Re: [PATCH net-next 0/8] net/mlx5: Prepare eswitch infrastructure for satellite PF support

[Moshe Shemesh <moshe@nvidia.com>]

On 5/15/2026 2:16 AM, Jakub Kicinski wrote:
> On Thu, 14 May 2026 10:56:26 +0300 Moshe Shemesh wrote:
>> Satellite PF is another type of Physical Function, its role and
>> privileges are similar to the host PF, but unlike host PF the Satellite
>> PF is on the DPU and not on another host. So it's kind of "Satellite"
>> for the ECPF which is also on the DPU.
> 
> Do you genuinely think these 2 sentences explain anything?
> 
> Maybe it's just me. If anyone reading this thinks Moshe's explanation
> clarifies things - please speak up..

OK, let me explain the idea of this feature:
Currently in Smartnic configuration we have 2 Physical Functions : one 
is the ECPF on the DPU, and it is the eswitch manager and page manager, 
while the other is the host PF on the external host and it doesn't have 
privileges of eswitch manager or page manager.

Now we have a new Smartnic configuration that adds another physical 
function, on the DPU, that is not eswitch manager and not page manager. 
The new PF can have its own SFs and the customer can passthrough this 
Satellite PF to a VM on the DPU and give it to a user that should not 
have access to the ECPF privileged function.
As will be shown in the next patchset, the ECPF handles the Satellite PF 
and the Host PF in a similar way, using the same management framework.