Message ID | f95d92bfa1d8760db6ae0dbff67bb0e85eb77a2d.1310496866.git.mirq-linux@rere.qmqm.pl |
---|---|
State | Changes Requested, archived |
Delegated to: | David Miller |
Headers | show |
On Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:01:30 +0200 (CEST) Michał Mirosław wrote: > Signed-off-by: Michał Mirosław <mirq-linux@rere.qmqm.pl> > --- > > Please comment if something is unclear! > Apply otherwise. ;) > > --- > Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt | 155 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > 1 files changed, 155 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) > > diff --git a/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt b/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt > new file mode 100644 > index 0000000..9c209e6 > --- /dev/null > +++ b/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt > @@ -0,0 +1,155 @@ > +Netdev features mess and how to get out from it alive > +===================================================== > + > +Author: > + Michał Mirosław <mirq-linux@rere.qmqm.pl> > + > + > + > + Part I: Feature sets > +====================== > + > +Long gone are days, when a network card would just take and give packets Long gone are the days when > +verbatim. Todays devices add multiple features and bugs (read: offloads) Today's > +that relieves OS of various tasks like generating and checking checksums, relieve an OS > +splitting packets, classifying them. Those capabilities and their state > +is commonly referred to as netdev features in Linux kernel world. are > + > +There are currently three sets of features relevant to the driver, and > +one used internally by network core: > + > + 1. netdev->hw_features set contains features whose state may possibly > + be changed (enabled or disabled) for a particular device by user's > + request. This set should be initialized in ndo_init callback and not > + changed later. > + > + 2. netdev->features set contains features which are currently enabled > + for a device. This should be changed only by network core or in > + error paths of ndo_set_features callback. > + > + 3. netdev->vlan_features set contains features whose state is inherited > + by child VLAN devices (limits netdev->features set). This is currently > + used for all VLAN devices whether tags are stripped or inserted in > + hardware or software. > + > + 4. netdev->wanted_features set contains feature set requested by user. > + This set is filtered by ndo_fix_features callback whenever it or > + some device-specific conditions change. This set is internal to > + networking core and should not be referenced in drivers. > + > + > + > + Part II: Controlling enabled features > +======================================= > + > +When current feature set (netdev->features) is to be changed, new set > +is calculated and filtered by calling ndo_fix_features callback > +and netdev_fix_features(). If the resulting set differs from current > +set, it is passed to ndo_set_features callback and (if the callback > +returns success) replaces value stored in netdev->features. > +NETDEV_FEAT_CHANGE notification is issued after that whenever current > +set might have changed. > + > +Following events trigger recalculation: The following events ... > + 1. device's registration, after ndo_init returned success > + 2. user requested changes in features state > + 3. netdev_update_features() is called > + > +ndo_*_features callbacks are called with rtnl_lock held. Missing callbacks > +are treated as always returning success. > + > +Driver wanting to trigger recalculation must do so by calling A driver that wants to trigger ... > +netdev_update_features() while holding rtnl_lock. This should not be done > +from ndo_*_features callbacks. netdev->features should not be modified by > +driver except by means of ndo_fix_features callback. > + > + > + > + Part III: Implementation hints > +================================ > + > + * ndo_fix_features: > + > +All dependencies between features should be resolved here. The resulting > +set can be reduced further by networking core imposed limitations (as coded > +in netdev_fix_features()). For this reason its safer to disable a feature it is > +when its dependencies are not met instead of forcing the dependency on. > + > +This callback should not modify hardware nor driver state (should be > +stateless). It can be called multiple times between successive > +ndo_set_features calls. > + > +Callback must not alter features contained in NETIF_F_SOFT_FEATURES or > +NETIF_F_NEVER_CHANGE sets. The exception is NETIF_F_VLAN_CHALLENGED but > +care must be taken as the change won't affect already configured VLANs. > + > + * ndo_set_features: > + > +Hardware should be reconfigured to match passed feature set. The should not The <what> should not > +be altered unless some error condition happens that can't be reliably > +detected in ndo_fix_features. In this case, the callback should update > +netdev->features to match resulting hardware state. Errors returned are > +not (and cannot be) propagated anywhere except dmesg. (Note: successful > +return is zero, >0 is silent error.) > + > + > + > + Part IV: Features > +=================== > + > +For current list of features, see include/linux/netdev_features.h. > +This section describes semantics of some of them. > + > + * Transmit checksumming > + > +For complete description, see comments near the top of include/linux/skbuff.h. > + > +Note: NETIF_F_HW_CSUM is a superset of NETIF_F_IP_CSUM + NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM. > +It means that device can fill TCP/UDP-like checksum anywhere in the packets > +whatever headers there might be. > + > + * Transmit TCP segmentation offload > + > +NETIF_F_TSO_ECN means that hardware can properly split packets with CWR bit > +set, be it TCPv4 (when NETIF_F_TSO is enabled) or TCPv6 (NETIF_F_TSO6). > + > + * Transmit DMA from high memory > + > +On platforms where this is relevant, NETIF_F_HIGHDMA signals that > +ndo_start_xmit can handle skbs with frags in high memory. > + > + * Transmit scatter-gather > + > +Those features say that ndo_start_xmit can handle fragmented skbs: > +NETIF_F_SG --- paged skbs (skb_shinfo()->frags), NETIF_F_FRAGLIST --- > +chained skbs (skb->next/prev list). > + > + * Software features > + > +Features contained in NETIF_F_SOFT_FEATURES are a features of networking ^ drop "a" > +stack. Driver should not change behaviour based on them. > + > + * LLTX driver (deprecated for hardware drivers) > + > +NETIF_F_LLTX should be set in drivers that implement their own locking in > +transmit path or don't need locking at all (e.g. software tunnels). > +In ndo_start_xmit, it is recommended to use a try_lock and return > +NETDEV_TX_LOCKED when the spin lock fails. The locking should also properly > +protect against other callbacks (the rules you need to find out). > + > +Don't use it for new drivers. > + > + * netns-local device > + > +NETIF_F_NETNS_LOCAL is set for devices that are not allowed to move between > +network namespaces (e.g. loopback). > + > +Don't use it in drivers. > + > + * VLAN challenged > + > +NETIF_F_VLAN_CHALLENGED should be set for devices which can't cope with VLAN > +headers. Some drivers set this because the cards can't handle the bigger MTU. > +[FIXME: Those cases could be fixed in VLAN code by allowing only reduced-MTU > +VLANs. This may be not usefull, though.] useful > + > -- --- ~Randy *** Remember to use Documentation/SubmitChecklist when testing your code *** -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe netdev" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt b/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c209e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt @@ -0,0 +1,155 @@ +Netdev features mess and how to get out from it alive +===================================================== + +Author: + Michał Mirosław <mirq-linux@rere.qmqm.pl> + + + + Part I: Feature sets +====================== + +Long gone are days, when a network card would just take and give packets +verbatim. Todays devices add multiple features and bugs (read: offloads) +that relieves OS of various tasks like generating and checking checksums, +splitting packets, classifying them. Those capabilities and their state +is commonly referred to as netdev features in Linux kernel world. + +There are currently three sets of features relevant to the driver, and +one used internally by network core: + + 1. netdev->hw_features set contains features whose state may possibly + be changed (enabled or disabled) for a particular device by user's + request. This set should be initialized in ndo_init callback and not + changed later. + + 2. netdev->features set contains features which are currently enabled + for a device. This should be changed only by network core or in + error paths of ndo_set_features callback. + + 3. netdev->vlan_features set contains features whose state is inherited + by child VLAN devices (limits netdev->features set). This is currently + used for all VLAN devices whether tags are stripped or inserted in + hardware or software. + + 4. netdev->wanted_features set contains feature set requested by user. + This set is filtered by ndo_fix_features callback whenever it or + some device-specific conditions change. This set is internal to + networking core and should not be referenced in drivers. + + + + Part II: Controlling enabled