* [RFC PATCH 1/2] Documentation: accel: Add NPAC client driver documentation
2026-07-01 6:25 [RFC PATCH 0/2] Add NPAC driver to accel subsystem Jaspinder Budhal
@ 2026-07-01 6:25 ` Jaspinder Budhal
2026-07-01 6:25 ` [RFC PATCH 2/2] accel/npac: Add NPAC client driver Jaspinder Budhal
1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Jaspinder Budhal @ 2026-07-01 6:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: ogabbay, corbet, skhan
Cc: dri-devel, linux-doc, linux-kernel, linux-arm-kernel, j-budhal,
srk, s-vadapalli
NPAC (Network Packet ACcelerator) is a hardware accelerator present on
TI's TDA5 family of SoCs, designed to offload network packet processing
tasks from various hosts. It can be used to implement various packet
processing use cases such as ACL (Access Control List) rule enforcement,
reducing host CPU load.
This is an RFC patch for getting feedback on the initial implementation.
See the TDA54 SoC datasheet for hardware details:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tda54-q1.pdf
Signed-off-by: Jaspinder Budhal <j-budhal@ti.com>
---
Documentation/accel/npac.rst | 142 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 142 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 Documentation/accel/npac.rst
diff --git a/Documentation/accel/npac.rst b/Documentation/accel/npac.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fba6ddd0cfd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/accel/npac.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR MIT
+
+====================================================
+Texas Instruments NPAC (Network Packet ACcelerator)
+====================================================
+
+Overview
+========
+
+NPAC (Network Packet ACcelerator) is a hardware accelerator available
+on Texas Instruments SoCs in the TDA5 family that provides network packet
+processing acceleration [0]_.
+
+The NPAC Host Driver runs on a dedicated remote processor and manages
+NPAC hardware.
+
+The NPAC client driver provides offloading support for ethernet-related tasks
+and communicates with the NPAC Host Driver over RPMsg (Remote Processor
+Messaging).
+
+The driver exposes /dev/accel/accel* as the userspace interface for accelerator
+configuration and management operations.
+
+The NPAC Host Driver supports ACL (Access Control
+List) [1]_ rule offload. ACL configuration requests are sent by the client
+driver to the NPAC Host Driver.
+
+Communication Model
+-------------------
+
+The NPAC client driver registers with the RPMsg subsystem during driver
+initialization.
+
+When the NPAC host driver announces the NPAC RPMsg service endpoint, the
+RPMsg core matches the announced service against the registered NPAC client
+driver and invokes the driver probe callback.
+
+Offload command received from userspace are formatted into RPMsgs and sent
+to the NPAC Host Driver.
+
+NPAC Host Driver responses are received through RPMsg callbacks.
+
+ACL Rule Offload
+----------------
+
+ACL (Access Control List) rules are packet filtering policies that define how
+network traffic should be handled — for example, dropping packets from a
+blacklisted source IP or allowing traffic only from trusted MAC addresses.
+
+In the standard Linux networking stack, ACL enforcement is handled in software
+by the netfilter subsystem. Each packet is inspected against the configured
+ruleset on the host CPU. On embedded SoCs in the TDA5 family such as TDA54,
+the per-packet overhead of software-based ACL enforcement accumulates under
+high traffic rates, increasing CPU utilization and reducing the processing
+capacity available for other system functions.
+
+The NPAC client driver offloads rules from Linux to NPAC hardware.
+Once a rule is programmed, matching packets are handled entirely by NPAC,
+reducing CPU load.
+
+For example, a rule to drop all packets from a specific source IP or to
+allow packets from a trusted source is offloaded to NPAC. Instead of the
+host parsing each packet and applying the ACL rules, NPAC enforces the
+rule directly in hardware.
+
+Userspace Interface
+-------------------
+
+The driver exposes /dev/accel/accel* as the userspace control interface for ACL
+rule management operations.
+
+The interface uses IOCTL-based request handling for accelerator configuration
+and rule management operations.
+
+IOCTL Commands
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+DRM_IOCTL_NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE
+
+ This IOCTL allows userspace to add an ACL rule to the accelerator. The
+ call will forward the rule to the NPAC host driver for hardware programming.
+ The NPAC Host Driver is responsible for validating the rule and applying it to
+ the NPAC hardware.
