X-Git-Url: https://gerrit.fd.io/r/gitweb?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fguides%2Fcontributing%2Fdesign.rst;fp=doc%2Fguides%2Fcontributing%2Fdesign.rst;h=88d3a433421f2ab79ea18cc2e198ddf0d653afd7;hb=7595afa4d30097c1177b69257118d8ad89a539be;hp=bac3d1b4660ecd9a441f0474e9a7ddd817aa5253;hpb=ce3d555e43e3795b5d9507fcfc76b7a0a92fd0d6;p=deb_dpdk.git

diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/design.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/design.rst
index bac3d1b4..88d3a433 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/design.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/design.rst
@@ -158,3 +158,17 @@ cache bandwidth, memory bandwidth, etc) that depends on:
   branches are usually required. When processing a burst of packets that have been
   validated for header integrity, counting the number of bits set in a bitmask
   might be needed.
+
+PF and VF Considerations
+------------------------
+
+The primary goal of DPDK is to provide a userspace dataplane. Managing VFs from
+a PF driver is a control plane feature and developers should generally rely on
+the Linux Kernel for that.
+
+Developers should work with the Linux Kernel community to get the required
+functionality upstream. PF functionality should only be added to DPDK for
+testing and prototyping purposes while the kernel work is ongoing. It should
+also be marked with an "EXPERIMENTAL" tag. If the functionality isn't
+upstreamable then a case can be made to maintain the PF functionality in DPDK
+without the EXPERIMENTAL tag.