Intel QuickAssist (QAT) virtual function driver for Atom C3000 Denverton
The SR-IOV virtual-function side of Intel's QuickAssist crypto and compression accelerator built into the Atom C3000 "Denverton" server-on-chip family, launched in 2017 and aimed at networking and storage appliances. The virtual function lets guests or containers offload bulk encryption, hashing, and compression to the C3000's on-die QAT engine.
recommendation
Worth keeping but worth flagging as legacy-leaning. The underlying Denverton silicon is old and a niche choice today, but Intel was still listing the C3558 as orderable in 2025 with end-of-servicing-updates dated June 30, 2025, and the broader QAT subtree (including this directory) received substantive refactors in 2025. Active maintenance plus residual new-sales availability argue against deprecation, but an annotation noting low and shrinking deployment would help future cleanup decisions.
repository signals
sources
- intel.com
Intel Atom C3558, a Denverton/C3000 part with integrated QuickAssist, is a Q3 2017 product with embedded options and an end-of-servicing-updates date of June 30, 2025.
- intel.com
Intel still exposed ordering information for the C3558 in 2025, indicating at least residual new-sales availability rather than pure aftermarket status.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_QAT_C3XXXVF as current and present in modern kernels, confirming the driver remains upstream-supported.
- git.kernel.org
The QAT subtree, including this directory, received a substantive refactor in 2025, indicating ongoing upstream maintenance rather than abandonment.
- git.kernel.org
Another 2025 QAT change touched this driver directory, reinforcing that maintainers are still updating the code.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection confirmed this is a real PCI driver for PCI_DEVICE_ID_INTEL_QAT_C3XXX_VF and local `git -c safe.directory ... log -- drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_c3xxxvf` showed substantive 2025 touches. The two kernel.org commit URLs were then formed by canonical recall from those hashes. Intel ARK and ordering URLs plus LKDDb were obtained by web search. Net result: hardware is old and niche, especially as an SR-IOV VF on Denverton appliances, but it was still orderable in 2025 and upstream activity is recent; that argues against deprecate/remove, with an annotation-worthy note that deployment is now low and legacy-leaning.