[dpdk-dev] 18.05 intel Roadmap

[O'Driscoll, Tim]

Now that the 18.02 release is complete, we need to update the 18.05 roadmap. These are the features that we plan to contribute:

vHost Selective Data Path: Provide support for a selective datapath in the vhost-user library. The default datapath will be the existing software implementation. Alternative data paths can be added to support acceleration for virtio-compatible devices.

IFC VF Driver: A new Intel device driver for accelerated virtio data path leveraging the selective datapath support in the vhost-user library.

vHost Interrupt Mode: Add support for interrupt mode to vhost. This can be used during low traffic periods to save power or to allow the CPU to be used for other tasks.

Virtio-User Server Mode: Currently, in a container environment if the vhost-user backend restarts there's no way for it to reconnect to virtio-user. To address this, support for server mode will be added. In this mode the socket file is created by virtio-user, which the backend then connects to. This means that if the backend restarts, it can reconnect to virtio-user and continue communications.

Virtio Crypto: Support for virtio-crypto will be added to the vhost-user library. A new sample application will also be created which wil run in the host and will handle crypto requests sent by the guest.

Ethdev API to Query Recommended Descriptor Ring Sizes: Provide an ethdev API to allow applications to query the recommended descriptor ring sizes for a NIC port. The value returned should depend on the speed of the port (10G, 40G etc.) and the number of queues configured.

Memory Subsystem Improvements: Continue redesign of memory system to make DPDK less "greedy" and more suitable for use in container/cloud native environments. Specific changes include: provide ability to scale up/down memory usage at run time, provide the ability to register/unregister non-DPDK-owned hugepages with VFIO.

IP Pipeline Usability Enhancements: Improve usability of the IP Pipeline by: provide an API to add pipeline configuration profiles after initialization, refactor the IP Pipeline into separate libraries to facilitate reuse.

Compression: Provide a new compressdev API to support hardware and software acceleration of compression/decompression. A PMD for a software implementation using the Intel(r) Storage Acceleration Library will be provided.

Tunnel API: A new API will be created to manage tunnel end points, including hardware acceleration for tunnel encap/decap.

Port Representor: A port representor is a virtual PMD which provides a logical representation of any port, either physical or host-facing, on a multi-port port device. This logical port provides a mechanism for control and monitoring. The primary purpose of port representors in DPDK is to support the configuration, management and monitoring of virtual functions of a network interface. A data path will also be supported which will allow physical ports to be presented as separate logical ports within an application.

Support PPPoE/PPPoL2TPv2 in I40E PMD: Support for PPPoE and PPPoL2TPv2 will be added to the I40E PMD.

Update Intel PMDs for Rx/Tx Offload API. Intel PMDs will be updated to use the new Rx/Tx offload API.

Add Uevent Support for Hotplug: The uevent mechanism will be used to monitor the hotplug status of a device. This will allow an application to detect when a device has been added or removed.