[PATCH v2 1/3] mac80211: add ieee80211_tx_peek API
From: Jose Ignacio Tornos Martinez
Date: Wed Jul 15 2026 - 08:57:54 EST
Add ieee80211_tx_peek() to allow drivers to inspect the next frame
in a TXQ without removing it.
Drivers implementing custom wake_tx_queue operations may need to
determine which hardware TX ring to use before dequeuing a packet,
using properties like the skb hash or queue mapping that are only
available from the skb itself.
The function checks pending fragments first, then iterates through
all fair-queue flows (new_flows and old_flows) to find the first
queued frame, matching the iteration behavior of fq_tin_dequeue.
It also pre-caches the skb hash via skb_get_hash() so that
hash-based ring selectors see a stable value through the subsequent
dequeue and TX path.
Signed-off-by: Jose Ignacio Tornos Martinez <jtornosm@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
New in v2
include/net/mac80211.h | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
net/mac80211/tx.c | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 59 insertions(+)
diff --git a/include/net/mac80211.h b/include/net/mac80211.h
index 4f95da023746..9289b8dca972 100644
--- a/include/net/mac80211.h
+++ b/include/net/mac80211.h
@@ -7742,6 +7742,26 @@ void ieee80211_unreserve_tid(struct ieee80211_sta *sta, u8 tid);
struct sk_buff *ieee80211_tx_dequeue(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
struct ieee80211_txq *txq);
+/**
+ * ieee80211_tx_peek - peek at the next packet in a software tx queue
+ *
+ * @hw: pointer as obtained from ieee80211_alloc_hw()
+ * @txq: pointer obtained from station or virtual interface, or from
+ * ieee80211_next_txq()
+ *
+ * Return: the next skb without dequeuing it, or %NULL if the queue is empty.
+ * The returned pointer is const — the caller must not modify or free the skb.
+ * The skb remains queued and will be returned by a subsequent
+ * ieee80211_tx_dequeue() call.
+ *
+ * This is useful for drivers that need to inspect the next frame (e.g. to
+ * determine the target TX ring) before deciding whether to dequeue.
+ *
+ * Must be called in the same context as ieee80211_tx_dequeue().
+ */
+const struct sk_buff *ieee80211_tx_peek(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
+ struct ieee80211_txq *txq);
+
/**
* ieee80211_tx_dequeue_ni - dequeue a packet from a software tx queue
* (in process context)
diff --git a/net/mac80211/tx.c b/net/mac80211/tx.c
index c13b209fad47..91bfd8ef9428 100644
--- a/net/mac80211/tx.c
+++ b/net/mac80211/tx.c
@@ -3857,6 +3857,45 @@ static bool ieee80211_xmit_fast(struct ieee80211_sub_if_data *sdata,
return true;
}
+const struct sk_buff *ieee80211_tx_peek(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
+ struct ieee80211_txq *txq)
+{
+ struct txq_info *txqi = container_of(txq, struct txq_info, txq);
+ struct ieee80211_local *local = hw_to_local(hw);
+ struct fq_tin *tin = &txqi->tin;
+ struct fq *fq = &local->fq;
+ struct sk_buff *skb = NULL;
+ struct fq_flow *flow;
+
+ WARN_ON_ONCE(softirq_count() == 0);
+
+ spin_lock_bh(&fq->lock);
+
+ skb = skb_peek(&txqi->frags);
+ if (skb)
+ goto out;
+
+ list_for_each_entry(flow, &tin->new_flows, flowchain) {
+ skb = skb_peek(&flow->queue);
+ if (skb)
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ list_for_each_entry(flow, &tin->old_flows, flowchain) {
+ skb = skb_peek(&flow->queue);
+ if (skb)
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+out:
+ if (skb)
+ skb_get_hash(skb);
+
+ spin_unlock_bh(&fq->lock);
+ return skb;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ieee80211_tx_peek);
+
struct sk_buff *ieee80211_tx_dequeue(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
struct ieee80211_txq *txq)
{
--
2.54.0