diff --git a/examples/external_mem/Makefile b/examples/external_mem/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b6ab3b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/external_mem/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# Copyright(c) 2010-2018 Intel Corporation
+
+# binary name
+APP = extmem
+
+# all source are stored in SRCS-y
+SRCS-y := extmem.c
+
+# Build using pkg-config variables if possible
+$(shell pkg-config --exists libdpdk)
+ifeq ($(.SHELLSTATUS),0)
+
+all: shared
+.PHONY: shared static
+shared: build/$(APP)-shared
+	ln -sf $(APP)-shared build/$(APP)
+static: build/$(APP)-static
+	ln -sf $(APP)-static build/$(APP)
+
+PC_FILE := $(shell pkg-config --path libdpdk)
+CFLAGS += -O3 $(shell pkg-config --cflags libdpdk)
+CFLAGS += -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API
+LDFLAGS_SHARED = $(shell pkg-config --libs libdpdk)
+LDFLAGS_STATIC = -Wl,-Bstatic $(shell pkg-config --static --libs libdpdk)
+
+build/$(APP)-shared: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_SHARED)
+
+build/$(APP)-static: $(SRCS-y) Makefile $(PC_FILE) | build
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRCS-y) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_STATIC)
+
+build:
+	@mkdir -p $@
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f build/$(APP) build/$(APP)-static build/$(APP)-shared
+	rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty build
+
+else # Build using legacy build system
+
+ifeq ($(RTE_SDK),)
+$(error "Please define RTE_SDK environment variable")
+endif
+
+# Default target, can be overridden by command line or environment
+RTE_TARGET ?= x86_64-native-linuxapp-gcc
+
+include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.vars.mk
+
+CFLAGS += $(WERROR_FLAGS)
+CFLAGS += -DALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL_API
+
+# workaround for a gcc bug with noreturn attribute
+# http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=12603
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_RTE_TOOLCHAIN_GCC),y)
+CFLAGS_main.o += -Wno-return-type
+endif
+
+include $(RTE_SDK)/mk/rte.extapp.mk
+endif
diff --git a/examples/external_mem/extmem.c b/examples/external_mem/extmem.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..818a02171
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/external_mem/extmem.c
@@ -0,0 +1,461 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ * Copyright(c) 2010-2018 Intel Corporation
+ */
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <inttypes.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+
+#include <rte_eal.h>
+#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <rte_cycles.h>
+#include <rte_lcore.h>
+#include <rte_mbuf.h>
+#include <rte_malloc.h>
+#include <rte_memory.h>
+#include <rte_vfio.h>
+
+#define RX_RING_SIZE 1024
+#define TX_RING_SIZE 1024
+
+#define NUM_MBUFS 8191
+#define MBUF_CACHE_SIZE 250
+#define BURST_SIZE 32
+#define EXTMEM_HEAP_NAME "extmem"
+
+static const struct rte_eth_conf port_conf_default = {
+	.rxmode = {
+		.max_rx_pkt_len = ETHER_MAX_LEN,
+	},
+};
+
+/* extmem.c: Basic DPDK skeleton forwarding example using external memory. */
+
+/*
+ * Initializes a given port using global settings and with the RX buffers
+ * coming from the mbuf_pool passed as a parameter.
