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Need help with intel QAT / CPA

JPere29
Beginner
4,251 Views

Hello,

I have received this week a motherboard with the Atom C2758 processor. The board model is the http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Atom/X10/A1SRi-2758F.cfm A1SRi-2758F from Supermicro.

I am very interested in the QuickAssist capabilities from this micro, so my next goal is to compile and to install the Linux Kernel Crypto Framework Driver.

The problem that I have is that I am unable to locate the Intel QuickAssist Technology Software Library (not sure if this is the same as the intel CPA API).

Could anyone please indicate me where can I find these software components?

Do I need to sign as a "privileged" user to gain access to these documents?

Thanks in advance,

José Antonio Pérez

LinkedIn: http://goo.gl/lW17dom http://goo.gl/lW17dom

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25 Replies
WILLIAM_C_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hello, I would suggest you to register on the Embedded Program. For registration in the Intel EDC site, what I would like you to do is copy and paste the following URL into your browser: https://edc.intel.com/Registration.aspx https://edc.intel.com/Registration.aspx.

Here you can also get further information on what are the benefits of becoming a basic or privileged user.

JPere29
Beginner
2,010 Views

Hello,

I am already registered as a basic user. All I want to know is whether these documents are available for basic users or they are only available to privileged users.

I would prefer not having to register as a privileged user since this development is not a corporate project, but just a personal one.

Should I apply for privileged user access?

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hello, Joseantonioperez! This is the http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/intelligent-systems/rangeley/atom-c2000-product-family-based-platforms-overview.html Rangeley product page. Scroll down to the "Tools and Downloads" section and then click on "Development Tools." You'll find the sample code in the document entitled, "http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/secure/intelligent-systems/privileged/rangeley/soc-software-release.html Software Release: Intel Atom Processor C2000..." This document, # 525874, is Intel confidential which requires an EDC Privileged account (CNDA with Intel).

Download the http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/secure/intelligent-systems/privileged/intel-quickassist-technology-linux-cryptographic-driver.html Linux* Kernal Cryptographic Framework Driver, document # 499692. It is a sample drive for Intel QuickAssist technology. The http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/secure/intelligent-systems/privileged/rangeley/soc-design-in-presentation-vol-2.html Getting Started Guide for Rangeley Software for Linux may also be helpful. It is found on the Rangeley product page in the "Technical Documents" section under "Design Guides" It is document # 518013. However, both of these documents are Intel confidential, as well.

If you would like to speak with Intel about your embedded project you will also see a "Connect with Us" heading in the right hand side of the Rangeley product page. Click on "Request Design Assistance", complete the form and you will be contacted within a few business days.

I hope this is helpful. You will need to apply for Privileged access. If you go to the search function and enter "C2000" you'll see http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/search.html?keyword=c2000&toplevelcategory=+Target+Audience/Embedded+Developers+%26+Engineers 33 results. Items with a "lock" symbol require Privileged access.

JPere29
Beginner
2,010 Views

Hello LinnZ!

I have just requested an access as a privileged user.

Just one more question: why all these documents are still confidential? I can understand they being confidential while the hardware is in the prototype testing phase, but this hardware is already available to anybody interested. Should not switch their status all these documents moving from confidential to publicly available?

Anyway, thanks a lot for your helpful answer

José Antonio Pérez

LinkedIn: http://goo.gl/lW17dom http://goo.gl/lW17dom

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hello. I have asked the team to look at all of the documents to see if there are any that we can move out of 'confidential' to 'public' status as I do agree that there are so many still in confidential status. However, to do a design the EDS and PDG documents are needed and those always remain Intel confidential, even after the product officially launches.

JPere29
Beginner
2,010 Views

Hello again,

I am not trying to design a new device after all. I am more on the software development side. My interest in the Atom C2000 family of processors came when I discovered that some of them could make use of the QuickAssist technology.

I am working on topics related to storage systems, in particular the storage of medical images, which can be very large. Some storage systems do calculate hash functions (MD5, SHA-xxx) for every stored file in order to verify their integrity. The times necessary for the calculation of these sum functions are in the range of several seconds in the case of big files. This processor is perfect for such a kind of systems since it has enough CPU performance for a storage server system. On the other side, the use of the QuickAssist capabilities could lead to an important improvement when compared to other alternative solutions.

