OpenHisilicon

Open-source kernel modules and sensor libraries for HiSilicon/Goke IP camera SoCs.

Replaces the proprietary SDK that HiSilicon ships to camera manufacturers. Used by OpenIPC firmware and can be used independently in your own projects.

Supported hardware

SoC family	Chip IDs	CHIPARCH	SDK_CODE
HiSilicon hi3516cv100	hi3516cv100, hi3518cv100, hi3518ev100	hi3516cv100	0x3518100
HiSilicon hi3516av100	hi3516av100, hi3516dv100	hi3516av100	0x3516A100
HiSilicon hi3516cv200	hi3516cv200, hi3518ev200, hi3518ev201	hi3516cv200	0x3518E200
HiSilicon hi3516cv300	hi3516cv300, hi3516ev100	hi3516cv300	0x3516C300
HiSilicon hi3516ev200	hi3516ev200, hi3516ev300, hi3518ev300, hi3516dv200	hi3516ev200	0x3516E200
Goke gk7205v200	gk7205v200, gk7205v300, gk7202v300, gk7605v100	gk7205v200	0x7205200

The hi3516ev200 and gk7205v200 chips are pin-compatible — the same source code compiles for both via the CHIPARCH flag. A conversion script can translate between the two SDK naming conventions. The hi3516av100 (V2A generation, Cortex-A7) and hi3516cv200 (V2 generation, ARM926EJ-S) use a separate SDK layout with standalone MMZ and himedia modules. The hi3516cv300 (V3 generation, ARM926EJ-S) has an OSAL-based architecture similar to newer chips.

Supported kernels

Kernel	Status	Notes
3.0.8 (vendor)	Production	Used by hi3516cv100_lite
3.18.20 (vendor)	Production	Used by hi3516cv300_lite
4.9.37 (vendor)	Production	Used by hi3516av100_lite, hi3516cv200_lite, hi3516ev300_lite, gk7205v200_lite
6.6 LTS	Production	Used by hi3516ev300_neo
6.18 LTS	Tested	CI-verified
7.0-rc6 (mainline)	Production	Used by hi3516ev300_neo

All kernel versions are supported from a single codebase via the compatibility layer in kernel/compat/. No #ifdef soup in driver code — the compat headers handle API differences transparently.

Repository structure

├── kernel/                  Kernel modules (out-of-tree, loaded at runtime)
│   ├── osal/                OS Abstraction Layer (memory, proc, device mgmt)
│   ├── base/                Base module (module registry, IPC)
│   ├── sys/                 System control
│   ├── isp/                 Image Signal Processor
│   ├── vi/                  Video input
│   ├── vpss/                Video processing subsystem
│   ├── venc/                Video encoder framework
│   ├── h264e/, h265e/       H.264/H.265 codec engines
│   ├── jpege/               JPEG encoder
│   ├── rgn/                 OSD / region overlay
│   ├── vgs/                 Video graphics subsystem
│   ├── ive/                 Intelligent video engine (vendor blob)
│   ├── ive_neo/             Intelligent video engine (clean-room C, EV200/EV300)
│   ├── ai/, ao/, aio/       Audio input/output
│   ├── aenc/, adec/         Audio encode/decode
│   ├── acodec/              Audio codec
│   ├── mipi_rx/             MIPI CSI-2 receiver
│   ├── sensor_i2c/          I2C sensor bus driver
│   ├── sensor_spi/          SPI sensor bus driver
│   ├── pwm/                 PWM controller (DC-iris)
│   ├── wdt/                 Watchdog timer
│   ├── compat/              Kernel version compatibility (4.9 – 7.0)
│   └── ext_inc/             Cross-module function export headers
│
├── libraries/               User-space libraries
│   ├── include/             Shared HI_* base headers (hi_type.h, hi_common.h)
│   ├── sensor/              Image sensor drivers (30 sensors)
│   ├── isp/                 ISP algorithm libraries
│   ├── mpi_neo/             libmpi_neo.so — HI_MPI_SYS_* over /dev/mmz_userdev
│   ├── ive_neo/             libive_neo.so — HI_MPI_IVE_* + SVP/XNN (replaces libive.so)
│   └── ivp_neo/             libivp_neo.so — hi_ivp_* object-detection API (replaces libivp.so)
│
├── include/                 Shared headers (kernel + userspace)
└── scripts/                 Build utilities