+ */
+static inline int
+port_init(uint16_t port, struct rte_mempool *mbuf_pool)
+{
+	struct rte_eth_conf port_conf = port_conf_default;
+	const uint16_t rx_rings = 1, tx_rings = 1;
+	uint16_t nb_rxd = RX_RING_SIZE;
+	uint16_t nb_txd = TX_RING_SIZE;
+	int retval;
+	uint16_t q;
+	struct rte_eth_dev_info dev_info;
+	struct rte_eth_txconf txconf;
+
+	if (!rte_eth_dev_is_valid_port(port))
+		return -1;
+
+	rte_eth_dev_info_get(port, &dev_info);
+	if (dev_info.tx_offload_capa & DEV_TX_OFFLOAD_MBUF_FAST_FREE)
+		port_conf.txmode.offloads |=
+			DEV_TX_OFFLOAD_MBUF_FAST_FREE;
+
+	/* Configure the Ethernet device. */
+	retval = rte_eth_dev_configure(port, rx_rings, tx_rings, &port_conf);
+	if (retval != 0)
+		return retval;
+
+	retval = rte_eth_dev_adjust_nb_rx_tx_desc(port, &nb_rxd, &nb_txd);
+	if (retval != 0)
+		return retval;
+
+	/* Allocate and set up 1 RX queue per Ethernet port. */
+	for (q = 0; q < rx_rings; q++) {
+		retval = rte_eth_rx_queue_setup(port, q, nb_rxd,
+				rte_eth_dev_socket_id(port), NULL, mbuf_pool);
+		if (retval < 0)
+			return retval;
+	}
+
+	txconf = dev_info.default_txconf;
+	txconf.offloads = port_conf.txmode.offloads;
+	/* Allocate and set up 1 TX queue per Ethernet port. */
+	for (q = 0; q < tx_rings; q++) {
+		retval = rte_eth_tx_queue_setup(port, q, nb_txd,
+				rte_eth_dev_socket_id(port), &txconf);
+		if (retval < 0)
+			return retval;
+	}
+
+	/* Start the Ethernet port. */
+	retval = rte_eth_dev_start(port);
+	if (retval < 0)
+		return retval;
+
+	/* Display the port MAC address. */
+	struct ether_addr addr;
+	rte_eth_macaddr_get(port, &addr);
+	printf("Port %u MAC: %02" PRIx8 " %02" PRIx8 " %02" PRIx8
+			   " %02" PRIx8 " %02" PRIx8 " %02" PRIx8 "\n",
+			port,
+			addr.addr_bytes[0], addr.addr_bytes[1],
+			addr.addr_bytes[2], addr.addr_bytes[3],
+			addr.addr_bytes[4], addr.addr_bytes[5]);
+
+	/* Enable RX in promiscuous mode for the Ethernet device. */
+	rte_eth_promiscuous_enable(port);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * The lcore main. This is the main thread that does the work, reading from
+ * an input port and writing to an output port.
+ */
+static __attribute__((noreturn)) void
+lcore_main(void)
+{
+	uint16_t port;
+
+	/*
+	 * Check that the port is on the same NUMA node as the polling thread
+	 * for best performance.
+	 */
+	RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(port)
+		if (rte_eth_dev_socket_id(port) > 0 &&
+				rte_eth_dev_socket_id(port) !=
+						(int)rte_socket_id())
+			printf("WARNING, port %u is on remote NUMA node to "
+					"polling thread.\n\tPerformance will "
+					"not be optimal.\n", port);
+
+	printf("\nCore %u forwarding packets. [Ctrl+C to quit]\n",
+			rte_lcore_id());
+
+	/* Run until the application is quit or killed. */
+	for (;;) {
+		/*
+		 * Receive packets on a port and forward them on the paired
+		 * port. The mapping is 0 -> 1, 1 -> 0, 2 -> 3, 3 -> 2, etc.
+		 */
+		RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(port) {
+
+			/* Get burst of RX packets, from first port of pair. */
+			struct rte_mbuf *bufs[BURST_SIZE];
+			const uint16_t nb_rx = rte_eth_rx_burst(port, 0,
+					bufs, BURST_SIZE);
+
+			if (unlikely(nb_rx == 0))
+				continue;
+
+			/* Send burst of TX packets, to second port of pair. */
+			const uint16_t nb_tx = rte_eth_tx_burst(port ^ 1, 0,
+					bufs, nb_rx);
+
+			/* Free any unsent packets. */
+			if (unlikely(nb_tx < nb_rx)) {
+				uint16_t buf;
+				for (buf = nb_tx; buf < nb_rx; buf++)
+					rte_pktmbuf_free(bufs[buf]);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+/* extremely pessimistic estimation of memory required to create a mempool */
+static int
+calc_mem_size(uint32_t nb_ports, uint32_t nb_mbufs_per_port,
+		uint32_t mbuf_sz, size_t pgsz, size_t *out)
+{
+	uint32_t nb_mbufs = nb_ports * nb_mbufs_per_port;
+	uint64_t total_mem, mbuf_mem, obj_sz;
+
+	/* there is no good way to predict how much space the mempool will
+	 * occupy because it will allocate chunks on the fly, and some of those
+	 * will come from default DPDK memory while some will come from our
+	 * external memory, so just assume 16MB will be enough for everyone.
