linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/af

Marvell OCTEON TX2 and OCTEON 10 RVU Admin Function

The administrative control-plane component for Marvell's OCTEON TX2 and OCTEON 10 family of multi-core networking processors and DPUs, which power 5G infrastructure, smart NICs, and data-center networking gear. It manages the Resource Virtualization Unit (RVU) that arbitrates network resources between the physical and virtual functions exposed to host operating systems and guests.

keep conf=0.93 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
93%

recommendation

It should stay because this is the control-plane component for Marvell's OCTEON TX2 and OCTEON 10 networking processors, hardware still actively sold in 2025 for 5G, data-center, and DPU deployments. Upstream activity is healthy, with 2025 and 2026 patches adding CN10K/CN20K support, inline IPsec offload, and ongoing bug fixes, and no replacement exists because this is the admin driver for the family itself.

repository signals

50 files
61,162 source lines
404 commits, 5y
+33,636 / −10,423 lines added / removed, 5y
83 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 404 total · active in 58/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 3 commits · +266 −8 2021-05: 5 commits · +5,945 −3,383 2021-06: 14 commits · +2,326 −252 2021-07: 11 commits · +688 −58 2021-08: 35 commits · +1,299 −397 2021-09: 17 commits · +926 −543 2021-10: 11 commits · +882 −327 2021-11: 3 commits · +12 −11 2021-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-01: 11 commits · +163 −79 2022-02: 8 commits · +686 −145 2022-03: 1 commit · +7 −8 2022-04: 1 commit · +2 −2 2022-05: 1 commit · +1 −1 2022-06: 2 commits · +3 −3 2022-07: 30 commits · +5,901 −2,954 2022-08: 4 commits · +19 −5 2022-09: 4 commits · +139 −5 2022-10: 9 commits · +4,989 −37 2022-11: 13 commits · +141 −34 2022-12: 5 commits · +400 −85 2023-01: 10 commits · +353 −103 2023-02: 2 commits · +37 −14 2023-03: 2 commits · +84 −9 2023-04: 4 commits · +177 −73 2023-05: 11 commits · +228 −92 2023-06: 13 commits · +464 −60 2023-07: 5 commits · +99 −33 2023-08: 14 commits · +243 −81 2023-09: 3 commits · +210 −31 2023-10: 3 commits · +139 −340 2023-11: 5 commits · +934 −53 2023-12: 15 commits · +319 −91 2024-01: 8 commits · +794 −238 2024-02: 4 commits · +36 −49 2024-03: 11 commits · +214 −40 2024-04: 5 commits · +21 −18 2024-05: 2 commits · +28 −17 2024-06: 2 commits · +451 −3 2024-07: 6 commits · +32 −15 2024-08: 4 commits · +154 −35 2024-09: 3 commits · +57 −20 2024-10: 2 commits · +9 −9 2024-11: 15 commits · +1,038 −125 2024-12: 2 commits · +70 −20 2025-01: 1 commit · +24 −52 2025-02: 2 commits · +15 −4 2025-03: 3 commits · +2 −3 2025-04: 1 commit · +0 −20 2025-05: 11 commits · +180 −30 2025-06: 12 commits · +1,136 −229 2025-07: 6 commits · +201 −20 2025-08: 5 commits · +67 −14 2025-09: 2 commits · +5 −6 2025-10: 10 commits · +853 −47 2025-11: 2 commits · +13 −5 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 3 commits · +77 −26 2026-02: 5 commits · +74 −58 2026-03: 2 commits · +3 −3 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. docs.kernel.org

    Upstream kernel documentation describes the octeontx2 AF driver as the administrative function for Marvell RVU hardware and documents active PF/VF/SR-IOV/devlink use cases.

  2. marvell.com

    Marvell's current DPU product page still markets OCTEON 10 devices and lists OCTEON TX2 DPUs within the portfolio, indicating the family remains relevant in current networking and 5G infrastructure.

  3. marvell.com

    Marvell announced OCTEON 10 CN102/CN103 as broadly available to OEMs, supporting that successor-family hardware covered by this driver remained in new-product channels around 2025.

  4. lists.openwall.net

    A 2025 net-next posting updates octeontx2-af for CN10K and next-generation CN20K subsystem IDs, showing forward-looking upstream enablement rather than deprecation.

  5. lists.openwall.net

    A 2025 patch series adds substantial octeontx2-af inline IPsec support, indicating ongoing feature development in AF code.

  6. lists.openwall.net

    A 2026 net patch fixes octeontx2-af CGX bitmap leaks, showing current maintenance traffic and bug fixing.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real PCI/network driver directory with module/PCI IDs in local tree and Kconfig help naming 'Marvell OcteonTX2 RVU Admin Function driver' (exec_command: rg, sed). Local git log (exec_command with git -c safe.directory=...) shows fixes through 2026-03-10, matching the supplied high commit activity. Web search was used for lore/openwall evidence after lei/lore MCP was unavailable in this environment; targeted remove/deprecate searches did not surface any active removal discussion, while searches did surface 2025-2026 net/net-next traffic and CN20K/OCTEON 10 feature work. Marvell product pages obtained via web search show OCTEON 10 still marketed and broadly available to OEMs, so this is not legacy-only hardware. No natural in-tree replacement exists because AF is the control-plane/admin driver for this hardware family itself.