diff --git a/Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml b/Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml
index 253ddb4..f89228d 100644
--- a/Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml
+++ b/Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml
@@ -53,4 +53,24 @@
     implementing policies that belong to userspace.</para>
     <para>The media controller API aims at solving those problems.</para>
   </section>
+
+  <section id="media-controller-model">
+    <title>Media device model</title>
+    <para>Discovering a device internal topology, and configuring it at runtime,
+    is one of the goals of the media controller API. To achieve this, hardware
+    devices are modelled as an oriented graph of building blocks called entities
+    connected through pads.</para>
+    <para>An entity is a basic media hardware or software building block. It can
+    correspond to a large variety of logical blocks such as physical hardware
+    devices (CMOS sensor for instance), logical hardware devices (a building
+    block in a System-on-Chip image processing pipeline), DMA channels or
+    physical connectors.</para>
+    <para>A pad is a connection endpoint through which an entity can interact
+    with other entities. Data (not restricted to video) produced by an entity
+    flows from the entity's output to one or more entity inputs. Pads should not
+    be confused with physical pins at chip boundaries.</para>
+    <para>A link is a point-to-point oriented connection between two pads,
+    either on the same entity or on different entities. Data flows from a source
+    pad to a sink pad.</para>
+  </section>
 </chapter>
diff --git a/Documentation/media-framework.txt b/Documentation/media-framework.txt
index 84fa43a..0332162 100644
--- a/Documentation/media-framework.txt
+++ b/Documentation/media-framework.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,30 @@ Documentation/DocBook/v4l/media-controller.xml. This document will focus on
 the kernel-side implementation of the media framework.
 
 
+Abstract media device model
+---------------------------
+
+Discovering a device internal topology, and configuring it at runtime, is one
+of the goals of the media framework. To achieve this, hardware devices are
+modeled as an oriented graph of building blocks called entities connected
+through pads.
+
+An entity is a basic media hardware building block. It can correspond to
+a large variety of logical blocks such as physical hardware devices
+(CMOS sensor for instance), logical hardware devices (a building block
+in a System-on-Chip image processing pipeline), DMA channels or physical
+connectors.
+
+A pad is a connection endpoint through which an entity can interact with
+other entities. Data (not restricted to video) produced by an entity
+flows from the entity's output to one or more entity inputs. Pads should
+not be confused with physical pins at chip boundaries.
+
+A link is a point-to-point oriented connection between two pads, either
+on the same entity or on different entities. Data flows from a source
+pad to a sink pad.
+
+
 Media device
 ------------
 
@@ -66,3 +90,128 @@ Drivers unregister media device instances by calling
 
 Unregistering a media device that hasn't been registered is *NOT* safe.
 