+	 */
+	uint64_t hdr_mem = 16 << 20;
+
+	obj_sz = rte_mempool_calc_obj_size(mbuf_sz, 0, NULL);
+	if (rte_eal_iova_mode() == RTE_IOVA_VA) {
+		/* contiguous - no need to account for page boundaries */
+		mbuf_mem = nb_mbufs * obj_sz;
+	} else {
+		/* account for possible non-contiguousness */
+		unsigned int n_pages, mbuf_per_pg, leftover;
+
+		mbuf_per_pg = pgsz / obj_sz;
+		leftover = (nb_mbufs % mbuf_per_pg) > 0;
+		n_pages = (nb_mbufs / mbuf_per_pg) + leftover;
+
+		mbuf_mem = n_pages * pgsz;
+	}
+
+	total_mem = RTE_ALIGN(hdr_mem + mbuf_mem, pgsz);
+
+	if (total_mem > SIZE_MAX) {
+		printf("Memory size too big\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	*out = (size_t)total_mem;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static inline uint32_t
+bsf64(uint64_t v)
+{
+	return (uint32_t)__builtin_ctzll(v);
+}
+
+static inline uint32_t
+log2_u64(uint64_t v)
+{
+	if (v == 0)
+		return 0;
+	v = rte_align64pow2(v);
+	return bsf64(v);
+}
+
+#ifndef MAP_HUGE_SHIFT
+#define HUGE_SHIFT 26
+#else
+#define HUGE_SHIFT MAP_HUGE_SHIFT
+#endif
+
+static int
+pagesz_flags(uint64_t page_sz)
+{
+	/* as per mmap() manpage, all page sizes are log2 of page size
+	 * shifted by MAP_HUGE_SHIFT
+	 */
+	int log2 = log2_u64(page_sz);
+	return log2 << HUGE_SHIFT;
+}
+
+static void *
+alloc_mem(size_t memsz, size_t pgsz)
+{
+	void *addr;
+	int flags;
+
+	/* allocate anonymous hugepages */
+	flags = MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_HUGETLB | pagesz_flags(pgsz);
+
+	addr = mmap(NULL, memsz, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, flags, -1, 0);
+	if (addr == MAP_FAILED)
+		return NULL;
+
+	return addr;
+}
+
+struct extmem_param {
+	void *addr;
+	size_t len;
+	size_t pgsz;
+	rte_iova_t *iova_table;
+	unsigned int iova_table_len;
+};
+
+static int
+create_extmem(uint32_t nb_ports, uint32_t nb_mbufs_per_port, uint32_t mbuf_sz,
+		struct extmem_param *param)
+{
+	uint64_t pgsizes[] = {RTE_PGSIZE_2M, RTE_PGSIZE_1G, /* x86_64, ARM */
+			RTE_PGSIZE_16M, RTE_PGSIZE_16G};    /* POWER */
+	unsigned int n_pages, cur_page, pgsz_idx;
+	size_t mem_sz, offset, cur_pgsz;
+	bool vfio_supported = true;
+	rte_iova_t *iovas = NULL;
+	void *addr;
+	int ret;
+
+	for (pgsz_idx = 0; pgsz_idx < RTE_DIM(pgsizes); pgsz_idx++) {
+		/* skip anything that is too big */
+		if (pgsizes[pgsz_idx] > SIZE_MAX)
+			continue;
+
+		cur_pgsz = pgsizes[pgsz_idx];
+
+		ret = calc_mem_size(nb_ports, nb_mbufs_per_port,
+				mbuf_sz, cur_pgsz, &mem_sz);
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			printf("Cannot calculate memory size\n");
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		/* allocate our memory */
+		addr = alloc_mem(mem_sz, cur_pgsz);
+
+		/* if we couldn't allocate memory with a specified page size,
+		 * that doesn't mean we can't do it with other page sizes, so
+		 * try another one.
+		 */
+		if (addr == NULL)
+			continue;
+
+		/* store IOVA addresses for every page in this memory area */
+		n_pages = mem_sz / cur_pgsz;
+
+		iovas = malloc(sizeof(*iovas) * n_pages);
+
+		if (iovas == NULL) {
+			printf("Cannot allocate memory for iova addresses\n");
+			goto fail;
+		}
+
+		/* populate IOVA table */
+		for (cur_page = 0; cur_page < n_pages; cur_page++) {
+			rte_iova_t iova;
+			void *cur;
+
+			offset = cur_pgsz * cur_page;
+			cur = RTE_PTR_ADD(addr, offset);
+
+			iova = (uintptr_t)rte_mem_virt2iova(cur);
+
+			iovas[cur_page] = iova;
+
+			if (vfio_supported) {
+				/* map memory for DMA */
+				ret = rte_vfio_dma_map((uintptr_t)addr,
+						iova, cur_pgsz);
+				if (ret < 0) {
+					/*
+					 * ENODEV means VFIO is not initialized
+					 * ENOTSUP means current IOMMU mode
+					 * doesn't support mapping
+					 * both cases are not an error
+					 */
+					if (rte_errno == ENOTSUP ||
+							rte_errno == ENODEV)
+						/* VFIO is unsupported, don't
+						 * try again.
