Re: [PATCH net-next v2 2/5] net: dsa: add out-of-band tagging protocol

Jakub Kicinski
2022-05-17T20:59:43Z

On Tue, 17 May 2022 08:53:55 +0200 Maxime Chevallier wrote:
> > This must had been asked on v1 but there's no trace of it in the
> > current submission afaict...
>
> No you're correct, this wasn't explained.
>
> > If the tag is passed in the descriptor how is this not a pure
> > switchdev driver? The explanation must be preserved somehow.
>
> The main reason is that although the MAC and switch are rightly coupled
> on that platform, the switch is actually a QC8K that can live on it's
> own, as an external switch. Here, it's just a slightly modified version
> of this IP.
>
> The same goes for the MAC IP, but so far we don't support any other
> platform that have the MAC as a standalone controller. As far as we can
> tell, platforms that have this MAC also include a QCA8K, but the
> datasheet also mentions other modes (like outputing RGMII).

Got it, thanks! Please weave this justification more explicitly into
the cover letter.

> Is this valid to have it as a standalone ethernet driver in that
> situation ?

Quite possibly.. I won't pretend I've looked at the code, I defer
to the reviewers :)