features +======================================= + +When current feature set (netdev->features) is to be changed, new set +is calculated and filtered by calling ndo_fix_features callback +and netdev_fix_features(). If the resulting set differs from current +set, it is passed to ndo_set_features callback and (if the callback +returns success) replaces value stored in netdev->features. +NETDEV_FEAT_CHANGE notification is issued after that whenever current +set might have changed. + +Following events trigger recalculation: + 1. device's registration, after ndo_init returned success + 2. user requested changes in features state + 3. netdev_update_features() is called + +ndo_*_features callbacks are called with rtnl_lock held. Missing callbacks +are treated as always returning success. + +Driver wanting to trigger recalculation must do so by calling +netdev_update_features() while holding rtnl_lock. This should not be done +from ndo_*_features callbacks. netdev->features should not be modified by +driver except by means of ndo_fix_features callback. + + + + Part III: Implementation hints +================================ + + * ndo_fix_features: + +All dependencies between features should be resolved here. The resulting +set can be reduced further by networking core imposed limitations (as coded +in netdev_fix_features()). For this reason its safer to disable a feature +when its dependencies are not met instead of forcing the dependency on. + +This callback should not modify hardware nor driver state (should be +stateless). It can be called multiple times between successive +ndo_set_features calls. + +Callback must not alter features contained in NETIF_F_SOFT_FEATURES or +NETIF_F_NEVER_CHANGE sets. The exception is NETIF_F_VLAN_CHALLENGED but +care must be taken as the change won't affect already configured VLANs. + + * ndo_set_features: + +Hardware should be reconfigured to match passed feature set. The should not +be altered unless some error condition happens that can't be reliably +detected in ndo_fix_features. In this case, the callback should update +netdev->features to match resulting hardware state. Errors returned are +not (and cannot be) propagated anywhere except dmesg. (Note: successful +return is zero, >0 is silent error.) + + + + Part IV: Features +=================== + +For current list of features, see include/linux/netdev_features.h. +This section describes semantics of some of them. + + * Transmit checksumming + +For complete description, see comments near the top of include/linux/skbuff.h. + +Note: NETIF_F_HW_CSUM is a superset of NETIF_F_IP_CSUM + NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM. +It means that device can fill TCP/UDP-like checksum anywhere in the packets +whatever headers there might be. + + * Transmit TCP segmentation offload + +NETIF_F_TSO_ECN means that hardware can properly split packets with CWR bit +set, be it TCPv4 (when NETIF_F_TSO is enabled) or TCPv6 (NETIF_F_TSO6). + + * Transmit DMA from high memory + +On platforms where this is relevant, NETIF_F_HIGHDMA signals that +ndo_start_xmit can handle skbs with frags in high memory. + + * Transmit scatter-gather + +Those features say that ndo_start_xmit can handle fragmented skbs: +NETIF_F_SG --- paged skbs (skb_shinfo()->frags), NETIF_F_FRAGLIST --- +chained skbs (skb->next/prev list). + + * Software features + +Features contained in NETIF_F_SOFT_FEATURES are a features of networking +stack. Driver should not change behaviour based on them. + + * LLTX driver (deprecated for hardware drivers) + +NETIF_F_LLTX should be set in drivers that implement their own locking in +transmit path or don't need locking at all (e.g. software tunnels). +In ndo_start_xmit, it is recommended to use a try_lock and return +NETDEV_TX_LOCKED when the spin lock fails. The locking should also properly +protect against other callbacks (the rules you need to find out). + +Don't use it for new drivers. + + * netns-local device + +NETIF_F_NETNS_LOCAL is set for devices that are not allowed to move between +network namespaces (e.g. loopback). + +Don't use it in drivers. + + * VLAN challenged + +NETIF_F_VLAN_CHALLENGED should be set for devices which can't cope with VLAN +headers. Some drivers set this because the cards can't handle the bigger MTU. +[FIXME: Those cases could be fixed in VLAN code by allowing only reduced-MTU +VLANs. This may be not usefull, though.] +
Signed-off-by: Michał Mirosław <mirq-linux@rere.qmqm.pl> --- Please comment if something is unclear! Apply otherwise. ;) --- Documentation/networking/netdev-features.txt | 155 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 files changed, 155 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)