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IXP400 Software
Access-Layer Components: NPE-Downloader (IxNpeDl) API
April 2005 IXP400 Software Version 2.0 Programmer’s Guide
220 Document Number: 252539, Revision: 007
The “Microcode from File” feature is only available for Linux. All other supported operating
systems use obtain the NPE microcode from the compiled object code.
The purpose of providing the “Microcode from File” feature is to allow distribution of IXP400
software and the NPE microcode under different licensing conditions for Linux. Refer to the Intel
®
IXP400 Software Release Notes for further instructions on using this feature.
NPE Microcode Library Customization
The NPE microcode library contains a series of NPE images. By default, all of these are included
in the build. However, some of these images may not be required, and as such may be taking up
excess memory. To omit one or more specific images, the user needs to edit
IxNpeMicrocode.h and follow the instructions within. Essentially, by “undefining” an NPE
image identifier, the corresponding NPE image will be omitted from the overall build.
Note: If multiple image identifiers are provided for the same image, all of those identifiers need to be
undefined to omit that image from the build.
NPE Image Compatibility
The software releases do not include tools to develop NPE software. The supplied NPE
functionality is accessible through the APIs provided by the software release 2.0 library. The NPE
images are provided in the form of a single.C file. Corresponding NPE image identifier definitions
are provided in an associated header file. Both are incorporated as part of the software release
package.
NPE microcode images are assumed compatible for only the specific release they accompany.
14.4 Standard Usage Example
The initialization of an NPE has been made relatively easy. Only one function call is required.
Users call the ixNpeDlNpeInitAndStart function, which loads a specified image and begins
execution on the NPE. Here is a sample function call, which starts NPE C with Ethernet and Crypto
functionality:
The parameter is a UINT32 that is defined in the NPE image ID definition. Table 42 lists the
parameters for the standard images.
ixNpeDlNpeInitAndStart(IX_NPEDL_NPEIMAGE_NPEC_CRYPTO_ETH);