[PATCH net-next 7/7] docs: networking: Add documentation for the coalescing support in rmnet
From: Subash Abhinov Kasiviswanathan
Date: Wed Sep 30 2026 - 01:15:08 EST
Add information about the MAPv5 coalescing header covering the layout
and the information from the fields in the header.
Co-developed-by: Sean Tranchetti <sean.tranchetti@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Sean Tranchetti <sean.tranchetti@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Subash Abhinov Kasiviswanathan <subash.a.kasiviswanathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
.../cellular/qualcomm/rmnet.rst | 115 ++++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 107 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/cellular/qualcomm/rmnet.rst b/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/cellular/qualcomm/rmnet.rst
index 5aedbabb7382..ba8e947d54e6 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/cellular/qualcomm/rmnet.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/cellular/qualcomm/rmnet.rst
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ Command (1)/ Data (0) bit value is to indicate if the packet is a MAP command
or data packet. Command packet is used for transport level flow control. Data
packets are standard IP packets.
-Next header is used to indicate the presence of another header, currently is
-limited to checksum header.
+Next header is used to indicate the presence of another header, currently
+limited to the checksum and coalescing headers.
Padding is the number of bytes to be appended to the payload to
ensure 4 byte alignment.
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ Header Type is to indicate the type of header, this usually is set to CHECKSUM
Header types
-= ===============
+= ======================
0 Reserved
-1 Reserved
+1 coalescing header
2 checksum header
-= ===============
+= ======================
Checksum Valid is to indicate whether the header checksum is valid. Value of 1
implies that checksum is calculated on this packet and is valid, value of 0
@@ -162,8 +162,78 @@ indicates that the calculated packet checksum is invalid.
Reserved bits must be zero when sent and ignored when received.
-e. MAP packet v1/v5 (command specific)
---------------------------------------
+e. Coalescing header v5
+------------------------
+
+Hardware can coalesce multiple same-flow IP packets of the same length into
+a single MAP frame to reduce per-packet overhead at high data rates. The
+coalescing header (header type 1) describes the coalesced content.
+
+Packet format::
+
+ Bit 0 - 6 7 8 9-11 12-15
+ Function Header Type Next Header CSUM valid Num NLOs (reserved)
+
+ Bit 16-19 20-23
+ Function Close value Close type
+
+ Bit 24-27 28-31
+ Function (reserved) VEID
+
+ Bit 32 - 47 48 - 55 56 - 63
+ Function Packet length CSUM error bitmap Num packets (NLO 0)
+
+ ... (up to 6 NLO entries total, same 32-bit format per entry)
+
+Header Type is set to 1 (coalescing).
+
+Num NLOs (Number-Length Objects) is the count of active NLO entries
+(1 – 6). Each NLO describes a group of consecutive coalesced packets
+that all share the same IP packet length.
+
+CSUM valid (bit 8) indicates whether the hardware checksum is valid
+for all packets in the frame.
+
+Close type and close value encode the hardware reason that coalescing
+was terminated for this frame:
+
+Close type values:
+
+= ==============================
+0 non-coalesced (single packet)
+1 IP flow miss
+2 transport flow miss
+3 hardware limit (see value)
+4 coalescing closed (FIN/PSH)
+= ==============================
+
+Close value (used when close type is 3):
+
+= ==================
+0 NL limit reached
+1 packet limit
+2 byte limit
+3 time limit
+4 eviction
+= ==================
+
+VEID is the virtual endpoint ID of the originating flow.
+
+Each NLO entry::
+
+ Bit 0 - 15 16 - 23 24 - 31
+ Function Pkt length CSUM error bitmap Num packets
+
+Pkt length is the full IP packet length, including the IP header,
+transport header, and payload, for every packet in this NLO group.
+
+CSUM error bitmap is a per-packet bitmask. Bit N is set when packet N
+in this NLO has a bad checksum.
+
+Num packets is the count of coalesced packets described by this NLO.
+
+f. MAP packet v1/v5 (command specific)
+---------------------------------------
Packet format::
@@ -187,7 +257,7 @@ Command types
3 is for error during processing of commands
= ==========================================
-f. Aggregation
+g. Aggregation
--------------
Aggregation is multiple MAP packets (can be data or command) delivered to
@@ -208,3 +278,32 @@ rmnet userspace configuration is done through netlink using iproute2
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/network/iproute2/iproute2.git/
The driver uses rtnl_link_ops for communication.
+
+The data format flags controlling the ingress and egress processing
+pipeline are set via the ``IFLA_RMNET_FLAGS`` attribute
+(``struct ifla_rmnet_flags``).
+
+Relevant ingress flags:
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_INGRESS_DEAGGREGATION``
+ Enable MAP frame de-aggregation.
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_INGRESS_MAP_CKSUMV4``
+ Enable MAPv4 downlink checksum offload.
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_INGRESS_MAP_CKSUMV5``
+ Enable MAPv5 downlink checksum offload (header type 2).
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_INGRESS_COALESCE``
+ Enable MAPv5 downlink hardware coalescing (header type 1).
+ When set the driver will decode coalescing headers, reconstruct
+ individual IP packets and will deliver batched GSO SKBs to the
+ stack for efficient processing.
+
+Relevant egress flags:
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_EGRESS_MAP_CKSUMV4``
+ Enable MAPv4 uplink checksum offload.
+
+``RMNET_FLAGS_EGRESS_MAP_CKSUMV5``
+ Enable MAPv5 uplink checksum offload.
--
2.34.1