Intel Continues Bring-Up Of New Gateway SoC Architecture On Linux, ComboPHY Driver

Besides all the usual hardware enablement activities with the usual names by Intel's massive open-source team working on the Linux kernel, one of the more peculiar bring-ups recently has been around the "Intel Gateway SoC" with more work abound for Linux 5.7.

The Intel Gateway SoC is a seemingly yet-to-be-released product for high-speed network packet processing. The Gateway SoC supports the Intel Gateway Datapath Architecture (GWDPA) and is designed for very fast and efficient network processing. Outside of Linux kernel patches we haven't seen many Intel "Gateway" references to date. Gateway appears to be (or based on) the Intel "Lightning Mountain" SoC we were first to notice and bring attention to last summer when patches began appearing for that previously unknown codename.

Along with other patches working their way for likely inclusion into the Linux 5.7 kernel this spring after already seeing some enablement with the active Linux 5.6 cycle, one of the new drivers being brought-up for this new SoC is the ComboPHY. The Intel ComboPHY driver provides the PHYs for PCIe / SATA / EMAC controllers on Gateway chipsets. That ComboPHY driver is currently under review.

In any case, great to see Intel's continual punctual open-source bring-up of new platforms for the Linux kernel and we'll keep monitoring to learn more.