vDPA (virtio data path acceleration) is a kernel framework (vhost) which enables NIC vendors to integrate their vDPA NIC kernel drivers into the framework.

A “vDPA device” means a type of device whose data path complies with the virtio specification, but whose control path is vendor specific.

Without vDPA:

With vDPA:

Achieving network wirespeed in an open standard manner: introducing vDPA

Introduction to vDPA kernel framework