DPDK Summit 2026

In this session, we will explore a use case where PCI endpoint card is utilized to offload cryptographic operations from the host machine. The buffers for these operations are transferred to the PCI card via the virtio/ethernet interface between the host and the endpoint over PCI. We will discuss two distinct approaches to manage crypto operations.

Approach 1: Standard Virtio-Crypto Interface - DPDK/kernel virtio-crypto device is used to establish crypto sessions and transmit data across the PCI endpoint. The endpoint performs cryptographic operations and returns processed data to the virtio-crypto device. The application running on the endpoint translates the virtio-crypto sessions and processes the data using the DPDK crypto device on the endpoint, subsequently sending the processed data back to the host.
Approach 2: LiquidCrypto - Due to limited virtio-crypto offload capabilities, second approach is proposed. This method utilizes the DPDK ethernet SDP interface between the host and endpoint for fast path transport and the kernel SDP interface for slow path and management of the PCI card. The sample applications and the interface library are open-source and available on GitHub.