[v1,00/12] ethdev: rework transfer flow API

  The patch series provides a number of changesets which are supposed to
orderly address transfer flow API problems: hard to understand,
ambiguous definition, different implemantation of the same actions
by different PMDs etc.

As a starting point, items and actions ETHDEV, ESWITCH_PORT are added
and the corresponding diagrams are placed in relevant documentation
sections to demonstrate the intended meaning of the new primitives.
The use of the new items effectively defines traffic direction in
a clear and concise manner. On this ground, the use of attributes
"ingress" and "egress" in "transfer" flows is deprecated.

At the same time, the patch series deprecates the use of items and
actions PF, VF and PHY_PORT. They’re hard-to-use by applications as they
suggest that applications have some extra knowledge of the underlying HW.
Items and actions PORT_ID are also deprecated on similar grounds: they
are ambiguous (which attendees of the said gathering can attest to) as
they do not specify precisely whether the target port is an ethdev or
an e-switch port connected to that ethdev.

The patch series address deprecation notices about PORT_ID semantics,
ingress/egress attributes and implicit filtering in the case of transfer
flow rules.

The patch series is the next step in accordance with ideas previously
shared in RFC [1]. It supersedes patches [2] and [3] which should be
discarded since they are step in different direction.

The patch series updates PMDs which support PORT_ID item and action
to support added replacements except:
 - PORT_ID item in the case of net/mlx5 since code is really complicated
   there and it would be better if it is updated by the maintainer and
   tested appropriately;
 - ESWITCH_PORT action in the case of net/sfc since required code
   depends on port representors patch series (patches exist but should
   be submitted in a right order to apply cleanly and build successfully
   by automation)

Patches for transfer proxy mentioned in RFC [1] are in progress.

[1] https://patches.dpdk.org/project/dpdk/patch/20210907125157.3843-1-ivan.malov@oktetlabs.ru/
[2] https://patches.dpdk.org/project/dpdk/patch/20210901151104.3923889-1-andrew.rybchenko@oktetlabs.ru/
[3] https://patches.dpdk.org/project/dpdk/patch/20210903074610.313622-1-andrew.rybchenko@oktetlabs.ru/

Andrew Rybchenko (6):
  net/bnxt: support ethdev and E-Switch port flow items
  net/bnxt: support ethdev and E-Switch port flow actions
  net/enic: support ethdev and E-Switch port flow actions
  net/mlx5: support E-Switch port flow action
  net/octeontx2: support ethdev flow action
  net/sfc: support ethdev flow item

Ivan Malov (6):
  ethdev: add ethdev item to flow API
  ethdev: add eswitch port item to flow API
  ethdev: add ethdev action to flow API
  ethdev: add eswitch port action to flow API
  ethdev: deprecate hard-to-use or ambiguous items and actions
  ethdev: deprecate direction attributes in transfer flows

 app/test-pmd/cmdline_flow.c                   | 102 +++++++++++
 doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst            | 157 +++++++++++++++--
 doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst          |  18 +-
 doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst        |   9 +
 doc/guides/testpmd_app_ug/testpmd_funcs.rst   |  16 ++
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_handler_tbl.c |  22 ++-
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_parser.c      | 164 +++++++++++++-----
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_parser.h      |  18 +-
 drivers/net/enic/enic_fm_flow.c               |  93 ++++++++--
 drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c               |  62 +++++--
 drivers/net/octeontx2/otx2_flow_parse.c       |  16 +-
 drivers/net/sfc/sfc_mae.c                     |  72 ++++++++
 lib/ethdev/rte_flow.c                         |   4 +
 lib/ethdev/rte_flow.h                         | 157 ++++++++++++++++-
 14 files changed, 793 insertions(+), 117 deletions(-)
  

As per RFC [1], action PORT_ID appears to be ambiguous. Its name suggests
that matching traffic be sent to the ethdev with the specified ID, that
is, to the application. However, in Open vSwitch, the action is used to
send traffic to a remote entity represented by the given port, that is,
in the opposite direction. Its interpretation across PMDs also varies.

RFC [2] attempted to define action PORT_ID semantics in vSwitch sense.
However, this solution would completely abandon the opposite meaning.

One more effort, RFC [3], was meant to declare that the use of direction
attributes in "transfer" flows assumed implicit filtering by the port ID
appearing as the first argument in rte_flow_create(). However, not all
PMDs require such filtering, so the RFC turned out rather disputable.


