netdev - Port mirroring (RFC)

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Message-ID: <384e168b-8266-cb9b-196b-347a513c0d36@linaro.org>
Date:   Tue, 14 Dec 2021 08:47:12 -0600
From:   Alex Elder <elder@...aro.org>
To:     Network Development <netdev@...r.kernel.org>
Cc:     "bjorn.andersson@...aro.org" <bjorn.andersson@...aro.org>
Subject: Port mirroring (RFC)

I am implementing what amounts to port mirroring functionality
for the IPA driver.

The IPA hardware isn't exactly a network switch (it's sort of
more than that), but it has the ability to supply replicas of
packets transferred within it to a special (read only) interface.

My plan is to implement this using a new "ipa_mirror" network
device, so it could be used with a raw socket to capture the
arriving packets.  There currently exists one other netdev,
which represents access through a modem to a WWAN network.

I would like some advice on how to proceed with this.  I want
the result to match "best practice" upstream, and would like
this to be as well integrated possible with existing network
tools.

A few details about the stream of packets that arrive on
this hardware interface:
- Packet data is truncated if it's larger than a certain size
- Each packet is preceded by a fixed-size header describing it
- Packets (and their headers) are aggregated into a buffer; i.e.
   a single receive might carry a dozen (truncated) packets

Here are a few specific questions, but I would love to get
*any* feedback about what I'm doing.
- Is representing this as a separate netdev a reasonable
   thing to do?
- Is there anything wrong with making a netdev read-only?
   (Any packets supplied for transmit would be dropped)
- Are there things I should do so it's clear this interface
   does not carry IP traffic (or even UDP, etc.)?
- Should the driver de-aggregate the received packets, i.e.
   separating each into a separate SKB for reading?

I might have *many* more questions, but I'd just like to make
sure I'm on the right track, and would like both specific and
general suggestions about how to do this the right way.

Thanks.
					-Alex