TECH VEDA

LSE / eLinux Fast-Track / Mastery track starts 25 Jun 2026 — enrolling now. See the Fast-Track
✉ info@techveda.org☏ +91-98858 08202
Student LoginLinkedInInstagram
Enquire now
Home › Training Programs › Linux Device Drivers
Few seats left

From kernel theory to drivers that ship — write, debug and own the code that makes hardware work

Device Drivers for Embedded Linux Systems

Design, develop, and debug Linux drivers across real hardware — from character, block and network drivers to PCI, USB, I²C and SPI — by studying and extending real drivers from the kernel tree, on x86 and ARM targets.

🧪 Hands-on on real boards
🔌 Study & extend real kernel drivers
🎯 Built for driver-dev roles
Enroll now ★★★★★ Rated by 10,000+ engineers trained since 2003

OverviewAbout this program

Often taken together with Linux Kernel Infrastructure — the two are available as the Kernel + Device Drivers bundle.

Linux Device Drivers teaches you to drive real hardware from the kernel. You master the character, block and network driver models and write bus drivers for PCI, USB, I²C and SPI — built on the interrupt and DMA infrastructure that every driver depends on.

What sets this program apart is its build-it-for-real approach: you progress from a bare driver skeleton to a fully featured, performance-optimised device driver through a series of staged, hands-on labs. Every driver you write is cross-compiled and validated on real ARM hardware — not just simulated on an x86-64 host — so you graduate with skills that transfer directly to production embedded systems.

OutcomesKey takeaways

  • ✓ Command of the character, block, and network driver models
  • ✓ The ability to write bus drivers for PCI, USB, I2C, and SPI devices
  • ✓ A from-scratch PCI network driver complete with NAPI, multi-queue, offloads, and MSI-X
  • ✓ Mastery of interrupt handling and DMA as the shared infrastructure beneath every driver
  • ✓ Cross-compilation and on-target testing for ARM / BeagleBone platforms

Curriculum15 modules · hands-on, lab-intensive in C

Drive real hardware from the kernel — the character, block and network driver models and bus drivers for PCI, USB, I²C and SPI, on the interrupt and DMA infrastructure that makes them work.

01Bus & Linux Driver Architecture⌄
  • Device drivers defined
  • The Linux driver model
  • Types of Linux drivers
  • Driver stacks and the bus / device / driver model
02The Character Driver Model⌄
  • Character devices and device numbering
  • Device registration and file operations
  • Core device methods: open, read, write, release
  • The misc device framework
  • Automatic device-node creation via udev/sysfs
  • Register-backed character drivers
  • Device control interfaces (ioctl) and user/kernel data transfer
  • Wait queues and polling
  • Memory mapping (mmap) to user space
03Hardware Access — Port & Memory-Mapped I/O⌄
  • Device addresses and address spaces
  • Port-mapped I/O (PIO)
  • Memory-mapped I/O (MMIO)
  • Reserving and accessing MMIO regions
  • Device-access side effects and ordering
  • Accessing device memory from user space
04The Block Driver Model⌄
  • The block layer and multi-queue model
  • Block device registration and geometry
  • Building a RAM-disk block driver
  • The block I/O request path
  • Hosting a real filesystem on your own device
  • Block I/O observability and tracing
05Build a Real NIC Driver — The Network Driver Model⌄
  • Network device discovery from user space
  • A PCI network driver skeleton
  • Transmit/receive paths and network buffers
  • Interrupt- and DMA-driven I/O
  • Descriptor ring buffers
  • NAPI polling and interrupt coalescing
  • ethtool integration
  • PHY and MDIO link management
  • Multi-queue networking
  • Hardware offloads (checksum, segmentation)
  • MSI-X interrupts and IRQ affinity
  • Power management and Wake-on-LAN
06PCI Device Drivers⌄
  • PCI architecture and configuration space
  • Device enumeration and base address registers
  • PCI driver registration and device probing
  • Memory-mapped I/O register access
  • Legacy and message-signaled interrupts (MSI / MSI-X)
  • PCI DMA: coherent and streaming
  • A worked PCI Ethernet example
07USB Host-Side Drivers⌄
  • USB topology, descriptors, and endpoints
  • USB device discovery and driver binding
  • Transfer types: control, bulk, and interrupt
  • Synchronous and asynchronous transfers
  • USB HID class drivers
  • Exposing USB devices to user space
08I²C Device Drivers⌄
  • The I2C subsystem and protocol
  • I2C client drivers (EEPROM case study)
  • Register access and sysfs/ioctl interfaces
09SPI Device Drivers⌄
  • The SPI subsystem and protocol
  • SPI client drivers (flash case study)
  • Register access via regmap
10GPIO Drivers⌄
  • The GPIO controller and consumer interfaces
  • Pin control (pinctrl) basics
  • Driving and reading GPIO lines
  • Interfacing sensors and controllers
11Platform Devices & The Device Model⌄
  • The unified Linux device model
  • Platform bus binding and device probing
  • Describing non-discoverable devices
12Device Tree⌄
  • Device tree syntax and structure
  • Device tree walkthrough
  • Device tree bindings
  • Device tree support in bootloaders
  • Parsing and using device tree data in drivers
13Interrupt Handling⌄
  • Interrupt handlers; shared and threaded interrupts
  • ISR design constraints
  • Top-half / bottom-half deferral: softirqs, tasklets, workqueues
  • Real-device interrupt case studies
14Direct Memory Access (DMA)⌄
  • The DMA engine framework
  • Zero-copy buffer sharing (dma-buf)
  • DMA heaps and buffer allocation
  • Mapping device memory to user space
15The Real-Silicon Track⌄
  • Device tree: bindings and parsing
  • Cross-platform builds for x86-64 and ARM targets (incl. BeagleBone Black)
  • Direct register-window access