Since then, all of that has been given more thought:

1. One should not attempt to fix action PORT_ID. Instead, two new actions
   should be introduced. The first one should send traffic to the given
   ethdev. The second one should send it to the represented entity.

2. Similar to (1), two new items should be defined. The first one should
   match traffic going down from the given ethdev. The second one should
   match traffic going up from the entity represented by that ethdev.

3. The application always knows which packets come through which ethdevs.
   So, as per (2), the application can use the new item to match traffic
   arriving from precise entities represented by the relevant ethdev IDs.

4. New items suggested in (2) do not require the use of direction
   attributes. These items define precise directions on their own.

5. As a consequence of (3) and (4), the problem of implicit filtering
   by rte_flow_create() port ID argument and direction attributes is
   no longer a blocker. The new items allow to dispose of it.


The new items appear to be symmetrical to each other. So do the new
actions. This requires that their names reflect the symmetry. Also,
the names should respect the existing concept of port representors.
By the looks of it, terms "PORT_REPRESENTOR" and "REPRESENTED_PORT"
satisfy these requirements. However, currently, ethdevs associated
with network ports are not considered as their representors. Such
understanding is mentioned in the documentation, but it's not
expressed in the code (see enum rte_eth_representor_type).


The short of it, this patch series follows points (1-5) to rework
support for "transfer" flows accordingly. On the way, a string of
ambiguous pattern items (PF, VF, PHY_PORT) is deprecated.

The patch series also updates PMDs which support item and action PORT_ID
to add support for replacements (1-2). However, there're some exceptions:

 - Support for traffic source items in the case of net/mlx5 is really
   complicated. This series does not rework it. The PMD maintainer
   can do the job much better and test the new code accordingly;

 - Support for item REPRESENTED_PORT and both actions is not added
   to net/sfc. This will be done later on, in a separate series.


Changes in v2:
* New naming and reworked comments
* New diagrams

Changes in v3:
* Diagram improvements
* Spelling fixes

Changes in v4:
* Minor adjustments as per request by Ferruh Yigit

Changes in v5:
* Extra documentation updates in patches [01/12] through [04/12]

Andrew Rybchenko (6):
  net/bnxt: support meta flow items to match on traffic source
  net/bnxt: support meta flow actions to overrule destinations
  net/enic: support meta flow actions to overrule destinations
  net/mlx5: support represented port flow action
  net/octeontx2: support port representor flow action
  net/sfc: support port representor flow item

Ivan Malov (6):
  ethdev: add port representor item to flow API
  ethdev: add represented port item to flow API
  ethdev: add port representor action to flow API
  ethdev: add represented port action to flow API
  ethdev: deprecate hard-to-use or ambiguous items and actions
  ethdev: deprecate direction attributes in transfer flows

 app/test-pmd/cmdline_flow.c                   | 104 +++++++
 doc/guides/nics/features/bnxt.ini             |   4 +
 doc/guides/nics/features/enic.ini             |   2 +
 doc/guides/nics/features/mlx5.ini             |   1 +
 doc/guides/nics/features/octeontx2.ini        |   1 +
 doc/guides/nics/features/sfc.ini              |   1 +
 doc/guides/nics/mlx5.rst                      |   4 +-
 doc/guides/nics/octeontx2.rst                 |   5 +-
 doc/guides/nics/sfc_efx.rst                   |   4 +
 doc/guides/prog_guide/rte_flow.rst            | 270 +++++++++++++++++-
 doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst          |  18 +-
 doc/guides/rel_notes/release_21_11.rst        |   8 +
 doc/guides/testpmd_app_ug/testpmd_funcs.rst   |  19 ++
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_handler_tbl.c |  22 +-
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_parser.c      | 161 ++++++++---
 drivers/net/bnxt/tf_ulp/ulp_rte_parser.h      |  12 +-
 drivers/net/enic/enic_fm_flow.c               |  93 ++++--
 drivers/net/mlx5/mlx5_flow_dv.c               |  64 ++++-
 drivers/net/octeontx2/otx2_flow_parse.c       |  16 +-
 drivers/net/sfc/sfc_mae.c                     |  72 +++++
 lib/ethdev/rte_flow.c                         |   4 +
 lib/ethdev/rte_flow.h                         | 162 ++++++++++-
 22 files changed, 927 insertions(+), 120 deletions(-)