drivers/media/platform/cadence · keep

Cadence MIPI CSI-2 RX and TX camera interface controllers

Camera interface controllers based on Cadence's licensable MIPI CSI-2 receiver and transmitter IP blocks, used inside modern SoCs to connect image sensors to the rest of the system. They appear in current embedded vision platforms such as TI's Jacinto/TDA4VM family and StarFive's JH7110 RISC-V SoC (the VisionFive 2).

keep conf=0.91 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=media category=media-camera-tv

91%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because the Cadence CSI-2 IP is widely licensed and still shipping in 2025-era embedded vision hardware, including Texas Instruments' Jacinto/TDA4VM platforms (such as the SK-TDA4VM starter kit) and StarFive's JH7110-based VisionFive 2 board. Upstream activity is healthy, with TI and Intel contributors adding runtime power management, multistream support, and V4L2 API updates, so there is no natural replacement and no sign of retirement.

repository signals

4 files

1,593 source lines

42 commits, 5y

+552 / −124 lines added / removed, 5y

19 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 42 total · active in 19/61 months

sources

lore.kernel.org
Upstream work on cdns-csi2rx continued in 2026 with runtime PM support, indicating active maintenance rather than retirement.
lore.kernel.org
cdns-csi2rx gained multistream support work in 2026, showing feature development for current hardware users.
lore.kernel.org
Both Cadence CSI2 RX/TX drivers were updated as part of broader V4L2 API work in 2026, so the directory is still seeing upstream integration churn.
ti.com
TI still marketed the SK-TDA4VM starter kit in 2025, a current vision platform with CSI-2 camera interfaces built around Jacinto/TDA4VM SoCs that use Cadence CSI-2 blocks.
starfivetech.com
StarFive still marketed the VisionFive 2, based on JH7110 with MIPI-CSI support, in 2025; the Linux driver explicitly matches starfive,jh7110-csi2rx.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local exec_command inspection showed this directory contains two platform drivers: Cadence CSI-2 RX/TX, with a StarFive JH7110 compatible in cdns-csi2rx. lore_file_timeline (MCP) on both .c files showed fresh 2026 activity and no removal-oriented subjects in the returned history; cited lore URLs came from that tool. TI and StarFive URLs came from web search results. Because the IP is present in currently marketed embedded vision boards/SoCs and upstream is still adding features, there is no natural in-tree replacement and removal/deprecation would be premature.