+
+Entities, pads and links
+------------------------
+
+- Entities
+
+Entities are represented by a struct media_entity instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. The structure is usually embedded into a
+higher-level structure, such as a v4l2_subdev or video_device instance,
+although drivers can allocate entities directly.
+
+Drivers initialize entities by calling
+
+	media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads,
+			  struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links);
+
+The media_entity name, type, flags, revision and group_id fields can be
+initialized before or after calling media_entity_init. Entities embedded in
+higher-level standard structures can have some of those fields set by the
+higher-level framework.
+
+As the number of pads is known in advance, the pads array is not allocated
+dynamically but is managed by the entity driver. Most drivers will embed the
+pads array in a driver-specific structure, avoiding dynamic allocation.
+
+Drivers must set the direction of every pad in the pads array before calling
+media_entity_init. The function will initialize the other pads fields.
+
+Unlike the number of pads, the total number of links isn't always known in
+advance by the entity driver. As an initial estimate, media_entity_init
+pre-allocates a number of links equal to the number of pads plus an optional
+number of extra links. The links array will be reallocated if it grows beyond
+the initial estimate.
+
+Drivers register entities with a media device by calling
+
+	media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev,
+				     struct media_entity *entity);
+
+When registered the entity is assigned an ID. Entity IDs are positive integers
+and are guaranteed to be unique in the context of the media device. The
+framework doesn't guarantee that IDs will always be continuous.
+
+Drivers unregister entities by calling
+
+	media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity);
+
+Unregistering an entity will not change the IDs of the other entities, and the
+ID will never be reused for a newly registered entity.
+
+When a media device is unregistered, all its entities are unregistered
+automatically. No manual entities unregistration is then required.
+
+Drivers free resources associated with an entity by calling
+
+	media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity);
+
+This function must be called during the cleanup phase after unregistering the
+entity. Note that the media_entity instance itself must be freed explicitly by
+the driver if required.
+
+Entities have flags that describe the entity capabilities and state.
+
+	MEDIA_ENTITY_FLAG_DEFAULT indicates the default entity for a given
+	type. This can be used to report the default audio and video devices
+	or the default camera sensor.
+
+Logical entity groups can be defined by setting the group ID of all member
+entities to the same non-zero value. An entity group serves no purpose in the
+kernel, but is reported to userspace during entities enumeration. The group_id
+field belongs to the media device driver and must not by touched by entity
+drivers.
+
+Media device drivers should define groups if several entities are logically
+bound together. Example usages include reporting
+
+	- ALSA, VBI and video nodes that carry the same media stream
+	- lens and flash controllers associated with a sensor
+
+- Pads
+
+Pads are represented by a struct media_pad instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores its pads in a pads array
+managed by the entity driver. Drivers usually embed the array in a
+driver-specific structure.
+
+Pads are identified by their entity and their 0-based index in the pads array.
+Both information are stored in the media_pad structure, making the media_pad
+pointer the canonical way to store and pass link references.
+
+Pads have flags that describe the pad capabilities and state.
+
+	MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_INPUT indicates that the pad supports sinking data.
+	MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_OUTPUT indicates that the pad supports sourcing data.
+
+One and only one of MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_INPUT and MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_OUTPUT must be set
+for each pad.
+
+- Links
+
+Links are represented by a struct media_link instance, defined in
+include/media/media-entity.h. Each entity stores all links originating at or
+targetting any of its pads in a links array. A given link is thus stored
+twice, once in the source entity and once in the target entity. The array is
+pre-allocated and grows dynamically as needed.
+
+Drivers create links by calling
+
+	media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad,
+				 struct media_entity *sink,   u16 sink_pad,
+				 u32 flags);
+
+An entry in the link array of each entity is allocated and stores pointers
+to source and sink pads.
+
+Links have flags that describe the link capabilities and state.
+
+	MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_ACTIVE indicates that the link is active and can be
+	used to transfer media data. When two or more links target a sink pad,
+	only one of them can be active at a time.
+	MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_IMMUTABLE indicates that the link active state can't
+	be modified at runtime. If MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_IMMUTABLE is set, then
+	MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_ACTIVE must also be set since an immutable link is
+	always active.
+
diff --git a/drivers/media/Makefile b/drivers/media/Makefile
index 019d3e0..b890248 100644
--- a/drivers/media/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/media/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Makefile for the kernel multimedia device drivers.
 #
 
-media-objs	:= media-device.o media-devnode.o
+media-objs	:= media-device.o media-devnode.o media-entity.o
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_MEDIA_CONTROLLER),y)
   obj-$(CONFIG_MEDIA_SUPPORT) += media.o
diff --git a/drivers/media/media-device.c b/drivers/media/media-device.c
index 57a9c6b..2163610 100644
--- a/drivers/media/media-device.c
+++ b/drivers/media/media-device.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 #include <media/media-device.h>
 #include <media/media-devnode.h>
+#include <media/media-entity.h>
 
