linux-drivers/
drivers/iio/accel

IIO digital accelerometer drivers (ADXL, BMA/BMI, Kionix, MMA, ST, and others)

A large family of small digital accelerometer chips that sit on I2C or SPI buses and report motion, tilt, vibration, and free-fall. They appear in smartphones, wearables, drones, vehicles, and industrial monitors, with covered parts from Analog Devices (ADXL/ADIS), Bosch (BMA/BMI), Kionix, NXP/Freescale (MMA/FXLS), ST, and Murata, and new chips still arriving in 2025.

keep conf=0.95 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=iio category=sensor-iio
95%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because this is an actively maintained collection of more than seventy drivers for digital accelerometers from nearly every major sensor vendor, with steady 2025-2026 commits adding new parts like the ADXL380 alongside ongoing fixes for older ones. The hardware is still sold new and shipping in current wearables, phones, drones, and industrial gear, so there is no single replacement and no removal effort in sight.

repository signals

89 files
39,038 source lines
528 commits, 5y
+21,288 / −5,196 lines added / removed, 5y
94 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 528 total · active in 56/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 9 commits · +629 −48 2021-05: 34 commits · +1,752 −322 2021-06: 19 commits · +226 −401 2021-07: 3 commits · +6 −17 2021-08: 9 commits · +909 −97 2021-09: 6 commits · +1,083 −13 2021-10: 11 commits · +56 −39 2021-11: 12 commits · +31 −22 2021-12: 2 commits · +15 −6 2022-01: 29 commits · +147 −161 2022-02: 20 commits · +2,105 −101 2022-03: 4 commits · +16 −29 2022-04: 7 commits · +18 −10 2022-05: 29 commits · +1,117 −208 2022-06: 5 commits · +19 −22 2022-07: 2 commits · +21 −13 2022-08: 6 commits · +1,707 −60 2022-09: 5 commits · +305 −114 2022-10: 28 commits · +1,615 −275 2022-11: 13 commits · +35 −33 2022-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-01: 5 commits · +22 −4 2023-02: 1 commit · +1 −1 2023-03: 2 commits · +16 −4 2023-04: 3 commits · +4 −4 2023-05: 4 commits · +33 −42 2023-06: 3 commits · +12 −7 2023-07: 4 commits · +7 −21 2023-08: 6 commits · +25 −37 2023-09: 10 commits · +510 −142 2023-10: 2 commits · +34 −11 2023-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-12: 11 commits · +116 −39 2024-01: 3 commits · +145 −218 2024-02: 10 commits · +117 −16 2024-03: 3 commits · +86 −8 2024-04: 10 commits · +145 −197 2024-05: 3 commits · +63 −48 2024-06: 7 commits · +111 −32 2024-07: 17 commits · +2,116 −29 2024-08: 2 commits · +5 −5 2024-09: 5 commits · +7 −13 2024-10: 22 commits · +415 −413 2024-11: 10 commits · +165 −87 2024-12: 10 commits · +562 −153 2025-01: 4 commits · +79 −18 2025-02: 16 commits · +285 −273 2025-03: 4 commits · +73 −59 2025-04: 11 commits · +610 −165 2025-05: 10 commits · +230 −94 2025-06: 11 commits · +51 −40 2025-07: 16 commits · +1,847 −142 2025-08: 4 commits · +18 −60 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 28 commits · +1,244 −701 2025-11: 4 commits · +122 −46 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 11 commits · +196 −74 2026-02: 1 commit · +1 −1 2026-03: 2 commits · +3 −1 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. git.kernel.org

    Canonical upstream path log for drivers/iio/accel; used to support that this subtree is still seeing regular upstream maintenance rather than removal.

  2. analog.com

    Analog Devices lists ADXL380 as PRODUCTION / recommended for new designs, with a Linux driver resource and 2025-2026 documentation updates.

  3. digikey.com

    Bosch BMA400 remains an active accelerometer SKU with current distributor stock, indicating ongoing real-world deployment rather than legacy-only status.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver subtree, not a helper library: local `rg --files` and `sed` on Kconfig showed 70+ concrete accelerometer drivers across many vendors. Local `git log` (using `git -c safe.directory=...`) showed heavy 2025-2026 activity in this path, including feature work for adxl380/bma220/adxl345 and bug fixes, and no path-level deprecation/removal series beyond routine code cleanup. The kernel.org log URL was included by canonical recall as the stable public path URL corresponding to that log inspection. The ADXL380 and DigiKey BMA400 URLs were obtained via `web.search_query`; together they show hardware covered by this subtree is still sold new and used in current embedded/industrial/wearable designs. Because this directory is an actively maintained aggregate for many still-current accelerometer families, there is no single replacement driver and no basis for deprecation.