Raspberry Pi 5 – MIPI CSI-2 Driver Operation

The Raspberry Pi 5 (BCM2712) integrates two MIPI CSI-2 D-PHY receiver ports, each supporting up to 4 data lanes at up to 2.0 Gbps per lane. Both ports can be used simultaneously for dual-camera configurations. Sensor drivers are implemented as standard V4L2 sub-devices registered via the async sub-device framework. Device-tree nodes define the CSI-2 port binding with properties: data-lanes (up to <1 2 3 4>), clock-lane, link-frequency, and power/reset GPIO assignments. Power sequencing (AVDD, DVDD, IOVDD) is handled through regulator and GPIO definitions in the device-tree. The V4L2 media pipeline on Raspberry Pi 5 routes through the CFE (Camera Front End) driver — the successor to the legacy Unicam driver — which interfaces with the ISP (PiSP) for image processing. Raw Bayer capture and processed YUV/RGB output are both supported depending on the sensor and application requirements. Supported sensor families include Sony IMX series (IMX219, IMX477, IMX708, IMX296, and custom variants), KTNC modules, and Tamaron lens-integrated camera modules, each requiring sensor-specific I2C register initialization, mode configuration, and V4L2 control mappings (exposure, gain, frame rate, test pattern).