+
+DRM_IOCTL_NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE
+
+ This IOCTL allows userspace to remove an ACL rule from the accelerator.
+ The call will forward the deletion request to the NPAC host driver, which
+ will remove the rule from the NPAC hardware.
+
+Driver Lifecycle
+----------------
+
+The driver lifecycle is coordinated through the RPMsg framework.
+
+Probe Flow
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+1. The NPAC client driver registers with the RPMsg subsystem
+
+2. NPAC host driver initializes on the remote processor
+
+3. NPAC Host Driver announces its RPMsg service endpoint
+
+4. The RPMsg subsystem in Linux matches the announced service against
+ the registered NPAC client driver
+
+5. The RPMsg subsystem invokes the driver probe callback
+
+6. Driver communication resources are initialized
+
+7. /dev/accel/accel* becomes available to userspace
+
+Request Flow
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+1. Userspace submits an ACL configuration request through /dev/accel/accel*
+
+2. The request is forwarded to the NPAC host driver using RPMsg
+
+3. The NPAC Host Driver validates the request and performs the required hardware
+ programming operations
+
+4. NPAC Host Driver responses are received by the Linux driver through the RPMsg
+ callback.
+
+RPMsg Integration
+-----------------
+
+The driver integrates with the Linux RPMsg subsystem for communication with
+the NPAC host driver processor.
+
+RPMsg is used as the transport mechanism for:
+
+- Accelerator configuration requests
+- NPAC Host Driver responses
+
+References
+----------
+
+.. [0] https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tda54-q1.pdf
+.. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access-control_list#Networking_ACLs
--
2.34.1
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* [RFC PATCH 2/2] accel/npac: Add NPAC client driver
2026-07-01 6:25 [RFC PATCH 0/2] Add NPAC driver to accel subsystem Jaspinder Budhal
2026-07-01 6:25 ` [RFC PATCH 1/2] Documentation: accel: Add NPAC client driver documentation Jaspinder Budhal
@ 2026-07-01 6:25 ` Jaspinder Budhal
1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Jaspinder Budhal @ 2026-07-01 6:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: ogabbay, corbet, skhan
Cc: dri-devel, linux-doc, linux-kernel, linux-arm-kernel, j-budhal,
srk, s-vadapalli
Add the Linux client driver for the Network Packet ACcelerator (NPAC).
The driver communicates with the NPAC host driver via RPMsg,
allowing offloading of ethernet-related packet processing tasks.
The driver provides the basic framework for receiving offload commands
via IOCTL and communicating with the NPAC hardware accelerator.
Signed-off-by: Jaspinder Budhal <j-budhal@ti.com>
---
drivers/accel/Kconfig | 1 +
drivers/accel/Makefile | 1 +
drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig | 13 ++
drivers/accel/npac/Makefile | 3 +
drivers/accel/npac/npac_drv.c | 218 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5 files changed, 236 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig
create mode 100644 drivers/accel/npac/Makefile
create mode 100644 drivers/accel/npac/npac_drv.c
diff --git a/drivers/accel/Kconfig b/drivers/accel/Kconfig
index bdf48ccafcf2..a6d8c1ebfcf1 100644
--- a/drivers/accel/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/accel/Kconfig
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ source "drivers/accel/amdxdna/Kconfig"
source "drivers/accel/ethosu/Kconfig"
source "drivers/accel/habanalabs/Kconfig"
source "drivers/accel/ivpu/Kconfig"
+source "drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig"
source "drivers/accel/qaic/Kconfig"
source "drivers/accel/rocket/Kconfig"
diff --git a/drivers/accel/Makefile b/drivers/accel/Makefile
index 1d3a7251b950..0df7b9f2ae18 100644
--- a/drivers/accel/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/accel/Makefile
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@ obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_AMDXDNA) += amdxdna/
obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_ARM_ETHOSU) += ethosu/
obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_HABANALABS) += habanalabs/
obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_IVPU) += ivpu/
+obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_NPAC_CLIENT) += npac/
obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_QAIC) += qaic/
obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_ROCKET) += rocket/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig b/drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a9543ac2c7aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/accel/npac/Kconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+config DRM_ACCEL_NPAC_CLIENT
+ tristate "NPAC Client Driver"
+ depends on DRM_ACCEL
+ depends on RPMSG
+ help
+ This driver is the NPAC (Network Packet ACcelerator) client,
+ communicating with the NPAC host driver running on a remote
+ processor over RPMsg. The driver registers with the DRM accelerator
+ framework and exposes /dev/accel/accel* as the userspace interface
+ for ACL rule offload operations.
