NVIDIA Mellanox MCX623105AC-VDAT SmartNIC Firmware 22.28.1002

Firmware which is added at the time of manufacturing, is used to run user programs on the device and can be thought of as the software that allows hardware to run. Embedded firmware is used to control the functions of various hardware devices and systems, much like a computer’s operating system (OS) controls the function of software applications. Firmware may be written into read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or flash memory.

Important Notes:
- Security Hardening Enhancements: This release contains important reliability improvements and security hardening enhancements. Mellanox recommends upgrading your devices firmware to this release to improve the devices’ firmware security and reliability.
- SR-IOV - Virtual Functions (VF) per Port - The maximum Virtual Functions (VF) per port is 127.

Changes and New Features:

- Added support for GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP).
- Enabled with IPsec transport mode (ESP header over IP header).
- Added support for flow sampling and mirroring with an associated capable software.
- Implemented the following new command from NS-SI 1.2 specification: Get PF Assignment
- Added support for vDPA bonding on two PFs.
- [Beta] Added support for Flow Metering.
- Added a new register to read the SerDes receive eye diagram for each eye.
- Updated the Packet Pacing clock to be in sync with the PTP clock.
- Added support for hardware real time clock by UTC timestamp in PCIE BAR and CQE.
- ECE is new negotiation scheme used to exchange extra information about QPs capabilities and later negotiate them at the connection establishment phase. It is used to support various features such as RoCE Selective Repeat and PCC.
- RoCE Selective Repeat activation now is available using ECE. This feature is enabled automatically using ECE if NV_config.sr_enable parameter is set 1 otherwise using go back N retransmission.
- Increased the maximum XRQ number to 512.
- Added the following new mlxconfig parameters to the Non-Volatile Configurations section: log_max_outstandng_wqe, ece_disable_mask, NV_config.sr_enable

Bug Fixes:

- Running several Phyless resets in a row might result in a race between the previous Phyless reset handling the action and the current one.
- When running several Phyless Reset iteration in sequence, the device may get stuck.
- Phyless Reset is not supported when using Non-DME cables.
- When NVMe is enabled (NVME_EMULATION_ENABLE=1) and VirtIO full emulation is disabled (VIRTIO_NET_EMULATION_ENABLE=0; VIRTIO_BLK_EMULATION_ENABLE=0), vDPA is not supported
- Fixed an issue that caused packets to get stuck when the Rate Limiter was enabled.
- The port link might be unstable after phyless reset when the keep_link_up configuration is set to False, and phyless reset might be malfunction.

About Network Adapter Drivers:

When connected, the operating system usually installs a generic driver that helps the computer to recognize the newly attached device.

However, proper software must be applied if you want to make use of all features that the network adapter has available. This task also allows computers to properly recognize all device characteristics such as manufacturer, chipset, technology, and others.

Updating the adapter's drivers and utilities version might improve overall performance and stability, increase transfer speeds, fix different compatibility problems and several network-related errors, as well as bring various other changes.

To install this release, simply get the package, extract it if necessary, run the setup, and follow the instructions displayed on-screen. When done, don't forget to perform a system restart and reconnect the network adapter to make sure that all changes take effect properly.

Without further ado, if you intend to apply this version, click the download button and install the package. Moreover, check with our website as often as possible so that you don't miss a single new release.