Intel IXP400 manual Standard Usage Example, Access-Layer Components NPE-Downloader IxNpeDl API

Intel® IXP400 Software

Access-Layer Components: NPE-Downloader (IxNpeDl) API

The “Microcode from File” feature is only available for Linux. All other supported operating systems use obtain the NPE microcode from the compiled object code.

The purpose of providing the “Microcode from File” feature is to allow distribution of IXP400 software and the NPE microcode under different licensing conditions for Linux. Refer to the Intel® IXP400 Software Release Notes for further instructions on using this feature.

NPE Microcode Library Customization

The NPE microcode library contains a series of NPE images. By default, all of these are included in the build. However, some of these images may not be required, and as such may be taking up excess memory. To omit one or more specific images, the user needs to edit IxNpeMicrocode.h and follow the instructions within. Essentially, by “undefining” an NPE image identifier, the corresponding NPE image will be omitted from the overall build.

Note: If multiple image identifiers are provided for the same image, all of those identifiers need to be undefined to omit that image from the build.

NPE Image Compatibility

The software releases do not include tools to develop NPE software. The supplied NPE functionality is accessible through the APIs provided by the software release 2.0 library. The NPE images are provided in the form of a single.C file. Corresponding NPE image identifier definitions are provided in an associated header file. Both are incorporated as part of the software release package.

NPE microcode images are assumed compatible for only the specific release they accompany.

14.4Standard Usage Example

The initialization of an NPE has been made relatively easy. Only one function call is required.

Users call the ixNpeDlNpeInitAndStart function, which loads a specified image and begins execution on the NPE. Here is a sample function call, which starts NPE C with Ethernet and Crypto functionality:

ixNpeDlNpeInitAndStart(IX_NPEDL_NPEIMAGE_NPEC_CRYPTO_ETH);

The parameter is a UINT32 that is defined in the NPE image ID definition. Table 42 lists the parameters for the standard images.

April 2005	IXP400 Software Version 2.0	Programmer’s Guide
220	Document Number: 252539, Revision: 007