2c_register_board_info; bus numbers identify adapters that aren't
yet available. For add-on boards, i2c_new_device does this dynamically
with the adapter already known.