That is the reason why I have bought a motherboard including the Atom C2758 processor. What I want right now is to get the necessary API and tools to compile the Linux Kernel Cryptographic Driver. This way, the hashing functions present in our software could be executed using the cryptographic QAT engine.

So, as you can see, I am not really interested in designing embedded products, but rather in making use of some of the new features offered by this new family of products. Since these products are already available and being sold to the final users, I was not expecting to find these troubles when trying to utilize their offered features.

I have registered as a basic user, but I was rejected when trying to register as a privileged user. I can not register using the name of the company where I work (medical IT sector), since this project is a personal freelance development, not related to my contractor's activity. Should I contact mailto:edc.support@intel.com edc.support@intel.com to request again a privileged access or should I better wait(*) for the SDK/API documents being publicly released?

(*) I do not like much the idea of having to wait in order to use the announced features of a product that I have already payed for.

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hello! To get the necessary API and tools to compile the Linux Kernel Cryptographic Driver a Privileged account on the EDC will need to be established as that information is classified as 'Intel Confidential'. Unfortunately personal emails like gmail, yahoo, etc. cannot be used as a CNDA must exist between a company and Intel to access confidential content on the EDC. If you can update your profile to your company information we can then check to see if a CNDA already exists or get the process started. If you would like to be contacted by an Intel representative in your area, he/she may be able to assist you in your project. The easiest way to do this go to the main page of the EDC (http://edc.intel.com/ http://edc.intel.com) and scroll down the page until you see a section called, "Connect with Us." Click on "Design Assistance" (you may be asked to log in if you aren't already) and complete the form. An agent should contact you within 2 business days. Try that and please let me know if you need assistance in reaching anyone. LynnZ.

 

Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Just an FYI, the download instructions for Linux Kernel Cryptographic Framework Sample Driver For Intel Quick Assist Technology has been added to the Rangeley page on the EDC. It is in the section called, "Tools & Downloads" under "Drivers." This is Intel confidential so an EDC Privileged account is needed. Here is a link to the Rangeley page: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/intelligent-systems/rangeley/atom-c2000-product-family-based-platforms-overview.html Intel® Atom™ Processor C2000 Product Family Overview.

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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

Its now July 2014 and this situation has not improved. Why release these chips for sale on general purpose motherboards if the QAT functionality can not be used by folks without a privileged account?

I just applied for one via my work email and was sent a generic dismissal. "The following reasons may apply:"

That doesn't sound like 'getting a CNDA started with my company, that sounds like a generic dismissal.

All this to access software for a device I have already paid for from Intel. I'm not designing a new piece of hardware here, just trying to use the software that goes with the device.

Other QAT enabled cards have software available at https://01.org/sites/default/files/page/523127_dh895xcc.l.1.0.1_31.tgz https://01.org/sites/default/files/page/523127_dh895xcc.l.1.0.1_31.tgz "https://01.org/sites/default/files/page/523127_dh895xcc.l.1.0.1_31.tgz Intel® Communications Chipset 8925 to 8955 Series Software for Linux - Intel® QuickAssist Technology Driver and Embedded Drivers" But those drivers don't work for the Rangeley chips, as the PCI identifier is not recognized. There are also patches for openssl, libcrypto, and zlib on that site that look great, and I'd like to use them. But without a driver they are useless.

I bet you that once AMD launches their A1100 ARM processors with embedded offload, and release documentation on how to use that embedded offload, that magically Intel will scramble to get their documentation and drivers online so people can actually use it. Perhaps we'll just wait for AMD to release first, we can delay our buying decisions until then.

 

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hi, Steve1! I'm sorry that you are encountering obstacles getting the content you need. I did some deeper investigating and found that your company has a CNDA so you should be receiving an email that provides you Privileged access. Next, although it doesn't seem to completely address your needs, I am having document 523127 added to the Embedded Design Center (http://edc.intel.com/ http://edc.intel.com). Once published you can type 523127 in the search box to find the document.

