QDMA implements SR-IOV passthrough virtualization where the adapter exposes a separate virtual function (VF) for use by a virtual machine (VM). A physical function (PF) can be optionally made privileged with full access to QDMA registers and resources, but only VFs implement per queue pointer update registers and interrupts. VF drivers must communicate with the driver attached to the PF through the mailbox for configuration, resource allocation, and exception handling. The QDMA implements function level reset (FLR) to enable operating system on VM to reset the device without interfering with the rest of the platform.
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Queue context/other control registers | Registers for Context access only controlled by PFs (All 4 PFs). |
Status and statistics registers | Mainly PF only registers. VFs need to coordinate with a PF driver for error handling. VFs need to communicate through the mailbox with driver attached to PF. |
Data path registers | Both PFs and VFs must be able to write the registers involved in data path without needing to go through a hypervisor. Pointer update for H2C/C2H Descriptor Fetch can be done directly by VF or PF for the queues associated with the function using its own BAR space. Any pointer updates to queue that do not belong to the function will be dropped with error logged. |
Other protection recommendations | Turn on IOMMU to protect bad memory accesses from VMs. |
PF driver and VF driver communication | The VF driver needs to communicate with the PF driver to request operations that have global effect. This communication channel needs this ability to pass messages and generate interrupts. This communication channel utilizes a set of hardware mailboxes for each VF. |