Building

Via OpenIPC firmware (recommended)

# Clone firmware
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/openipc/firmware
cd firmware

# Build for HiSilicon (4.9 kernel)
make BOARD=hi3516ev300_lite br-hisilicon-opensdk

# Build for Goke (4.9 kernel)
make BOARD=gk7205v200_lite br-hisilicon-opensdk

# Build for mainline kernel (7.0)
make BOARD=hi3516ev300_neo br-hisilicon-opensdk

The firmware build system handles the toolchain, kernel headers, and all dependencies automatically.

Standalone (for development)

If you already have an OpenIPC build tree at /path/to/firmware:

# Kernel modules
make -C /path/to/firmware/output/build/linux-custom \
    M=$(pwd)/kernel \
    CHIPARCH=hi3516ev200 \
    DISABLE_IST=1 DISABLE_PM=1 DISABLE_TDE=1 DISABLE_VO=1 \
    modules

# Sensor libraries
export SDK_CODE=0x3516E200
make CROSS_COMPILE=arm-openipc-linux-musleabi- \
    CHIPARCH=hi3516ev200 \
    -C libraries all

Deploy to camera

# Copy a sensor driver
scp libraries/sensor/hi3516ev200/sony_imx335/libsns_imx335.so \
    root@192.168.1.10:/usr/lib/sensors/

# Copy a kernel module
scp kernel/open_isp.ko \
    root@192.168.1.10:/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/updates/

Supported sensors

Manufacturer	Sensors
Sony	imx290, imx307, imx327, imx335 (+ FPV variant)
SmartSens	sc2231, sc2235, sc223a, sc3235, sc3335, sc3336, sc4236, sc500ai
GalaxyCore	gc2053, gc4023, gc4653, gc5603
OmniVision	os02g10, os05a, ov2718
SOI	f37, h63
ImageDesign	mis2008
SuperPix	sp2305
Aptina	ar0237

Each sensor has both .so (shared) and .a (static) library builds.

User-space libraries for the IVE pipeline

Three clean-room libraries replace the vendor binaries that userspace apps (majestic, ipctool, your own code) link against for IVE motion detection, MMZ memory allocation, and object detection:

Library	Replaces	What it does
libmpi_neo.so	libmpi.so	HI_MPI_SYS_Init/Exit/MmzAlloc/MmzFree/MmzFlushCache over /dev/mmz_userdev
libive_neo.so	libive.so	HI_MPI_IVE_* wrappers for /dev/ive, plus SVP/XNN private helpers (mpi_ive_xnn_loadmodel/unloadmodel/forward_slice, mp_ive_svp_alg_proc_init/exit, …)
libivp_neo.so	libivp.so	hi_ivp_* high-level object-detection API

All three are binary drop-ins — the public hi_type.h, hi_common.h, hi_comm_ive.h, hi_ive.h, hi_comm_video.h, hi_ivp.h, mpi_sys.h, mpi_ive.h headers match the vendor ABI byte-for-byte (struct sizes locked via _Static_assert in the libraries-header-check CI job). Relink existing apps against -lmpi_neo -live_neo -livp_neo instead of the vendor -lmpi -live -livp.

Build:

make -C libraries/mpi_neo CC=arm-openipc-linux-musleabi-gcc
make -C libraries/ive_neo CC=arm-openipc-linux-musleabi-gcc
make -C libraries/ivp_neo CC=arm-openipc-linux-musleabi-gcc

Status on Hi3516EV200/EV300: libive_neo.so drives open_ive_neo.ko end-to-end for the 19 IVE ops the silicon supports. XNN/Conv inference is non-functional at the silicon level (vendor open_ive.ko has the same symptom — see #33), so libivp_neo.so's hi_ivp_process_ex returns zero detections to match vendor behavior.

