[dpdk-dev] [PATCH v2] devargs: announce ABI change for device parameters

[Gaetan Rivet]

The PCI and virtual bus are planned to be moved to the generic
drivers/bus directory in v17.08. For this change to be possible, the EAL
must be made completely independent.

The rte_devargs structure currently holds device representation internal
to those two busses. It must be made generic before this work can be
completed.

Instead of using either a driver name for a vdev or a PCI address for a
PCI device, a devargs structure will have to be able to describe any
possible device on all busses, without introducing dependencies on
any bus-specific device representation. This will break the ABI for this
structure.

Additionally, an evolution will occur regarding the device parsing
from the command-line. A user must be able to set which bus will handle
which device, and this setting is integral to the definition of a
device.

The format has not yet been formally defined, but a proposition will
follow soon for a new command line parameter format for all devices.

Signed-off-by: Gaetan Rivet <gaetan.rivet at 6wind.com>
---
v1 -> v2
 * The first part of this series has been dropped.
   After discussion with Thomas, it was decided to postpone the removal
   of the relevant rte_pci_* functions.
 * Add the parameters evolution in-tree additionally to the commit log.
---
 doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst b/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
index a3e7c72..8f800dc 100644
--- a/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/rel_notes/deprecation.rst
@@ -81,3 +81,10 @@ Deprecation Notices
 
   - ``rte_crpytodev_scheduler_mode_get``, replaced by ``rte_cryptodev_scheduler_mode_get``
   - ``rte_crpytodev_scheduler_mode_set``, replaced by ``rte_cryptodev_scheduler_mode_set``
+
+* devargs: An ABI change is planned for 17.08 for the structure ``rte_devargs``.
+  The current version is dependent on bus-specific device identifier, which will
+  be made generic and abstracted, in order to make the EAL bus-agnostic.
+
+  Accompanying this evolution, device command line parameters will thus support
+  explicit bus definition in a device declaration.
-- 
2.1.4