[PATCH v2] arm: vexpress: tc2: fix hotplug/idle/kexec race on cluster power down

Lorenzo Pieralisi
2013-09-27T15:54:42Z

On the TC2 testchip, when all CPUs in a cluster enter standbywfi
and commit a power down request, the power controller will wait
for standbywfil2 coming from L2 cache controller to shut the
cluster down.
By the time all CPUs in a cluster commit a power down request
and enter wfi, the power controller cannot backtrack, or put it
another way, a CPU must not be allowed to complete execution
independently of the power controller, the only way for it to
resume properly must be upon wake-up IRQ pending and subsequent
reset triggered from the power controller.

Current MCPM back-end for TC2 disables the GIC CPU IF only when
power down is committed through the tc2_pm_suspend() method, that
makes sense since a suspended CPU is still online and can receive
interrupts whereas a hotplugged CPU, since it is offline,
migrated all IRQs and shutdown the per-CPU peripherals, hence
their PPIs.

The flaw with this reasoning is the following. If all CPUs in
a clusters are entering a power down state either through CPU
idle or CPU hotplug, when the last man successfully completes
the MCPM power down sequence (and executes wfi), power controller
waits for L2 wfi signal to quiesce the cluster and shut it down.
If, when all CPUs are sitting in wfi, an online CPU hotplugs back
in one of the CPUs in the cluster being shutdown, that CPU
receives an IPI that causes wfi to complete (since tc2_pm_down()
method does not disable the GIC CPU IF in that case - CPU being
hotplugged out, not idle) and the power controller will never see
the stanbywfil2 signal coming from L2 that is required for
shutdown to happen and the system deadlocks.

Further to this issue, kexec hotplugs secondary CPUs out during
kernel reload/restart.
Because kexec may (deliberately) trash the old kernel text, it is
not OK for CPUs to follow the MCPM soft reboot path, since
instructions after the WFI may have been replaced by kexec.

If tc2_pm_down() does not disable the GIC cpu interface, there is a
race between CPU powerdown in the old kernel and the IPI from the
new kernel that triggers secondary boot, particularly if the
powerdown is slow (due to L2 cache cleaning for example). If the
new kernel wins the race, the affected CPU(s) will not really be
reset and may execute garbage after the WFI.

The only solution to this problem consists in disabling the GIC
CPU IF on a CPU committed to power down regardless of the power
down entry method (CPU hotplug or CPU idle). This way, CPU wake-up
is under power controller control, which prevents unexpected wfi
exit caused by a pending IRQ.

This patch moves the GIC CPU IF disable call in the TC2 MCPM
implementation from the tc2_pm_suspend() method to the
tc2_pm_down() method to fix the mentioned race condition(s).

Reviewed-by: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin@arm.com>
Tested-by: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin@arm.com> (for kexec)
Signed-off-by: Lorenzo Pieralisi <lorenzo.pieralisi@arm.com>
Signed-off-by: Sudeep KarkadaNagesha <sudeep.karkadanagesha@arm.com>
---
arch/arm/mach-vexpress/tc2_pm.c | 11 ++++++++++-
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm/mach-vexpress/tc2_pm.c b/arch/arm/mach-vexpress/tc2_pm.c
index 7aeb5d6..e6eb481 100644
--- a/arch/arm/mach-vexpress/tc2_pm.c
+++ b/arch/arm/mach-vexpress/tc2_pm.c
@@ -131,6 +131,16 @@ static void tc2_pm_down(u64 residency)
} else
BUG();

+ /*
+ * If the CPU is committed to power down, make sure
+ * the power controller will be in charge of waking it
+ * up upon IRQ, ie IRQ lines are cut from GIC CPU IF
+ * to the CPU by disabling the GIC CPU IF to prevent wfi
+ * from completing execution behind power controller back
+ */
+ if (!skip_wfi)
+ gic_cpu_if_down();
+
if (last_man && __mcpm_outbound_enter_critical(cpu, cluster)) {
arch_spin_unlock(&tc2_pm_lock);

@@ -231,7 +241,6 @@ static void tc2_pm_suspend(u64 residency)
cpu = MPIDR_AFFINITY_LEVEL(mpidr, 0);
cluster = MPIDR_AFFINITY_LEVEL(mpidr, 1);
ve_spc_set_resume_addr(cluster, cpu, virt_to_phys(mcpm_entry_point));
- gic_cpu_if_down();
tc2_pm_down(residency);
}

--
1.8.2.2