+ If you have a device with NPAC and wish to use it with this
+ driver, say M to compile this driver as a module, or Y to
+ compile it into the kernel.
diff --git a/drivers/accel/npac/Makefile b/drivers/accel/npac/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..89f4773d7041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/accel/npac/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+obj-$(CONFIG_DRM_ACCEL_NPAC_CLIENT) += npac_drv.o
diff --git a/drivers/accel/npac/npac_drv.c b/drivers/accel/npac/npac_drv.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7516382ba74b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/accel/npac/npac_drv.c
@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR MIT
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2026 Texas Instruments Incorporated - https://www.ti.com/
+ */
+
+#include <drm/drm_accel.h>
+#include <drm/drm_drv.h>
+#include <drm/drm_file.h>
+#include <drm/drm_gem.h>
+#include <drm/drm_ioctl.h>
+#include <linux/completion.h>
+#include <linux/kernel.h>
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/mutex.h>
+#include <linux/rpmsg.h>
+
+#define NPAC_RPMSG_SERVICE_NAME "ti.npac"
+#define NPAC_ACK_TIMEOUT_MS 1000
+
+/**
+ * enum npac_acl_cmd - IOCTL command numbers for NPAC ACL operations.
+ */
+enum npac_acl_cmd {
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE: Add an ACL rule. */
+ NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE,
+
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE: Delete an ACL rule. */
+ NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE,
+};
+
+/**
+ * enum npac_acl_match_type - Match field selector for an ACL rule.
+ */
+enum npac_acl_match_type {
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_MATCH_SRC_IPV4: Match on source IPv4 address. */
+ NPAC_ACL_MATCH_SRC_IPV4 = 1,
+
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_MATCH_DST_IPV4: Match on destination IPv4 address. */
+ NPAC_ACL_MATCH_DST_IPV4,
+
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_MATCH_SRC_MAC: Match on source MAC address. */
+ NPAC_ACL_MATCH_SRC_MAC,
+
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_MATCH_DST_MAC: Match on destination MAC address. */
+ NPAC_ACL_MATCH_DST_MAC,
+};
+
+/**
+ * enum npac_acl_verdict - Action to apply when an ACL rule matches.
+ */
+enum npac_acl_verdict {
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_VERDICT_ALLOW: Accept the matched packet. */
+ NPAC_ACL_VERDICT_ALLOW = 1,
+
+ /** @NPAC_ACL_VERDICT_DROP: Drop the matched packet. */
+ NPAC_ACL_VERDICT_DROP,
+};
+
+/* Sized for the largest match field: a 6-byte MAC address. */
+#define NPAC_ACL_MATCH_VALUE_MAX 6
+
+struct npac_acl_offload_rule {
+ __u32 match_type;
+ __u32 verdict;
+ __u8 match_value[NPAC_ACL_MATCH_VALUE_MAX];
+};
+
+#define DRM_IOCTL_NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE \
+ DRM_IOWR(DRM_COMMAND_BASE + NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE, struct npac_acl_offload_rule)
+
+#define DRM_IOCTL_NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE \
+ DRM_IOWR(DRM_COMMAND_BASE + NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE, struct npac_acl_offload_rule)
+
+struct npac_device {
+ struct drm_device drm;
+ struct rpmsg_device *rpdev;
+ struct mutex req_lock; /* lock for request */
+ struct completion ack;
+};
+
+static inline struct npac_device *drm_to_npac_device(struct drm_device *dev)
+{
+ return container_of(dev, struct npac_device, drm);
+}
+
+static int npac_add_rule_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
+ struct drm_file *file)
+{
+ struct npac_device *npac = drm_to_npac_device(dev);
