linux-drivers/
drivers/iio/adc

Industrial I/O Analog-to-Digital Converter drivers

A large collection of drivers for analog-to-digital converter chips from vendors like Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, Maxim, and many others. These chips turn real-world analog signals (voltages, currents, sensor outputs) into digital readings, and are used heavily in industrial control, instrumentation, embedded systems, and consumer electronics.

keep conf=0.96 last_sold=2025 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=iio category=sensor-iio
96%

recommendation

It should stay because this is one of the most active corners of the kernel: roughly 1,500 commits over the last five years from more than 200 contributors, with new ADC chips still being added regularly. Vendors are actively shipping and recommending new parts in this class for 2025 designs (for example Analog Devices' AD4695 and TI's ADS8688), and there is no replacement subsystem on the horizon.

repository signals

176 files
123,461 source lines
1,481 commits, 5y
+74,895 / −16,042 lines added / removed, 5y
230 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 1,481 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 10 commits · +868 −47 2021-05: 34 commits · +323 −553 2021-06: 7 commits · +43 −42 2021-07: 11 commits · +157 −23 2021-08: 17 commits · +909 −137 2021-09: 54 commits · +1,799 −745 2021-10: 43 commits · +754 −392 2021-11: 16 commits · +67 −43 2021-12: 18 commits · +1,525 −51 2022-01: 29 commits · +381 −274 2022-02: 10 commits · +1,146 −27 2022-03: 15 commits · +560 −232 2022-04: 12 commits · +1,512 −82 2022-05: 56 commits · +188 −185 2022-06: 34 commits · +151 −165 2022-07: 16 commits · +971 −218 2022-08: 45 commits · +1,084 −863 2022-09: 16 commits · +379 −48 2022-10: 32 commits · +4,265 −223 2022-11: 24 commits · +476 −113 2022-12: 8 commits · +57 −10 2023-01: 14 commits · +1,150 −80 2023-02: 4 commits · +56 −49 2023-03: 14 commits · +529 −98 2023-04: 15 commits · +776 −144 2023-05: 12 commits · +92 −75 2023-06: 15 commits · +469 −126 2023-07: 17 commits · +335 −112 2023-08: 18 commits · +2,392 −348 2023-09: 41 commits · +196 −226 2023-10: 8 commits · +416 −86 2023-11: 3 commits · +21 −3 2023-12: 23 commits · +874 −361 2024-01: 7 commits · +402 −211 2024-02: 28 commits · +4,018 −638 2024-03: 16 commits · +847 −240 2024-04: 26 commits · +725 −210 2024-05: 25 commits · +1,311 −279 2024-06: 50 commits · +2,358 −949 2024-07: 64 commits · +4,165 −548 2024-08: 22 commits · +1,394 −261 2024-09: 23 commits · +1,340 −263 2024-10: 41 commits · +2,373 −494 2024-11: 16 commits · +322 −121 2024-12: 42 commits · +1,122 −545 2025-01: 15 commits · +1,144 −368 2025-02: 70 commits · +6,131 −1,014 2025-03: 51 commits · +3,093 −1,043 2025-04: 39 commits · +966 −341 2025-05: 26 commits · +1,334 −86 2025-06: 43 commits · +1,484 −334 2025-07: 39 commits · +3,823 −309 2025-08: 38 commits · +1,107 −853 2025-09: 31 commits · +3,477 −304 2025-10: 19 commits · +859 −76 2025-11: 5 commits · +1,519 −2 2025-12: 24 commits · +3,658 −222 2026-01: 13 commits · +935 −92 2026-02: 9 commits · +34 −28 2026-03: 8 commits · +33 −30 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. docs.kernel.org

    Current kernel documentation lists many individual IIO ADC drivers under the Industrial I/O driver set, showing the subtree is actively maintained rather than legacy-only.

  2. docs.kernel.org

    Kernel documentation states the IIO subsystem supports many ADCs and documents current ADC abstractions used by these drivers.

  3. analog.com

    Analog Devices markets the AD4695 as 'recommended for new designs', indicating hardware covered by this directory is still sold for new products.

  4. ti.com

    Texas Instruments lists ADS8688 as ACTIVE, showing another ADC family covered by this subtree remains in current production.

  5. ti.com

    Texas Instruments lists ADS8688W as ACTIVE, reinforcing that new ADC parts in this class are still shipping.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local inspection with exec_command of drivers/iio/adc/Kconfig and file list confirmed this is a large live ADC-driver subtree, not a helper library. Provided static history is strongly active: 1469 substantive commits in 5 years, most recent on 2026-03-22, 223 authors. Web search against lore.kernel.org for subtree removal/deprecation discussion found no results, so there is no visible upstream removal push from the evidence gathered. Sources were obtained via web search (docs.kernel.org, analog.com, ti.com). Overall this directory serves many current industrial/embedded ADC devices across vendors, so there is no natural replacement and no deprecation signal.