Re: [PATCH v2 00/25] Generic flow API (rte_flow)

[Olga Shern <olgas@mellanox.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dev [mailto:dev-bounces@dpdk.org] On Behalf Of Adrien Mazarguil
> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2016 6:25 PM
> To: dev@dpdk.org
> Subject: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH v2 00/25] Generic flow API (rte_flow)
> 
> As previously discussed in RFC v1 [1], RFC v2 [2], with changes described in
> [3] (also pasted below), here is the first non-draft series for this new API.
> 
> Its capabilities are so generic that its name had to be vague, it may be called
> "Generic flow API", "Generic flow interface" (possibly shortened as "GFI") to
> refer to the name of the new filter type, or "rte_flow" from the prefix used
> for its public symbols. I personally favor the latter.
> 
> While it is currently meant to supersede existing filter types in order for all
> PMDs to expose a common filtering/classification interface, it may eventually
> evolve to cover the following ideas as well:
> 
> - Rx/Tx offloads configuration through automatic offloads for specific
>   packets, e.g. performing checksum on TCP packets could be expressed with
>   an egress rule with a TCP pattern and a kind of checksum action.
> 
> - RSS configuration (already defined actually). Could be global or per rule
>   depending on hardware capabilities.
> 
> - Switching configuration for devices with many physical ports; rules doing
>   both ingress and egress could even be used to completely bypass software
>   if supported by hardware.
> 
>  [1] http://dpdk.org/ml/archives/dev/2016-July/043365.html
>  [2] http://dpdk.org/ml/archives/dev/2016-August/045383.html
>  [3] http://dpdk.org/ml/archives/dev/2016-November/050044.html
> 
> Changes since v1 series:
> 
> - Added programmer's guide documentation for rte_flow.
> 
> - Added depreciation notice for the legacy API.
> 
> - Documented testpmd flow command.
> 
> - Fixed missing rte_flow_flush symbol in rte_ether_version.map.
> 
> - Cleaned up API documentation in rte_flow.h.
> 
> - Replaced "min/max" parameters with "num" in struct rte_flow_item_any,
> to
>   align behavior with other item definitions.
> 
> - Fixed "type" (EtherType) size in struct rte_flow_item_eth.
> 
> - Renamed "queues" to "num" in struct rte_flow_action_rss.
> 
> - Fixed missing const in rte_flow_error_set() prototype definition.
> 
> - Fixed testpmd flow create command that did not save the rte_flow object
>   pointer, causing crashes.
> 
> - Hopefully fixed all the remaining ICC/clang errors.
> 
> - Replaced testpmd flow command's "fix" token with "is" for clarity.
> 
> Changes since RFC v2:
> 
> - New separate VLAN pattern item (previously part of the ETH definition),
>   found to be much more convenient.
> 
> - Removed useless "any" field from VF pattern item, the same effect can be
>   achieved by not providing a specification structure.
> 
> - Replaced bit-fields from the VXLAN pattern item to avoid endianness
>   conversion issues on 24-bit fields.
> 
> - Updated struct rte_flow_item with a new "last" field to create inclusive
>   ranges. They are defined as the interval between (spec & mask) and
>   (last & mask). All three parameters are optional.
> 
> - Renamed ID action MARK.
> 
> - Renamed "queue" fields in actions QUEUE and DUP to "index".
> 
> - "rss_conf" field in RSS action is now const.
> 
> - VF action now uses a 32 bit ID like its pattern item counterpart.
> 
> - Removed redundant struct rte_flow_pattern, API functions now expect
>   struct
>   rte_flow_item lists terminated by END items.
> 
> - Replaced struct rte_flow_actions for the same reason, with struct
>   rte_flow_action lists terminated by END actions.
> 
> - Error types (enum rte_flow_error_type) have been updated and the cause
>   pointer in struct rte_flow_error is now const.
> 
> - Function prototypes (rte_flow_create, rte_flow_validate) have also been
>   updated for clarity.
> 
> Additions:
> 
> - Public wrapper functions rte_flow_{validate|create|destroy|flush|query}
>   are now implemented in rte_flow.c, with their symbols exported and
>   versioned. Related filter type RTE_ETH_FILTER_GENERIC has been added.
> 
> - A separate header (rte_flow_driver.h) has been added for driver-side
>   functionality, in particular struct rte_flow_ops which contains PMD
>   callbacks returned by RTE_ETH_FILTER_GENERIC query.
> 
> - testpmd now exposes most of this API through the new "flow" command.
> 
> What remains to be done:
> 
> - Using endian-aware integer types (rte_beX_t) where necessary for clarity.
> 
> - API documentation (based on RFC).
> 
> - testpmd flow command documentation (although context-aware command
>   completion should already help quite a bit in this regard).
> 
> - A few pattern item / action properties cannot be configured yet
>   (e.g. rss_conf parameter for RSS action) and a few completions
>   (e.g. possible queue IDs) should be added.
> 

Acked-by: Olga Shern <olgas@mellanox.com>