linux-drivers/
drivers/staging/media/atomisp/pci

Intel Atom Image Signal Processor (ISP2400/2401) camera support

The camera image signal processor block built into Intel's Atom SoCs from the Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, Merrifield and Moorefield generations (roughly 2013-2016), which handled stills and video capture from the on-board cameras of low-power Windows and Android tablets, netbooks, and a handful of embedded and industrial boards.

keep-annotate conf=0.82 last_sold=2018 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=staging category=media-camera-tv
82%

recommendation

Worth keeping but documenting its niche, because the hardware is confined to old Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, Merrifield and Moorefield Atom devices that haven't shipped in new designs since around 2018, yet the code still receives real maintenance. Hans de Goede and others were merging sensor support, security fixes and cleanups through 2025 and into 2026, and no newer Intel IPU driver covers this specific ISP generation, so users of legacy Atom tablets and embedded boards still depend on it.

repository signals

587 files
92,141 source lines
637 commits, 5y
+10,905 / −38,201 lines added / removed, 5y
73 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 637 total · active in 53/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 21 commits · +1,230 −1,510 2021-05: 16 commits · +68 −156 2021-06: 5 commits · +104 −1,317 2021-07: 2 commits · +12 −15 2021-08: 4 commits · +8 −8 2021-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-10: 27 commits · +419 −417 2021-11: 70 commits · +1,762 −7,832 2021-12: 2 commits · +4 −4 2022-01: 10 commits · +115 −45 2022-02: 1 commit · +90 −84 2022-03: 1 commit · +19 −9 2022-04: 4 commits · +42 −37 2022-05: 1 commit · +2 −2 2022-06: 44 commits · +234 −2,440 2022-07: 3 commits · +41 −37 2022-08: 21 commits · +169 −1,176 2022-09: 22 commits · +399 −1,407 2022-10: 23 commits · +602 −2,007 2022-11: 16 commits · +184 −621 2022-12: 12 commits · +104 −255 2023-01: 16 commits · +145 −283 2023-02: 14 commits · +384 −1,410 2023-03: 10 commits · +213 −540 2023-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-05: 66 commits · +2,099 −2,703 2023-06: 15 commits · +131 −381 2023-07: 19 commits · +407 −1,158 2023-08: 16 commits · +153 −2,549 2023-09: 2 commits · +3 −3 2023-10: 3 commits · +18 −13 2023-11: 4 commits · +36 −92 2023-12: 27 commits · +396 −462 2024-01: 2 commits · +1 −1 2024-02: 21 commits · +171 −480 2024-03: 7 commits · +30 −84 2024-04: 28 commits · +318 −1,556 2024-05: 6 commits · +22 −20 2024-06: 4 commits · +33 −29 2024-07: 10 commits · +45 −34 2024-08: 5 commits · +43 −88 2024-09: 11 commits · +137 −5,489 2024-10: 3 commits · +4 −6 2024-11: 3 commits · +2 −86 2024-12: 5 commits · +13 −8 2025-01: 2 commits · +111 −56 2025-02: 2 commits · +18 −17 2025-03: 1 commit · +2 −2 2025-04: 5 commits · +6 −253 2025-05: 5 commits · +87 −236 2025-06: 2 commits · +2 −94 2025-07: 8 commits · +132 −564 2025-08: 2 commits · +3 −10 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-12: 2 commits · +3 −5 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 4 commits · +97 −107 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. cateee.net

    LKDDb ties CONFIG_VIDEO_ATOMISP to Intel Atom SoC camera/imaging hardware and PCI IDs 0f38/1178/1179/1478/22b8, covering Bay Trail, Merrifield, Moorefield/Anniedale, and Cherry Trail era platforms.

  2. intel.com

    Intel's Bay Trail page shows the family is an older Atom/E3800-era SoC line aimed at embedded/industrial uses rather than current mainstream client hardware.

  3. spinics.net

    A 2025 Hans de Goede patch series added atomisp support for sensors with a separate ISP v4l2_subdev, showing functional upstream development rather than abandonment.

  4. spinics.net

    Atomisp still receives 2026 linux-staging patch traffic, indicating ongoing cleanup/review activity and no obvious dead-code status.

  5. spinics.net

    A 2025 atomisp security-fix thread reviewed by Hans de Goede shows real maintenance on deployed systems, not just cosmetic churn.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver directory: local grep found `module_pci_driver()` in `atomisp_v4l2.c` and PCI IDs for Bay Trail/Merrifield/Moorefield/Cherry Trail class SoCs. Local `git -c safe.directory ... log` showed sustained 2024-2026 commits, including bug fixes and cleanups. Web search found active mailing-list traffic in 2025-2026 (spinics URLs above) but no clear removal/deprecation thread in the searched lore/lkml/spinics results, so `remove`/`deprecate` would overstate it. Hardware family is old mobile/embedded Atom silicon; likely still encountered in legacy tablets, netbooks, and some embedded/industrial deployments, but not a meaningful new-2025 design win, so `hardware_still_sold_new_in_2025=false`, `deployments_today=low`, and `last_widely_available_year=2018` are conservative inferences from the Intel Bay Trail age plus LKDDb platform scope. No natural upstream replacement covers the same old Atom ISP block directly; newer Intel IPU drivers target different hardware generations. URLs were obtained via web search; local git/rg commands supplied non-URL corroboration.