 static const struct media_file_operations media_device_fops = {
 	.owner = THIS_MODULE,
@@ -69,6 +70,10 @@ int __must_check media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev)
 	if (WARN_ON(mdev->dev == NULL || mdev->model[0] == 0))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
+	mdev->entity_id = 1;
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&mdev->entities);
+	spin_lock_init(&mdev->lock);
+
 	/* Register the device node. */
 	mdev->devnode.fops = &media_device_fops;
 	mdev->devnode.parent = mdev->dev;
@@ -94,7 +99,55 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_register);
  */
 void media_device_unregister(struct media_device *mdev)
 {
+	struct media_entity *entity;
+	struct media_entity *next;
+
+	list_for_each_entry_safe(entity, next, &mdev->entities, list)
+		media_device_unregister_entity(entity);
+
 	device_remove_file(&mdev->devnode.dev, &dev_attr_model);
 	media_devnode_unregister(&mdev->devnode);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_unregister);
+
+/**
+ * media_device_register_entity - Register an entity with a media device
+ * @mdev:	The media device
+ * @entity:	The entity
+ */
+int __must_check media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev,
+					      struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	/* Warn if we apparently re-register an entity */
+	WARN_ON(entity->parent != NULL);
+	entity->parent = mdev;
+
+	spin_lock(&mdev->lock);
+	entity->id = mdev->entity_id++;
+	list_add_tail(&entity->list, &mdev->entities);
+	spin_unlock(&mdev->lock);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_register_entity);
+
+/**
+ * media_device_unregister_entity - Unregister an entity
+ * @entity:	The entity
+ *
+ * If the entity has never been registered this function will return
+ * immediately.
+ */
+void media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	struct media_device *mdev = entity->parent;
+
+	if (mdev == NULL)
+		return;
+
+	spin_lock(&mdev->lock);
+	list_del(&entity->list);
+	spin_unlock(&mdev->lock);
+	entity->parent = NULL;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_unregister_entity);
diff --git a/drivers/media/media-entity.c b/drivers/media/media-entity.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4ba2bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/media/media-entity.c
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/*
+ * Media entity
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation
+ *
+ * Contacts: Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>
+ *	     Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@maxwell.research.nokia.com>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ */
+
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/slab.h>
+#include <media/media-entity.h>
+
+/**
+ * media_entity_init - Initialize a media entity
+ *
+ * @num_pads: Total number of input and output pads.
+ * @extra_links: Initial estimate of the number of extra links.
+ * @pads: Array of 'num_pads' pads.
+ *
+ * The total number of pads is an intrinsic property of entities known by the
+ * entity driver, while the total number of links depends on hardware design
+ * and is an extrinsic property unknown to the entity driver. However, in most
+ * use cases the entity driver can guess the number of links which can safely
+ * be assumed to be equal to or larger than the number of pads.
+ *
+ * For those reasons the links array can be preallocated based on the entity
+ * driver guess and will be reallocated later if extra links need to be
+ * created.
+ *
+ * This function allocates a links array with enough space to hold at least
+ * 'num_pads' + 'extra_links' elements. The media_entity::max_links field will
+ * be set to the number of allocated elements.
+ *
+ * The pads array is managed by the entity driver and passed to
+ * media_entity_init() where its pointer will be stored in the entity structure.
+ */
+int
+media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads,
+		  struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links)
+{
+	struct media_link *links;
+	unsigned int max_links = num_pads + extra_links;
+	unsigned int i;
+
+	links = kzalloc(max_links * sizeof(links[0]), GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (links == NULL)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	entity->group_id = 0;
+	entity->max_links = max_links;
+	entity->num_links = 0;
+	entity->num_backlinks = 0;
+	entity->num_pads = num_pads;
+	entity->pads = pads;
+	entity->links = links;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_pads; i++) {
+		pads[i].entity = entity;
+		pads[i].index = i;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_entity_init);
+
+void
+media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	kfree(entity->links);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_entity_cleanup);
+
+static struct media_link *media_entity_add_link(struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	if (entity->num_links >= entity->max_links) {
+		struct media_link *links = entity->links;
+		unsigned int max_links = entity->max_links + 2;
+		unsigned int i;
+
+		links = krealloc(links, max_links * sizeof(*links), GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (links == NULL)
+			return NULL;
+
+		for (i = 0; i < entity->num_links; i++)
+			links[i].reverse->reverse = &links[i];
+
+		entity->max_links = max_links;
+		entity->links = links;
+	}
+
+	return &entity->links[entity->num_links++];
+}
+
+int
+media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad,
+			 struct media_entity *sink, u16 sink_pad, u32 flags)
+{
+	struct media_link *link;
+	struct media_link *backlink;
+
+	BUG_ON(source == NULL || sink == NULL);
+	BUG_ON(source_pad >= source->num_pads);
+	BUG_ON(sink_pad >= sink->num_pads);
+
+	link = media_entity_add_link(source);
+	if (link == NULL)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	link->source = &source->pads[source_pad];
+	link->sink = &sink->pads[sink_pad];
+	link->flags = flags;
+
+	/* Create the backlink. Backlinks are used to help graph traversal and
+	 * are not reported to userspace.
+	 */
+	backlink = media_entity_add_link(sink);
+	if (backlink == NULL) {
+		source->num_links--;
+		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
+
+	backlink->source = &source->pads[source_pad];
+	backlink->sink = &sink->pads[sink_pad];
+	backlink->flags = flags;
+
+	link->reverse = backlink;
+	backlink->reverse = link;
+
+	sink->num_backlinks++;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_entity_create_link);
diff --git a/include/media/media-device.h b/include/media/media-device.h
index 930a17a..acd6a29 100644
--- a/include/media/media-device.h
+++ b/include/media/media-device.h
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@
 
