Re: [RFC PATCH 1/7] media: v4l2-ctrls: Add V4L2_CID_MEMORY_USAGE control

From: Frank Li

Date: Tue Mar 31 2026 - 10:33:50 EST


On Tue, Mar 31, 2026 at 03:23:11PM +0800, ming.qian@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> From: Ming Qian <ming.qian@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Add a new read-only control V4L2_CID_MEMORY_USAGE that allows
> applications to query the total amount of memory currently used
> by a device instance.
>
> This control reports the memory consumption in bytes, including
> internal buffers, intermediate processing data, and other
> driver-managed allocations. Applications can use this information
> for debugging, resource monitoring, or making informed decisions
> about buffer allocation strategies.
>
> Signed-off-by: Ming Qian <ming.qian@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---

Not sure why not export these information by debugfs, or any benefit vs
debugfs?

Generanlly document should be first patch, then driver change.

Frank

> drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls-defs.c | 8 ++++++++
> include/uapi/linux/v4l2-controls.h | 4 +++-
> 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls-defs.c b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls-defs.c
> index 551426c4cd01..053db78ff661 100644
> --- a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls-defs.c
> +++ b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls-defs.c
> @@ -831,6 +831,7 @@ const char *v4l2_ctrl_get_name(u32 id)
> case V4L2_CID_ALPHA_COMPONENT: return "Alpha Component";
> case V4L2_CID_COLORFX_CBCR: return "Color Effects, CbCr";
> case V4L2_CID_COLORFX_RGB: return "Color Effects, RGB";
> + case V4L2_CID_MEMORY_USAGE: return "Memory Usage";
>
> /*
> * Codec controls
> @@ -1476,6 +1477,13 @@ void v4l2_ctrl_fill(u32 id, const char **name, enum v4l2_ctrl_type *type,
> *min = 0;
> *max = 0xffff;
> break;
> + case V4L2_CID_MEMORY_USAGE:
> + *type = V4L2_CTRL_TYPE_INTEGER64;
> + *flags |= V4L2_CTRL_FLAG_READ_ONLY;
> + *min = 0;
> + *max = S64_MAX;
> + *step = 1;
> + break;
> case V4L2_CID_FLASH_FAULT:
> case V4L2_CID_JPEG_ACTIVE_MARKER:
> case V4L2_CID_3A_LOCK:
> diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/v4l2-controls.h b/include/uapi/linux/v4l2-controls.h
> index 68dd0c4e47b2..02c6f960d38e 100644
> --- a/include/uapi/linux/v4l2-controls.h
> +++ b/include/uapi/linux/v4l2-controls.h
> @@ -110,8 +110,10 @@ enum v4l2_colorfx {
> #define V4L2_CID_COLORFX_CBCR (V4L2_CID_BASE+42)
> #define V4L2_CID_COLORFX_RGB (V4L2_CID_BASE+43)
>
> +#define V4L2_CID_MEMORY_USAGE (V4L2_CID_BASE+44)
> +
> /* last CID + 1 */
> -#define V4L2_CID_LASTP1 (V4L2_CID_BASE+44)
> +#define V4L2_CID_LASTP1 (V4L2_CID_BASE+45)
>
> /* USER-class private control IDs */
>
> --
> 2.53.0
>