On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 7:36 PM Zhang, Qi Z <qi.z.zh...@intel.com> wrote: >
> > > If we assume that the application is not P4-aware, it will consume > > > existing > > rte_flow API for flow offloading. In this case, all we need to do is > > implement > > it in the PMD, which will be a highly hardware-specific task. Do you propose > > generalizing this common part? > > > > > > On the other hand, if the application is P4-aware, we can assume that > > there won't be a need for translation between P4 tokens and rte_flow > > protocols in the PMD. > > > > I agree, Translation is BAD. There are two elements to that. > > 1)if it is p4 aware application, why bother with DPDK abstraction? > > 2)Can we use compiler techniques to avoid the cost of translation if P4- > > aware path is needed in DPDK. Rather than creating yet another library. In > > this context, that would translate to some of your compiler and FW work > > making as generic so that _any_ other rte_flow based driver can use and > > improve it. > > > Ok, I would like to gain a better understanding. Below is my current > understanding: > > There are no plans to introduce any new API from DPDK. However, your proposal > suggests the creation of a tool, such as a compiler, which would assist in > generating a translation layer from P4 table/actions to rte_flow for user > application like p4 runtime backend that based on DPDK. > > Could you provide more details about the design? Specifically, I would like > to know what the input for the compiler is and who is responsible for > generating that input, as well as the process involved. > > I apologize if I have not grasped the complete picture, but I would > appreciate your patience. + @Cristian Dumitrescu There is already a lot of p4(just based on DPDK lib/pipeline SW, not with any HW acceleration) with DPDK. Not sure how much it overlaps, and how clean is this to integrate with existing SW or "create new one"? I would think, enhancing the current p4-dpdk support by using rte_flow backend. That would translate to 1) Update https://github.com/p4lang/p4c/tree/main/backends/dpdk to understand generic p4 table key token to rte_flow token for spec file generation. 2) Update https://github.com/p4lang/p4-dpdk-target or introduce common library in DPDK to map compiler output (spec file) to rte_flow objects invocations.