+ struct npac_acl_offload_rule *rule = data;
+ int ret;
+
+ dev_dbg(dev->dev, "add rule ioctl received\n");
+
+ mutex_lock(&npac->req_lock);
+ reinit_completion(&npac->ack);
+ ret = rpmsg_send(npac->rpdev->ept, rule, sizeof(*rule));
+ if (ret) {
+ dev_err(dev->dev, "rpmsg_send failed: %d\n", ret);
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return ret;
+ }
+ if (!wait_for_completion_timeout(&npac->ack,
+ msecs_to_jiffies(NPAC_ACK_TIMEOUT_MS))) {
+ dev_err(dev->dev, "ack timed out\n");
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return -ETIMEDOUT;
+ }
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static int npac_delete_rule_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
+ struct drm_file *file)
+{
+ struct npac_device *npac = drm_to_npac_device(dev);
+ struct npac_acl_offload_rule *rule = data;
+ int ret;
+
+ dev_dbg(dev->dev, "delete rule ioctl received\n");
+
+ mutex_lock(&npac->req_lock);
+ reinit_completion(&npac->ack);
+ ret = rpmsg_send(npac->rpdev->ept, rule, sizeof(*rule));
+ if (ret) {
+ dev_err(dev->dev, "rpmsg_send failed: %d\n", ret);
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return ret;
+ }
+ if (!wait_for_completion_timeout(&npac->ack,
+ msecs_to_jiffies(NPAC_ACK_TIMEOUT_MS))) {
+ dev_err(dev->dev, "ack timed out\n");
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return -ETIMEDOUT;
+ }
+ mutex_unlock(&npac->req_lock);
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static const struct drm_ioctl_desc npac_drm_ioctls[] = {
+ DRM_IOCTL_DEF_DRV(NPAC_ACL_ADD_RULE, npac_add_rule_ioctl, DRM_ROOT_ONLY),
+ DRM_IOCTL_DEF_DRV(NPAC_ACL_DELETE_RULE, npac_delete_rule_ioctl, DRM_ROOT_ONLY),
+};
+
+DEFINE_DRM_ACCEL_FOPS(npac_fops);
+
+static const struct drm_driver npac_drm_driver = {
+ .driver_features = DRIVER_COMPUTE_ACCEL,
+ .ioctls = npac_drm_ioctls,
+ .num_ioctls = ARRAY_SIZE(npac_drm_ioctls),
+ .fops = &npac_fops,
+ .name = "npac",
+ .desc = "NPAC Client Driver",
+};
+
+static int npac_cb(struct rpmsg_device *rpdev, void *data, int len,
+ void *priv, u32 src)
+{
+ struct npac_device *npac = dev_get_drvdata(&rpdev->dev);
+
+ dev_dbg(&rpdev->dev, "ack received\n");
+ complete(&npac->ack);
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static int npac_probe(struct rpmsg_device *rpdev)
+{
+ struct npac_device *npac;
+ int ret;
+
+ npac = devm_drm_dev_alloc(&rpdev->dev, &npac_drm_driver,
+ struct npac_device, drm);
+ if (IS_ERR(npac))
+ return PTR_ERR(npac);
+
+ npac->rpdev = rpdev;
+ mutex_init(&npac->req_lock);
+ init_completion(&npac->ack);
+ dev_set_drvdata(&rpdev->dev, npac);
+
+ ret = drm_dev_register(&npac->drm, 0);
+ if (ret) {
+ dev_err(&rpdev->dev, "Failed to register DRM accel device: %d\n", ret);
+ return ret;
+ }
+
+ dev_info(&rpdev->dev, "NPAC Client driver probed\n");
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void npac_remove(struct rpmsg_device *rpdev)
+{
+ struct npac_device *npac = dev_get_drvdata(&rpdev->dev);
+
+ drm_dev_unplug(&npac->drm);
+
+ dev_info(&rpdev->dev, "NPAC Client Driver removed\n");
+}
+
+static struct rpmsg_device_id npac_id_table[] = {
+ { .name = NPAC_RPMSG_SERVICE_NAME },
+ {},
+};
+MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(rpmsg, npac_id_table);
+
+static struct rpmsg_driver npac_driver = {
+ .drv.name = KBUILD_MODNAME,
+ .id_table = npac_id_table,
+ .probe = npac_probe,
+ .callback = npac_cb,
+ .remove = npac_remove,
+};
+
+module_rpmsg_driver(npac_driver);
+
+MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
+MODULE_DESCRIPTION("NPAC Client Driver");
+MODULE_AUTHOR("Jaspinder Budhal <j-budhal@ti.com>");
--
2.34.1
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread