[RFC | PATCH] move device-specific private data out of tuner struct

[mchehab at infradead.org (Mauro Carvalho Chehab)]

Em Ter, 2007-05-29 ?s 16:38 -0400, Michael Krufky escreveu:
> As it stands currently, all device-specific data for analog tuner
> drivers are stored in the main tuner struct.  This is a potential waste
> of memory for tuner drivers that do not utilize all of these structures.
> 
> Up until now, as the needs of the drivers have changed, a developer
> would issue an RFC to explain what he needs to add to the tuner struct
> in order to handle the necessary change for the driver in question. 
> With these private structures moved out of the main tuner struct, such
> changes in the future would only affect the specific tuner driver.
> 
> I have written a driver for the Philips / NXP TDA18271 silicon tuner. 
> This driver needs to maintain a snapshot of the register values in
> memory -- this would be a waste of space for the other tuner drivers, as
> this space would only be needed for the tda18271.  Since this memory is
> only needed for the TDA18271, it makes sense that it should be stored in
> a private area specific to the TDA18271, only.
> 
> The attached patch allocates these private structures on an as-needed
> basis, within the object code for that specific tuner, rather than
> globally inside the main tuner structure.  This change could also be
> considered as a cleanup / overhaul, which brings the tuner.ko module
> closer to an object-oriented design.
> 
> Would anybody have any issues with this patch, if it were applied?

The patch looks sane and it is really a good idea. Of course, it should
be tested on all touched tuners.

-- 
Cheers,
Mauro