1 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
2 Copyright(c) 2015-2017 Netronome Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
5 NFP poll mode driver library
6 ============================
8 Netronome's sixth generation of flow processors pack 216 programmable
9 cores and over 100 hardware accelerators that uniquely combine packet,
10 flow, security and content processing in a single device that scales
13 This document explains how to use DPDK with the Netronome Poll Mode
14 Driver (PMD) supporting Netronome's Network Flow Processor 6xxx
15 (NFP-6xxx), Netronome's Network Flow Processor 4xxx (NFP-4xxx) and
16 Netronome's Network Flow Processor 38xx (NFP-38xx).
18 NFP is a SRIOV capable device and the PMD supports the physical
19 function (PF) and the virtual functions (VFs).
24 Before using the Netronome's DPDK PMD some NFP configuration,
25 which is not related to DPDK, is required. The system requires
26 installation of **Netronome's BSP (Board Support Package)** along
27 with a specific NFP firmware application. Netronome's NSP ABI
28 version should be 0.20 or higher.
30 If you have a NFP device you should already have the code and
31 documentation for this configuration. Contact
32 **support@netronome.com** to obtain the latest available firmware.
34 The NFP Linux netdev kernel driver for VFs has been a part of the
35 vanilla kernel since kernel version 4.5, and support for the PF
36 since kernel version 4.11. Support for older kernels can be obtained
38 **https://github.com/Netronome/nfp-drv-kmods** along with the build
41 NFP PMD needs to be used along with UIO ``igb_uio`` or VFIO (``vfio-pci``)
47 Netronome's PMD code is provided in the **drivers/net/nfp** directory.
48 Although NFP PMD has NetronomeĀ“s BSP dependencies, it is possible to
49 compile it along with other DPDK PMDs even if no BSP was installed previously.
50 Of course, a DPDK app will require such a BSP installed for using the
51 NFP PMD, along with a specific NFP firmware application.
53 Once the DPDK is built all the DPDK apps and examples include support for
57 Driver compilation and testing
58 ------------------------------
60 Refer to the document :ref:`compiling and testing a PMD for a NIC <pmd_build_and_test>`
66 NFP PMD supports using the NFP PF as another DPDK port, but it does not
67 have any functionality for controlling VFs. In fact, it is not possible to use
68 the PMD with the VFs if the PF is being used by DPDK, that is, with the NFP PF
69 bound to ``igb_uio`` or ``vfio-pci`` kernel drivers. Future DPDK versions will
70 have a PMD able to work with the PF and VFs at the same time and with the PF
71 implementing VF management along with other PF-only functionalities/offloads.
73 The PMD PF has extra work to do which will delay the DPDK app initialization
74 like uploading the firmware and configure the Link state properly when starting or
75 stopping a PF port. Since DPDK 18.05 the firmware upload happens when
76 a PF is initialized, which was not always true with older DPDK versions.
78 Depending on the Netronome product installed in the system, firmware files
79 should be available under ``/lib/firmware/netronome``. DPDK PMD supporting the
80 PF looks for a firmware file in this order:
82 1) First try to find a firmware image specific for this device using the
85 serial-00-15-4d-12-20-65-10-ff.nffw
87 2) Then try the PCI name:
91 3) Finally try the card type and media:
93 nic_AMDA0099-0001_2x25.nffw
95 Netronome's software packages install firmware files under ``/lib/firmware/netronome``
96 to support all the Netronome's SmartNICs and different firmware applications.
97 This is usually done using file names based on SmartNIC type and media and with a
98 directory per firmware application. Options 1 and 2 for firmware filenames allow
99 more than one SmartNIC, same type of SmartNIC or different ones, and to upload a
100 different firmware to each SmartNIC.
103 Currently the NFP PMD supports using the PF with Agilio Firmware with NFD3
104 and Agilio Firmware with NFDk. See https://help.netronome.com/support/solutions
105 for more information on the various firmwares supported by the Netronome
111 The NFP PMD can work with up to 8 ports on the same PF device. The number of
112 available ports is firmware and hardware dependent, and the driver looks for a
113 firmware symbol during initialization to know how many can be used.
115 DPDK apps work with ports, and a port is usually a PF or a VF PCI device.
116 However, with the NFP PF multiport there is just one PF PCI device. Supporting
117 this particular configuration requires the PMD to create ports in a special way,
118 although once they are created, DPDK apps should be able to use them as normal
121 NFP ports belonging to same PF can be seen inside PMD initialization with a
122 suffix added to the PCI ID: wwww:xx:yy.z_portn. For example, a PF with PCI ID
123 0000:03:00.0 and four ports is seen by the PMD code as:
125 .. code-block:: console
134 There are some limitations with multiport support: RX interrupts and
135 device hot-plugging are not supported.
137 PF multiprocess support
138 -----------------------
140 Due to how the driver needs to access the NFP through a CPP interface, which implies
141 to use specific registers inside the chip, the number of secondary processes with PF
142 ports is limited to only one.
144 This limitation will be solved in future versions but having basic multiprocess support
145 is important for allowing development and debugging through the PF using a secondary
146 process which will create a CPP bridge for user space tools accessing the NFP.
152 #. **Enable SR-IOV on the NFP device:** The current NFP PMD supports the PF and
153 the VFs on a NFP device. However, it is not possible to work with both at the
154 same time because the VFs require the PF being bound to the NFP PF Linux
155 netdev driver. Make sure you are working with a kernel with NFP PF support or
156 get the drivers from the above Github repository and follow the instructions
157 for building and installing it.
159 VFs need to be enabled before they can be used with the PMD.
160 Before enabling the VFs it is useful to obtain information about the
161 current NFP PCI device detected by the system:
163 .. code-block:: console
167 Now, for example, configure two virtual functions on a NFP-6xxx device
168 whose PCI system identity is "0000:03:00.0":
170 .. code-block:: console
172 echo 2 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:03:00.0/sriov_numvfs
174 The result of this command may be shown using lspci again:
176 .. code-block:: console
180 Two new PCI devices should appear in the output of the above command. The
181 -k option shows the device driver, if any, that devices are bound to.
182 Depending on the modules loaded at this point the new PCI devices may be
183 bound to nfp_netvf driver.