Intel "Protected Xe Path" Code Updated For Hardware-Protected GPU Sessions

Intel PXP -- Protected Xe Path -- is a means of hardware-protected sessions for graphics clients on Gen12 / Xe Graphics. The support code for enabling PXP with their open-source Linux driver stack was updated this past week.

While it's still under a "request for comments" flag and too late for possibly seeing it come with the soon-to-open Linux 5.12 merge window, this Intel PXP functionality is moving along and will be important for Xe server GPUs in public cloud type deployments where protected sessions are desirable for better segregation between shared resources.

Back in November we reported on the original patches surfacing for Intel Protected Xe Path that with Gen12 and later allows for hardware-encrypted video memory and a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) for protecting PXP sessions from other clients. PXP supports dealing with encrypted planes as well. With PXP is also PAVP for providing protected audio/video playback. The PAVP functionality leverages the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) and again could play an important role for secure media handling in the cloud or other shared environments.

Hitting the mailing list on Saturday were the latest PXP patches still under an RFC flag. These latest PXP patches have seen a sizable rework compared to the prior code published by another Intel open-source engineer.

These latest PXP patches are still being settled and need to undergo further testing but presumably will get buttoned up for a later Linux kernel release this year. While Intel PXP seems engineered for their discrete graphics offerings, Protected Xe Path does work for integrated Gen12 graphics as well for those interested.