+						 */
+						vfio_supported = false;
+					else
+						/* this is an actual error */
+						goto fail;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		break;
+	}
+	/* if we couldn't allocate anything */
+	if (iovas == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	param->addr = addr;
+	param->len = mem_sz;
+	param->pgsz = cur_pgsz;
+	param->iova_table = iovas;
+	param->iova_table_len = n_pages;
+
+	return 0;
+fail:
+	if (iovas)
+		free(iovas);
+	if (addr)
+		munmap(addr, mem_sz);
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static int
+setup_extmem(uint32_t nb_ports, uint32_t nb_mbufs_per_port, uint32_t mbuf_sz)
+{
+	struct extmem_param param;
+	int ret;
+
+	/* create our heap */
+	ret = rte_malloc_heap_create(EXTMEM_HEAP_NAME);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		printf("Cannot create heap\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	ret = create_extmem(nb_ports, nb_mbufs_per_port, mbuf_sz, &param);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		printf("Cannot create memory area\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	/* we now have a valid memory area, so add it to heap */
+	ret = rte_malloc_heap_memory_add(EXTMEM_HEAP_NAME,
+			param.addr, param.len, param.iova_table,
+			param.iova_table_len, param.pgsz);
+
+	/* not needed any more */
+	free(param.iova_table);
+
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		printf("Cannot add memory to heap\n");
+		munmap(param.addr, param.len);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	printf("Allocated %zuMB of memory\n", param.len >> 20);
+
+	/* success */
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * The main function, which does initialization and calls the per-lcore
+ * functions.
+ */
+int
+main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	struct rte_mempool *mbuf_pool;
+	unsigned int nb_ports;
+	int socket_id;
+	uint16_t portid;
+	uint32_t nb_mbufs_per_port, mbuf_sz;
+
+	/* Initialize the Environment Abstraction Layer (EAL). */
+	int ret = rte_eal_init(argc, argv);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Error with EAL initialization\n");
+
+	argc -= ret;
+	argv += ret;
+
+	/* Check that there is an even number of ports to send/receive on. */
+	nb_ports = rte_eth_dev_count_avail();
+	if (nb_ports < 2 || (nb_ports & 1))
+		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Error: number of ports must be even\n");
+
+	nb_mbufs_per_port = NUM_MBUFS;
+	mbuf_sz = RTE_MBUF_DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE;
+
+	if (setup_extmem(nb_ports, nb_mbufs_per_port, mbuf_sz) < 0)
+		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Error: cannot set up external memory\n");
+
+	/* retrieve socket ID for our heap */
+	socket_id = rte_malloc_heap_get_socket(EXTMEM_HEAP_NAME);
+	if (socket_id < 0)
+		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Invalid socket for external heap\n");
+
+	/* Creates a new mempool in memory to hold the mbufs. */
+	mbuf_pool = rte_pktmbuf_pool_create("MBUF_POOL",
+			nb_mbufs_per_port * nb_ports, MBUF_CACHE_SIZE, 0,
+			mbuf_sz, socket_id);
+
+	if (mbuf_pool == NULL)
+		rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Cannot create mbuf pool\n");
+
+	/* Initialize all ports. */
+	RTE_ETH_FOREACH_DEV(portid)
+		if (port_init(portid, mbuf_pool) != 0)
+			rte_exit(EXIT_FAILURE, "Cannot init port %"PRIu16 "\n",
+					portid);
+
+	if (rte_lcore_count() > 1)
+		printf("\nWARNING: Too many lcores enabled. Only 1 used.\n");
+
+	/* Call lcore_main on the master core only. */
+	lcore_main();
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/examples/external_mem/meson.build b/examples/external_mem/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..17a363ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/external_mem/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# Copyright(c) 2017 Intel Corporation
+
+# meson file, for building this example as part of a main DPDK build.
+#
+# To build this example as a standalone application with an already-installed
+# DPDK instance, use 'make'
+
+allow_experimental_apis = true
+sources = files(
+	'extmem.c'
+)
