Service Instances

At the Intel^® QuickAssist Technology API, we abstract queue pairs using the concept of service instances.

• To use a service, an application must first get a handle to a service instance.

• Corresponds to one or more queue pairs:

  • Data compression instance contains 1 queue pair.

  • Cryptographic instance:

    • QAT Gen2: contains 2 queue pairs, one for each sub-service of crypto (symmetric crypto, public key crypto).

    • QAT Gen4: crypto instances can be specified as either sym (symmetric) or asym (asymmetric) cryptography and contain 1 queue pair.

Configurable Items (via config file)

• Queue depth (for each queue).

• Number of service instances per process for a given device (limited by available rings), for example:

  • One per address space (e.g. user space processes).

  • One per software or hardware thread (logical core), to avoid contention.

• Number of queue pairs per service, per bundle/VF, will be configurable in future.