User`s guide

Configuring the SPI NOR Flash Memory Technology Device (MTD) Driver
i.MX53 System Development User’s Guide, Rev. 1
Freescale Semiconductor 16-5
16.6 Software Operation
In a Flash-based embedded Linux system, a number of Linux technologies work together to implement a
file system. Figure 16-1 illustrates the relationships between standard components.
Figure 16-1. Components of a Flash-Based File System
The MTD subsystem for Linux is a generic interface to memory devices, such as Flash and RAM, which
provides simple read, write, and erase access to physical memory devices. Devices called mtdblock
devices can be mounted by JFFS, JFFS2, and CRAMFS file systems. The SPI NOR MTD driver is based
on the MTD data Flash driver in the kernel by adding SPI accesses.
In the initialization phase, the SPI NOR MTD driver detects a data Flash by reading the JEDEC ID. The
driver then adds the MTD device. The SPI NOR MTD driver also provides the interfaces to read, write,
erase NOR Flash.