Next, I spoke with the Intel representative, Gregg, who covers your geographical area. You completed a form and it was routed to him. So, he is already researching your question and will be in contact with you shortly. Again, I apologize for your experience but hope that we are now on the right track to assist you as best we can.

Have a great 4th of July long weekend! LynnZ.

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hello, Steve1. There are 3 documents that should be helpful to you. All are Intel Confidential, but are accessible when you are logged in using your EDC Privileged account:

https://edc.intel.com/Link.aspx?id=6902 518013, Getting Started Guide: Intel® Atom™ Processor C2000 Product Family for Communications Infrastructure, Software for Linux*

 

 

https://edc.intel.com/Link.aspx?id=6880 512278, Design-in Presentation: Intel® Atom™ Processor C2000 Product Family for Communications Infrastructure, Vol. 1 of 2

 

 

https://edc.intel.com/Link.aspx?id=6881 513388, Design-in Presentation: Intel® Atom™ Processor C2000 Product Family for Communications Infrastructure, Vol. 2 of 2
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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

Great! Unfortunately I still don't have access. The only thing I have heard from anyone at Intel is that rejection email, and these posts from you online.

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Access was granted and the system activated your account at 9:58pm last night. You should have a welcome email. In the meantime, I will also have EDC Support contact you to provide assistance.

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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

So odd. I tried those links before posting and they didn't work. Just tried again and they work...

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Natalie_Z_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Awesome! I think they take a bit to load and maybe that was the issue. I'm glad that your Privileged account is now working. I am working on getting them searchable in the EDC so in the future you can enter the document numbers in the search box and quickly access them. Hope to have that functioning properly soon. Enjoy all of that reading material! haha!

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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

Any chance of forward porting these drives to support kernels in the 3.X series?

http://elinux.org/Kernel_3.4_to_3.10_porting_guide Kernel 3.4 to 3.10 porting guide - eLinux.org

combined with the procfs changes to remove the PDE() macro are making for a fun time.

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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

Consider the fact the version of fedora that is recommended in the guide isn't even available for download anymore.

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SStev9
Beginner
2,010 Views

Even stranger is that it seems that intel HAS done the work to port these changes to a modern kernel. linux-next has qat support already!

http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git/log/?qt=grep&q=qat kernel/git/next/linux-next.git - The linux-next integration testing tree

BUT... not for the C2000 family... So strange?

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Zheng_J_Intel
Employee
2,010 Views

Hi Steve,

The Getting starter guide mentioned you need to have this install on the Fedora 17, (3.3.4)

The Cryptographic Framwork sample driver Application note mentioned that you need have Fedora 16.(3.1.0)

I think at this stage c2000 is not going to be supporting any further release of Fedora versions.

on which Fedora verion are you try to run QAT ?

Have you read tha OS porting guide for QAT/C2000 ? maybe you can find some clue in that.

Comparing to C2000, Cave Creek/ crystal forest is a more matual and mainstream server product, I guess that is why more people is working on enabling QAT for Cave Creek on newer kernels.

Stephen

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SStev9
Beginner
1,836 Views

The C2758 release date per ark.intel.com is Q3'13. The wikipedia page for intel atom processors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Atom_microprocessors List of Intel Atom microprocessors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) claims a release date of September 2013.

Here is the 'End of Life' page for various Fedora releases: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/End_of_life https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/End_of_life

So when the C2758 was released, the only support available was for two EOL'd Fedora releases. That means that ON THE DAY OF RELEASE, only obsolete software was supported. That seems kind of strange.

Let me put this another way. Quickassist is designed as a security technology, for use in cryptographic offload in security applications. On the C2000 platform, it is only supported by Intel on OS software that NO LONGER RECEIVES SECURITY UPDATES. And has only ever been supported on such software.

There is work being done for the C2000 platform in the linux-next branch as well. GPIO support for LED's and sleep state support. No QAT though.

It doesn't seem like Intel ever designed this platform for general use. They certainly don't seem to be providing platform support.

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