Note: multimedia & graphics driver stacks (V4L2, DRM/KMS) are intentionally out of scope — they are covered in a dedicated TECH VEDA course.

LabsRecommended hardware

Hands-on labs run on real boards so you practise driver work the way it happens on the job.

BeagleBone AIAI-capable SBC for accelerated driver & edge workloads.
Raspberry Pi 5Widely available board for peripheral, GPIO & subsystem labs.

Before you startPrerequisites

You should be comfortable with C and the Linux command line, with prior exposure to kernel modules and internals strongly recommended — TECH VEDA’s Linux Kernel Infrastructure program is an ideal lead-in.

AudienceWho should enroll

Embedded Linux EngineersBSP EngineersKernel DevelopersBoard Bring-up EngineersFirmware EngineersDevice-driver DevelopersSoC / Platform EngineersEmbedded Systems ArchitectsLinux Porting & Integration Engineers
  • ✓ Embedded Linux and BSP engineers writing or porting device drivers
  • ✓ Kernel developers extending hardware support
  • ✓ Engineers bringing up new boards, peripherals, buses, or network controllers

Your mentorLearn directly from the founder

Raghu Bharadwaj

Raghu Bharadwaj

Founder & Chief Mentor

75+ onsite trainings · 45+ enterprise clients · 10,000+ careers transformed since 2003. A thought leader in Embedded Linux education and the architect of TECH VEDA's hands-on training model.

ReviewsParticipant experiences

★★★★★

"Few people have a sound knowledge of Linux, and of those very few can teach. Raghu Sir is one of the best — he starts from the very basics and ends with complete insight. With 3 years of experience, I'm completely satisfied with the teaching and the topics covered."

MK
Murali Krishna
★★★★★

"There are no words to describe Raghu Sir's knowledge of operating systems and device drivers. I'm now working at MediaTek, and the credit goes to Raghu Sir and TECH VEDA. Many wishes for TECH VEDA."

AB
Abhishek
★★★★★

"An exceptional teacher who makes learning both enjoyable and effective. The ability to explain complex concepts clearly with real-life examples helps us understand and retain the material. The dedication, patience, and enthusiasm truly inspire us to do our best."

AH
Altaf Hussain

FAQsCommon questions

Do we write complete driver code from scratch?+
This course focuses on how Linux actually enables driver development in the real world. Rather than starting in a vacuum, we deep-dive into the driver infrastructure Linux already provides, walk through real drivers from the kernel, then guide you to extend, adapt, and implement drivers for different hardware.
Will these skills help me get a job as a driver developer?+
Yes. The course is designed around the skills companies look for in driver engineers. By working with Linux's driver infrastructure, studying real drivers, and building your own for buses, peripherals, and core driver subsystems, you gain the exact hands-on experience needed for driver-development roles — bridging academic knowledge and industry practice.
Do we need any specific hardware/board for this program?+
Yes. The recommended boards are the BeagleBone AI and the Raspberry Pi 5.

Clients who engaged us for Linux Device Drivers

StrykerFujitsuAMD BroadcomSiemensCapgemini

Ready when you are

Talk to us about this program

Tell us your goal and background — we'll share the full curriculum, upcoming dates and combo pricing, and answer your questions. Pick whichever way is easiest for you.

  • ✓ Response within 1 business day
  • ✓ Full curriculum & fee details
  • ✓ Guidance on the right track / combo
  • ✓ EMI / UPI payment options
Choose how to reach us Send an enquiry (form) Chat on WhatsApp Email info@techveda.org Call +91-98858 08202