+/**
+ * Increase an external Rx queue reference count.
+ *
+ * @param dev
+ * Pointer to Ethernet device.
+ * @param idx
+ * External RX queue index.
+ *
+ * @return
+ * A pointer to the queue if it exists, NULL otherwise.
+ */
+struct mlx5_external_rxq *
+mlx5_ext_rxq_ref(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, uint16_t idx)
+{
+ struct mlx5_external_rxq *rxq = mlx5_ext_rxq_get(dev, idx);
+
+ __atomic_fetch_add(&rxq->refcnt, 1, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+ return rxq;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Decrease an external Rx queue reference count.
+ *
+ * @param dev
+ * Pointer to Ethernet device.
+ * @param idx
+ * External RX queue index.
+ *
+ * @return
+ * Updated reference count.
+ */
+uint32_t
+mlx5_ext_rxq_deref(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, uint16_t idx)
+{
+ struct mlx5_external_rxq *rxq = mlx5_ext_rxq_get(dev, idx);
+
+ return __atomic_sub_fetch(&rxq->refcnt, 1, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get an external Rx queue.
+ *
+ * @param dev
+ * Pointer to Ethernet device.
+ * @param idx
+ * External Rx queue index.
+ *
+ * @return
+ * A pointer to the queue if it exists, NULL otherwise.
+ */
+struct mlx5_external_rxq *
+mlx5_ext_rxq_get(struct rte_eth_dev *dev, uint16_t idx)
+{
+ struct mlx5_priv *priv = dev->data->dev_private;
+
+ MLX5_ASSERT(mlx5_is_external_rxq(dev, idx));
+ return &priv->ext_rxqs[idx - MLX5_EXTERNAL_RX_QUEUE_ID_MIN];
+}
+