Engleder TSN Endpoint Ethernet MAC
A Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) endpoint Ethernet controller built around an IP core (marketed by Fraunhofer IPMS as TSN-EP 1G and 10G) that gets dropped into FPGAs and SoCs for industrial automation, robotics, and automotive applications. It supports modern features like precision time protocol timestamping, time-aware traffic shaping (taprio), and high-performance XDP/AF_XDP packet paths.
recommendation
It should stay in the kernel because the hardware is actively sold for new industrial and automotive TSN deployments in 2025, and the driver is still being maintained upstream — including a 2025 timestamping fix that flowed into the stable trees and further commits landing into 2026. Volumes are low and the niche is narrow, but this is a current, well-maintained driver rather than legacy code.
repository signals
sources
- git.kernel.org
Mainline saw a tsnep-specific update on 2026-01-17, indicating ongoing upstream maintenance rather than abandonment.
- git.kernel.org
Mainline carried a functional tsnep bug fix in 2025 ('fix timestamping with a stacked DSA driver'), showing active bug-fix traffic.
- spinics.net
The 2025 tsnep timestamping fix propagated into stable review, which is evidence of real downstream maintenance and deployed users.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_TSNEP present across kernel releases from 5.17 through current HEAD, with platform/OF bindings for 'engleder,tsnep'.
- ipms.fraunhofer.de
Vendor marketing for TSN endpoint IP cores remains current, listing TSN-EP 1G and TSN-EP 10G for industrial/robotics/automotive use and noting Linux drivers as an available software option for TSN-EP-10G.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection (`rg`, `sed`) showed this is a real platform Ethernet driver for OF compatible `engleder,tsnep`, with module description 'TSN endpoint Ethernet MAC driver' and modern features such as PTP, taprio, XDP and XSK. Local shell `git log` found tsnep-specific commits in 2024, 2025, and 2026, including commit URLs cited above; no local history suggested a removal/deprecation series. Web search located the stable-list mirror URL for a 2025 tsnep fix and the Fraunhofer TSN IP-core product page; web open/find confirmed the LKDDb presence and that TSN-EP products are still being marketed for new industrial deployments. Conclusion: niche industrial IP-core hardware with low-volume but current deployments and active maintenance, so keep rather than deprecate/remove.