Re: [PATCH 0/3] net: ntb_netdev: Add Multi-queue support

[Dave Jiang <dave.jiang@intel.com>]

On 2/24/26 8:28 AM, Koichiro Den wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> ntb_netdev currently hard-codes a single NTB transport queue pair, which
> means the datapath effectively runs as a single-queue netdev regardless
> of available CPUs / parallel flows.
> 
> The longer-term motivation here is throughput scale-out: allow
> ntb_netdev to grow beyond the single-QP bottleneck and make it possible
> to spread TX/RX work across multiple queue pairs as link speeds and core
> counts keep increasing.
> 
> Multi-queue also unlocks the standard networking knobs on top of it. In
> particular, once the device exposes multiple TX queues, qdisc/tc can
> steer flows/traffic classes into different queues (via
> skb->queue_mapping), enabling per-flow/per-class scheduling and QoS in a
> familiar way.
> 
> This series is a small plumbing step towards that direction:
> 
>   1) Introduce a per-queue context object (struct ntb_netdev_queue) and
>      move queue-pair state out of struct ntb_netdev. Probe creates queue
>      pairs in a loop and configures the netdev queue counts to match the
>      number that was successfully created.
> 
>   2) Expose ntb_num_queues as a module parameter to request multiple
>      queue pairs at probe time. The value is clamped to 1..64 and kept
>      read-only for now (no runtime reconfiguration).
> 
>   3) Report the active queue-pair count via ethtool -l (get_channels),
>      so users can confirm the device configuration from user space.
> 
> Compatibility:
>   - Default remains ntb_num_queues=1, so behaviour is unchanged unless
>     the user explicitly requests more queues.
> 
> Kernel base:
>   - ntb-next latest:
>     commit 7b3302c687ca ("ntb_hw_amd: Fix incorrect debug message in link
>                           disable path")
> 
> Usage (example):
>   - modprobe ntb_netdev ntb_num_queues=<N> # Patch 2 takes care of it
>   - ethtool -l <ifname> # Patch 3 takes care of it
> 
> Patch summary:
>   1/3 net: ntb_netdev: Introduce per-queue context
>   2/3 net: ntb_netdev: Make queue pair count configurable
>   3/3 net: ntb_netdev: Expose queue pair count via ethtool -l
> 
> Testing / results:
>   Environment / command line:
>     - 2x R-Car S4 Spider boards
>       "Kernel base" (see above) + this series
>     - For TCP load:
>       [RC] $ sudo iperf3 -s
>       [EP] $ sudo iperf3 -Z -c ${SERVER_IP} -l 65480 -w 512M -P 4
>     - For UDP load:
>       [RC] $ sudo iperf3 -s
>       [EP] $ sudo iperf3 -ub0 -c ${SERVER_IP} -l 65480 -w 512M -P 4
> 
>   Before (without this series):
>       TCP / UDP : 602 Mbps / 598 Mbps
> 
>   Before (ntb_num_queues=1):
>       TCP / UDP : 588 Mbps / 605 Mbps

What accounts for the dip in TCP performance?

> 
>   After (ntb_num_queues=2):
>       TCP / UDP : 602 Mbps / 598 Mbps
> 
>   Notes:
>     In my current test environment, enabling multiple queue pairs does
>     not improve throughput. The receive-side memcpy in ntb_transport is
>     the dominant cost and limits scaling at present.
> 
>     Still, this series lays the groundwork for future scaling, for
>     example once a transport backend is introduced that avoids memcpy
>     to/from PCI memory space on both ends (see the superseded RFC
>     series:
>     https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251217151609.3162665-1-den@valinux.co.jp/).
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> Koichiro
> 
> Koichiro Den (3):
>   net: ntb_netdev: Introduce per-queue context
>   net: ntb_netdev: Make queue pair count configurable
>   net: ntb_netdev: Expose queue pair count via ethtool -l
> 
>  drivers/net/ntb_netdev.c | 326 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
>  1 file changed, 228 insertions(+), 98 deletions(-)
> 

for the series
Reviewed-by: Dave Jiang <dave.jiang@intel.com>