Re: Information about napi_struct and net_device

On Sat, 2012-10-27 at 18:18 +0200, Javier Domingo wrote:

Hello,

I am updating a kernel patch from 2.6.23-rc7 to v3.6, using git
facilities, and I have found that there have been lots of changes in
networking. Now the drivers are all by vendor, and more important,
net_device is not used always, as napi_struct took its place.

I have asked in #kernel but no one answered me, so I subscribed here.
Is there any place I can read about how is it now designed the use of
napi_struct and net_device? I have found a presentation[1] about how
networking was changing etc, and I wondered if there is anything more
precise about how it is actually implemented.

I understand a little why napi_struct, but don't really know much
about the change,

Hope someone can help me,

The initial change to napi_struct is explained in
<http://lwn.net/Articles/244640/>.

Since then there have been further changes:

- netif_napi_del() has been added.  You must call it to clean up NAPI
contexts before freeing the associated net device(s).

- Instead of netif_rx_schedule(), netif_rx_complete(), etc. you must use
napi_schedule(), napi_complete() etc. which just take a napi_struct
pointer.

Ben.

-- 
Ben Hutchings, Staff Engineer, Solarflare
Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job.
They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.