 #include <linux/device.h>
 #include <linux/list.h>
+#include <linux/spinlock.h>
 
 #include <media/media-devnode.h>
+#include <media/media-entity.h>
 
 /**
  * struct media_device - Media device
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@
  * @bus_info:	Unique and stable device location identifier
  * @hw_revision: Hardware device revision
  * @driver_version: Device driver version
+ * @entity_id:	ID of the next entity to be registered
+ * @entities:	List of registered entities
+ * @lock:	Entities list lock
  *
  * This structure represents an abstract high-level media device. It allows easy
  * access to entities and provides basic media device-level support. The
@@ -58,9 +63,23 @@ struct media_device {
 	u8 bus_info[32];
 	u32 hw_revision;
 	u32 driver_version;
+
+	u32 entity_id;
+	struct list_head entities;
+
+	/* Protects the entities list */
+	spinlock_t lock;
 };
 
 int __must_check media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev);
 void media_device_unregister(struct media_device *mdev);
 
+int __must_check media_device_register_entity(struct media_device *mdev,
+					      struct media_entity *entity);
+void media_device_unregister_entity(struct media_entity *entity);
+
+/* Iterate over all entities. */
+#define media_device_for_each_entity(entity, mdev)			\
+	list_for_each_entry(entity, &(mdev)->entities, list)
+
 #endif
diff --git a/include/media/media-entity.h b/include/media/media-entity.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60b4f09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/media/media-entity.h
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+/*
+ * Media entity
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation
+ *
+ * Contacts: Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>
+ *	     Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@maxwell.research.nokia.com>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef _MEDIA_ENTITY_H
+#define _MEDIA_ENTITY_H
+
+#include <linux/list.h>
+
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SHIFT			16
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_MASK			0x00ff0000
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_SUBTYPE_MASK		0x0000ffff
+
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE			(1 << MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SHIFT)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE_V4L		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE + 1)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE_FB		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE + 2)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE_ALSA		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE + 3)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE_DVB		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_NODE + 4)
+
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV		(2 << MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SHIFT)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV_SENSOR		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV + 1)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV_FLASH		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV + 2)
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV_LENS		(MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_SUBDEV + 3)
+
+#define MEDIA_ENTITY_FLAG_DEFAULT		(1 << 0)
+
+#define MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_ACTIVE			(1 << 0)
+#define MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_IMMUTABLE		(1 << 1)
+
+#define MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_INPUT			(1 << 0)
+#define MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_OUTPUT			(1 << 1)
+
+struct media_link {
+	struct media_pad *source;	/* Source pad */
+	struct media_pad *sink;		/* Sink pad  */
+	struct media_link *reverse;	/* Link in the reverse direction */
+	unsigned long flags;		/* Link flags (MEDIA_LINK_FLAG_*) */
+};
+
+struct media_pad {
+	struct media_entity *entity;	/* Entity this pad belongs to */
+	u16 index;			/* Pad index in the entity pads array */
+	unsigned long flags;		/* Pad flags (MEDIA_PAD_FLAG_*) */
+};
+
+struct media_entity {
+	struct list_head list;
+	struct media_device *parent;	/* Media device this entity belongs to*/
+	u32 id;				/* Entity ID, unique in the parent media
+					 * device context */
+	const char *name;		/* Entity name */
+	u32 type;			/* Entity type (MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_*) */
+	u32 revision;			/* Entity revision, driver specific */
+	unsigned long flags;		/* Entity flags (MEDIA_ENTITY_FLAG_*) */
+	u32 group_id;			/* Entity group ID */
+
+	u16 num_pads;			/* Number of input and output pads */
+	u16 num_links;			/* Number of existing links, both active
+					 * and inactive */
+	u16 num_backlinks;		/* Number of backlinks */
+	u16 max_links;			/* Maximum number of links */
+
+	struct media_pad *pads;		/* Pads array (num_pads elements) */
+	struct media_link *links;	/* Links array (max_links elements)*/
+
+	union {
+		/* Node specifications */
+		struct {
+			u32 major;
+			u32 minor;
+		} v4l;
+		struct {
+			u32 major;
+			u32 minor;
+		} fb;
+		int alsa;
+		int dvb;
+
+		/* Sub-device specifications */
+		/* Nothing needed yet */
+	};
+};
+
+static inline u32 media_entity_type(struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	return entity->type & MEDIA_ENTITY_TYPE_MASK;
+}
+
+static inline u32 media_entity_subtype(struct media_entity *entity)
+{
+	return entity->type & MEDIA_ENTITY_SUBTYPE_MASK;
+}
+
+int media_entity_init(struct media_entity *entity, u16 num_pads,
+		struct media_pad *pads, u16 extra_links);
+void media_entity_cleanup(struct media_entity *entity);
+int media_entity_create_link(struct media_entity *source, u16 source_pad,
+		struct media_entity *sink, u16 sink_pad, u32 flags);
+
+#endif
