# Announcements

This section provides early notification for upcoming features, changes and functionality planned to be discontinued in near future.

## Upcoming Features

The following features are planned for upcoming AMR releases:

### VFIO-Based Userspace Driver (Experimental)

- **Target Release**: 2026.2
- **Description**: Migration from kernel-based AMI driver to VFIO (Virtual Function I/O) userspace framework
  - Direct device access from userspace applications without kernel module dependencies
  - Simplified deployment with no kernel module compilation required
  - Better portability across kernel versions and distributions
  - **Note**: This feature is experimental
- **Build and Test Instructions**: To build and test the userspace driver, follow the instructions [here](software/ami-vfio-userspace.md)

## Deprecated Features

The following features are scheduled for removal in future releases:

### AMI Kernel Driver (ami.ko)

- Deprecated and will be removed in 2026.2
- Alternative: VFIO-based userspace driver framework
- Eliminates kernel version dependencies and recompilation requirements
- Provides direct userspace device access with improved flexibility
- New APIs will maintain functional compatibility while leveraging VFIO infrastructure
- Migration guide will be provided in 2026.2 release documentation

### Hardware Monitoring (hwmon) Interface

- Removed in 2026.2
- Alternative: AMI tool and libami.so API for telemetry access
- Applications relying on `/sys/class/hwmon/*` interfaces must migrate to `ami_tool` CLI or `libami.so` API

## Feedback

If you have questions or concerns about upcoming changes or deprecations, please:

- Open an issue on the [AMR GitHub repository](https://github.com/Xilinx/amr/issues)
- Contact AMD support through your regular support channels

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