diff --git a/Documentation/userspace-api/media/glossary.rst b/Documentation/userspace-api/media/glossary.rst
index f7b99a4527c7..65217b8a44cc 100644
--- a/Documentation/userspace-api/media/glossary.rst
+++ b/Documentation/userspace-api/media/glossary.rst
@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@ Glossary
 
 	See :ref:`cec`.
 
+.. _media-glossary-data-unit:
+
+    Data unit
+
+	Unit of data transported by a bus. On parallel buses, this is called a
+	sample while on serial buses the data unit is logical. If the data unit
+	is image data, it may also be called a pixel.
+
     Device Driver
 	Part of the Linux Kernel that implements support for a hardware
 	component.
diff --git a/Documentation/userspace-api/media/v4l/subdev-formats.rst b/Documentation/userspace-api/media/v4l/subdev-formats.rst
index a3a35eeed708..c54bf834d839 100644
--- a/Documentation/userspace-api/media/v4l/subdev-formats.rst
+++ b/Documentation/userspace-api/media/v4l/subdev-formats.rst
@@ -8234,3 +8234,261 @@ The following table lists the existing metadata formats.
 	both sides of the link and the bus format is a fixed
 	metadata format that is not configurable from userspace.
 	Width and height will be set to 0 for this format.
+
+Generic Serial Metadata Formats
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Generic serial metadata formats are used on serial buses where the actual data
+content is more or less device specific but the data is transmitted and received
+by multiple devices that do not process the data in any way, simply writing
+it to system memory for processing in software at the end of the pipeline.
+
+The more specific variant describing the actual data is used on the internal
+source pad of the originating sub-device.
+
+"b" in an array cell signifies a byte of data, followed by the number of the bit
+and finally the bit number in subscript. "X" indicates a padding bit.
+
+.. _media-bus-format-generic-meta:
+
+.. cssclass: longtable
+
+.. flat-table:: Generic Serial Metadata Formats
+    :header-rows:  2
+    :stub-columns: 0
+
+    * - Identifier
+      - Code
+      -
+      - :cspan:`23` Data organization within bus ``Data unit
+	<media-glossary-data-unit>``
+    * -
+      -
+      - Bit
+      - 23
+      - 22
+      - 21
+      - 20
+      - 19
+      - 18
+      - 17
+      - 16
+      - 15
+      - 14
+      - 13
+      - 12
+      - 11
+      - 10
+      - 9
+      - 8
+      - 7
+      - 6
+      - 5
+      - 4
+      - 3
+      - 2
+      - 1
+      - 0
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-8:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_8
+      - 0x8001
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-10:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_10
+      - 0x8002
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-12:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_12
+      - 0x8003
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-14:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_14
+      - 0x8004
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-16:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_16
+      - 0x8005
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-20:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_20
+      - 0x8006
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+    * .. _MEDIA-BUS-FMT-META-24:
+
+      - MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_24
+      - 0x8007
+      -
+      - b0\ :sub:`7`
+      - b0\ :sub:`6`
+      - b0\ :sub:`5`
+      - b0\ :sub:`4`
+      - b0\ :sub:`3`
+      - b0\ :sub:`2`
+      - b0\ :sub:`1`
+      - b0\ :sub:`0`
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
+      - X
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/media-bus-format.h b/include/uapi/linux/media-bus-format.h
index a03c543cb072..9ee031397372 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/media-bus-format.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/media-bus-format.h
@@ -173,4 +173,13 @@
  */
 #define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_METADATA_FIXED		0x7001
 
+/* Generic line based metadata formats for serial buses. Next is 0x8008. */
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_8			0x8001
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_10			0x8002
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_12			0x8003
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_14			0x8004
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_16			0x8005
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_20			0x8006
+#define MEDIA_BUS_FMT_META_24			0x8007
+
 #endif /* __LINUX_MEDIA_BUS_FORMAT_H */