Kernel modules

All modules are prefixed open_ to distinguish from vendor SDK modules:

Module	Function
open_osal	OS abstraction layer, MMZ memory allocator
open_sys_config	SoC pin/clock configuration
open_base	Module registry and inter-module calls
open_sys	System control and scaling coefficients
open_isp	Image Signal Processor pipeline
open_vi	Video input (sensor → ISP path)
open_vpss	Video processing (crop, scale, rotate)
open_venc	Video encoder framework
open_h264e / open_h265e	H.264 / H.265 codec engines
open_jpege	JPEG encoder
open_rgn	OSD regions and overlays
open_vgs	Video graphics operations
open_ive	Intelligent video (vendor blob, all SoCs)
open_ive_neo	Intelligent video (clean-room C, EV200/EV300 only)
open_ai / open_ao / open_aio	Audio input/output
open_aenc / open_adec	Audio encode/decode
open_acodec	On-chip audio codec
open_mipi_rx	MIPI CSI-2 receiver
open_sensor_i2c / open_sensor_spi	Sensor bus drivers
open_pwm	PWM (DC-iris lens control)
open_wdt	Watchdog timer

Load order matters — see /usr/bin/load_hisilicon on the camera for the full sequence:

• V4/V3.5: open_osal → open_sys_config → open_base → open_sys → everything else
• V2A (hi3516av100): open_mmz → open_himedia → open_base → open_sys → everything else
• V2 (hi3516cv200): open_mmz → open_himedia → open_sys_config → open_base → open_sys → everything else

Both open_ive.ko and open_ive_neo.ko are produced on every build (they live in sibling kernel/ive/ and kernel/ive_neo/ dirs). A rootfs should insmod either the vendor or the clean-room variant, not both — they export the same public symbol set (ive_std_mod_init, drv_ive_*, g_ive_regs, …). See issue #33 for which SoCs ive_neo has been validated on.

FPV sensor modes (IMX335)

High-framerate modes for FPV applications:

Mode	Resolution	Max FPS (hi3516ev300)	Max FPS (gk7205v300)
Cropped 16:9	2592x1520	50 fps	47 fps
Full scale boosted	2592x1944	39 fps	33 fps
Cropped 1.5x zoom	1920x1080	55 fps	—
Binning	1296x972	65 fps	—
Stock full scale	2592x1944	30 fps	30 fps

Configure via Isp_FrameRate in majestic settings.

Kernel compatibility layer

The kernel/compat/kernel_compat.h header provides transparent API compatibility across Linux 4.9 through 7.0, covering:

• Timer API (init_timer → timer_setup → timer_delete)
• Memory mapping (ioremap_nocache removal, set_fs removal)
• SPI/I2C API renames and signature changes
• platform_driver.remove return type change (int → void)
• sysctl, proc_ops, vm_flags, mmap_lock API evolution
• CMA/DMA contiguous allocator interface changes

CI

Every push and PR is tested against:

• hi3516cv100 + kernel 3.0 (HiSilicon V1)
• hi3516av100 + kernel 4.9 (HiSilicon V2A)
• hi3516cv200 + kernel 4.9 (HiSilicon V2)
• hi3516cv300 + kernel 3.18 (HiSilicon V3)
• hi3516ev200 + kernel 4.9 (HiSilicon V4)
• gk7205v200 + kernel 4.9 (Goke V4)
• hi3516ev300 + kernel 6.6, 6.18, 7.0 (mainline)

Plus three checks for the libraries/*_neo userspace stack:

• Libraries header check — gcc -Werror -fsyntax-only over every public header in libraries/{include,ive_neo,mpi_neo,ivp_neo}/include/ plus _Static_asserts on critical struct sizes (IVE_IMAGE_S == 72, IVE_CCBLOB_S == 3052, …). Locks the vendor ABI on every PR.
• Libraries cross-compile — ARM EABI build of all three *_neo libs; asserts canonical symbols are exported (HI_MPI_IVE_Thresh, HI_MPI_SYS_MmzAlloc, hi_ivp_init, …) and no vendor .so is in DT_NEEDED.
• QEMU IVE ops regression — boots a vendored test-ive-ops.c under qemu-system-arm -M hi3516ev300 and asserts Result: N/N passed. Catches register-contract drift between kernel/ive_neo/ive_neo.c and the QEMU HiSilicon machine model.

License

• Kernel modules: GPL v3
• Sensor libraries: MIT (for use with OpenIPC and third-party software)