linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac

Synopsys DesignWare Ethernet MAC and QoS controllers (stmmac)

Synopsys DesignWare GMAC, XGMAC, and Ethernet QoS are licensable Ethernet controller IP blocks that SoC vendors integrate into their chips. They appear in countless ARM-based platforms shipping today, including STMicro STM32MP, NXP, Rockchip, Allwinner, NVIDIA Tegra, Intel, and many automotive and industrial SoCs, providing 10/100/1000 Mbps and multi-gigabit MAC functions with TSN and PTP support.

keep conf=0.96 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
96%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because this is the actively maintained driver for one of the most widely deployed Ethernet MAC IP families in modern ARM SoCs. Upstream activity is strong, with fixes landing in net.git as recently as 2026 and ongoing enablement work for current platforms like Tegra234, while Synopsys continues to license the IP and ST and other vendors keep shipping new products built around it.

repository signals

92 files
44,439 source lines
1,164 commits, 5y
+23,053 / −16,048 lines added / removed, 5y
230 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 1,164 total · active in 61/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 7 commits · +30 −6 2021-05: 16 commits · +276 −53 2021-06: 36 commits · +957 −194 2021-07: 7 commits · +97 −24 2021-08: 11 commits · +123 −42 2021-09: 11 commits · +92 −46 2021-10: 8 commits · +60 −28 2021-11: 17 commits · +317 −107 2021-12: 9 commits · +259 −57 2022-01: 19 commits · +230 −203 2022-02: 5 commits · +62 −34 2022-03: 11 commits · +394 −68 2022-04: 10 commits · +40 −57 2022-05: 4 commits · +9 −41 2022-06: 11 commits · +207 −33 2022-07: 14 commits · +599 −447 2022-08: 5 commits · +171 −11 2022-09: 8 commits · +150 −61 2022-10: 3 commits · +14 −18 2022-11: 12 commits · +85 −57 2022-12: 8 commits · +422 −11 2023-01: 10 commits · +300 −152 2023-02: 7 commits · +53 −29 2023-03: 8 commits · +31 −83 2023-04: 30 commits · +1,174 −632 2023-05: 16 commits · +66 −95 2023-06: 30 commits · +521 −477 2023-07: 29 commits · +550 −568 2023-08: 21 commits · +453 −124 2023-09: 29 commits · +525 −466 2023-10: 16 commits · +136 −138 2023-11: 8 commits · +183 −23 2023-12: 12 commits · +660 −490 2024-01: 18 commits · +366 −132 2024-02: 15 commits · +354 −235 2024-03: 5 commits · +16 −16 2024-04: 8 commits · +147 −81 2024-05: 20 commits · +317 −239 2024-06: 19 commits · +328 −121 2024-07: 11 commits · +69 −31 2024-08: 21 commits · +826 −195 2024-09: 11 commits · +548 −265 2024-10: 9 commits · +77 −34 2024-11: 28 commits · +1,162 −607 2024-12: 16 commits · +335 −241 2025-01: 44 commits · +282 −235 2025-02: 49 commits · +832 −684 2025-03: 44 commits · +536 −691 2025-04: 46 commits · +411 −447 2025-05: 16 commits · +843 −774 2025-06: 24 commits · +686 −904 2025-07: 8 commits · +24 −16 2025-08: 39 commits · +349 −428 2025-09: 50 commits · +859 −587 2025-10: 48 commits · +1,237 −710 2025-11: 90 commits · +1,198 −1,512 2025-12: 1 commit · +15 −2 2026-01: 37 commits · +1,143 −965 2026-02: 31 commits · +729 −965 2026-03: 5 commits · +87 −49 2026-04: 3 commits · +31 −7

sources

  1. spinics.net

    A stmmac fix was posted and applied to netdev/net.git in February 2026, showing active upstream maintenance rather than retirement.

  2. spinics.net

    There was platform-specific stmmac discussion for Tegra234 in June 2025, indicating ongoing enablement/fix work on current SoCs.

  3. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_STMMAC_ETH present through 7.0-rc+HEAD and tied to many current platform/PCI bindings, including recent glue drivers.

  4. synopsys.com

    Synopsys markets the Ethernet QoS IP as shipping in volume across automotive, industrial, consumer, and datacenter applications.

  5. st.com

    A current ST MPU product page lists Gigabit Ethernet GMAC with TSN/PTP features, consistent with ongoing new-product deployment of this MAC family.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local evidence: `sed -n 1,120p drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/Kconfig` shows the core driver plus many active SoC glue options; `git -c safe.directory=... log --since=2025-01-01 -- drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac` shows multiple 2025-2026 fixes. Web search was used because shell network/lore access was unavailable: a search for recent stmmac patches found the 2026 netdev applied-patch thread and 2025 Tegra thread, while product searches found current Synopsys and ST pages. No replacement driver exists for the same generic Synopsys MAC IP role; stmmac is the maintained in-tree driver for a broad, still-shipping hardware family.