Datapath(9)

💅 Datapath 💅

okay bestie, welcome to Datapath(9) from the Kernel API Manual — this is the little corner all about how CSME moves packets around. 🫶✨

CSME can transmit packets, through the netdev that it gets from the wifi driver. It’ll send the packet in the 802.3 format and simply call dev_queue_xmit. no cap. 📨

For Rx, iwlmei registers a Rx handler that it attaches to the netdev. iwlmei may catch packets and send them to CSME, and then it can either drop them so that they are invisible to user space, or let them go to the user space. 👀💅

Packets transmitted by the user space do not need to be forwarded to CSME — with the exception of the DHCP request. In order to know what IP is used by the user space, CSME needs to get the DHCP request. See iwl_mei_tx_copy_to_csme. 🎀

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

• Kernel file: ./drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mei/iwl-mei.h
• Introduction(9)
• Life cycle(9)
• Memory layout(9)
• Concurrency(9)
• Probe and remove from mei bus driver(9)
• Driver load when CSME owns the device(9)
• CSME behavior regarding the ownership requests(9)
• Driver load when CSME is associated and a session is active(9)
• enum iwl_mei_nvm_caps(9)
• struct iwl_mei_nvm(9)
• enum iwl_mei_pairwise_cipher(9)
• enum iwl_mei_akm_auth(9)
• struct iwl_mei_conn_info(9)
• struct iwl_mei_colloc_info(9)
• enum iwl_mei_sap_version(9)
• iwl_mei_is_connected(9)
• iwl_mei_get_nvm(9)
• iwl_mei_get_ownership(9)
• iwl_mei_set_rfkill_state(9)
• iwl_mei_set_nic_info(9)
• iwl_mei_set_country_code(9)
• iwl_mei_set_power_limit(9)
• iwl_mei_register(9)
• iwl_mei_start_unregister(9)
• iwl_mei_unregister_complete(9)
• iwl_mei_set_netdev(9)
• iwl_mei_tx_copy_to_csme(9)
• iwl_mei_host_associated(9)
• iwl_mei_host_disassociated(9)
• iwl_mei_device_state(9)
• iwl_mei_pldr_req(9)
• iwl_mei_alive_notif(9)

That’s the whole page, bestie! Signing off from Datapath(9) in the Kernel API Manual, with footer source/version ./drivers/net/wireless/intel/i... and date October 2026. 💖✨🦋