Re: [PATCH v7 12/17] mm: replace vm_lock and detached flag with a reference count

Suren Baghdasaryan
2025-01-08T17:53:52Z

On Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@suse.cz> wrote:
>
> On 12/26/24 18:07, Suren Baghdasaryan wrote:
> > rw_semaphore is a sizable structure of 40 bytes and consumes
> > considerable space for each vm_area_struct. However vma_lock has
> > two important specifics which can be used to replace rw_semaphore
> > with a simpler structure:
> > 1. Readers never wait. They try to take the vma_lock and fall back to
> > mmap_lock if that fails.
> > 2. Only one writer at a time will ever try to write-lock a vma_lock
> > because writers first take mmap_lock in write mode.
> > Because of these requirements, full rw_semaphore functionality is not
> > needed and we can replace rw_semaphore and the vma->detached flag with
> > a refcount (vm_refcnt).
> > When vma is in detached state, vm_refcnt is 0 and only a call to
> > vma_mark_attached() can take it out of this state. Note that unlike
> > before, now we enforce both vma_mark_attached() and vma_mark_detached()
> > to be done only after vma has been write-locked. vma_mark_attached()
> > changes vm_refcnt to 1 to indicate that it has been attached to the vma
> > tree. When a reader takes read lock, it increments vm_refcnt, unless the
> > top usable bit of vm_refcnt (0x40000000) is set, indicating presence of
> > a writer. When writer takes write lock, it both increments vm_refcnt and
> > sets the top usable bit to indicate its presence. If there are readers,
> > writer will wait using newly introduced mm->vma_writer_wait. Since all
> > writers take mmap_lock in write mode first, there can be only one writer
> > at a time. The last reader to release the lock will signal the writer
> > to wake up.
> > refcount might overflow if there are many competing readers, in which case
> > read-locking will fail. Readers are expected to handle such failures.
> >
> > Suggested-by: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
> > Suggested-by: Matthew Wilcox <willy@infradead.org>
> > Signed-off-by: Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>
>
> > */
> > static inline bool vma_start_read(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> > {
> > + int oldcnt;
> > +
> > /*
> > * Check before locking. A race might cause false locked result.
> > * We can use READ_ONCE() for the mm_lock_seq here, and don't need
> > @@ -720,13 +745,20 @@ static inline bool vma_start_read(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> > if (READ_ONCE(vma->vm_lock_seq) == READ_ONCE(vma->vm_mm->mm_lock_seq.sequence))
> > return false;
> >
> > - if (unlikely(down_read_trylock(&vma->vm_lock.lock) == 0))
> > +
> > + rwsem_acquire_read(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, 0, 0, _RET_IP_);
>
> I don't know much about lockdep, but I see that down_read() does
>
> rwsem_acquire_read(&sem->dep_map, 0, 0, _RET_IP_);
>
> down_read_trylock() does
>
> rwsem_acquire_read(&sem->dep_map, 0, 1, _RET_IP_);
>
> This is passing the down_read()-like variant but it behaves like a trylock, no?

Yes, you are correct, this should behave like a trylock. I'll fix it.

>
> > + /* Limit at VMA_REF_LIMIT to leave one count for a writer */
>
> It's mainly to not increase as much as VMA_LOCK_OFFSET bit could become
> false positively set set by readers, right?

Correct.

> The "leave one count" sounds
> like an implementation detail of VMA_REF_LIMIT and will change if Liam's
> suggestion is proven feasible?

Yes. I already tested Liam's suggestion and it seems to be working
fine. This comment will be gone in the next revision.

>
> > + if (unlikely(!__refcount_inc_not_zero_limited(&vma->vm_refcnt, &oldcnt,
> > + VMA_REF_LIMIT))) {
> > + rwsem_release(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, _RET_IP_);
> > return false;
> > + }
> > + lock_acquired(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, _RET_IP_);
> >
> > /*
> > - * Overflow might produce false locked result.
> > + * Overflow of vm_lock_seq/mm_lock_seq might produce false locked result.
> > * False unlocked result is impossible because we modify and check
> > - * vma->vm_lock_seq under vma->vm_lock protection and mm->mm_lock_seq
> > + * vma->vm_lock_seq under vma->vm_refcnt protection and mm->mm_lock_seq
> > * modification invalidates all existing locks.
> > *
> > * We must use ACQUIRE semantics for the mm_lock_seq so that if we are
> > @@ -734,10 +766,12 @@ static inline bool vma_start_read(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> > * after it has been unlocked.
> > * This pairs with RELEASE semantics in vma_end_write_all().
> > */
> > - if (unlikely(vma->vm_lock_seq == raw_read_seqcount(&vma->vm_mm->mm_lock_seq))) {
> > - up_read(&vma->vm_lock.lock);
> > + if (unlikely(oldcnt & VMA_LOCK_OFFSET ||
> > + vma->vm_lock_seq == raw_read_seqcount(&vma->vm_mm->mm_lock_seq))) {
> > + vma_refcount_put(vma);
> > return false;
> > }
> > +
> > return true;
> > }
> >
> > @@ -749,8 +783,17 @@ static inline bool vma_start_read(struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> > */
> > static inline bool vma_start_read_locked_nested(struct vm_area_struct *vma, int subclass)
> > {
> > + int oldcnt;
> > +
> > mmap_assert_locked(vma->vm_mm);
> > - down_read_nested(&vma->vm_lock.lock, subclass);
> > + rwsem_acquire_read(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, subclass, 0, _RET_IP_);
>
> Same as above?

Ack.

>
> > + /* Limit at VMA_REF_LIMIT to leave one count for a writer */
>
> Also

Ack.

>
> > + if (unlikely(!__refcount_inc_not_zero_limited(&vma->vm_refcnt, &oldcnt,
> > + VMA_REF_LIMIT))) {
> > + rwsem_release(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, _RET_IP_);
> > + return false;
> > + }
> > + lock_acquired(&vma->vmlock_dep_map, _RET_IP_);
> > return true;
> > }
> >