Re: [RFC v3 1/5] sched/core: add capacity constraints to CPU controller

Patrick Bellasi
2017-03-15T17:57:06Z

On 15-Mar 10:24, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 04:44:39PM +0000, Patrick Bellasi wrote:
> > On 15-Mar 09:10, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> > > On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 06:20:28AM -0700, Joel Fernandes wrote:
> > > > On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 4:20 AM, Patrick Bellasi
> > > > <patrick.bellasi@arm.com> wrote:
> > > > > On 13-Mar 03:46, Joel Fernandes (Google) wrote:
> > > > >> On Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 6:38 AM, Patrick Bellasi
> > > > >> <patrick.bellasi@arm.com> wrote:
> > > > >> > The CPU CGroup controller allows to assign a specified (maximum)
> > > > >> > bandwidth to tasks within a group, however it does not enforce any
> > > > >> > constraint on how such bandwidth can be consumed.
> > > > >> > With the integration of schedutil, the scheduler has now the proper
> > > > >> > information about a task to select the most suitable frequency to
> > > > >> > satisfy tasks needs.
> > > > >> [..]
> > > > >>
> > > > >> > +static u64 cpu_capacity_min_read_u64(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css,
> > > > >> > + struct cftype *cft)
> > > > >> > +{
> > > > >> > + struct task_group *tg;
> > > > >> > + u64 min_capacity;
> > > > >> > +
> > > > >> > + rcu_read_lock();
> > > > >> > + tg = css_tg(css);
> > > > >> > + min_capacity = tg->cap_clamp[CAP_CLAMP_MIN];
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Shouldn't the cap_clamp be accessed with READ_ONCE (and WRITE_ONCE in
> > > > >> the write path) to avoid load-tearing?
> > > > >
> > > > > tg->cap_clamp is an "unsigned int" and thus I would expect a single
> > > > > memory access to write/read it, isn't it? I mean: I do not expect the
> > > > > compiler "to mess" with these accesses.
> > > >
> > > > This depends on compiler and arch. I'm not sure if its in practice
> > > > these days an issue, but see section on 'load tearing' in
> > > > Documentation/memory-barriers.txt . If compiler decided to break down
> > > > the access to multiple accesses due to some reason, then might be a
> > > > problem.
> > >
> > > The compiler might also be able to inline cpu_capacity_min_read_u64()
> > > fuse the load from tg->cap_clamp[CAP_CLAMP_MIN] with other accesses.
> > > If min_capacity is used several times in the ensuing code, the compiler
> > > could reload multiple times from tg->cap_clamp[CAP_CLAMP_MIN], which at
> > > best might be a bit confusing.
> >
> > That's actually an interesting case, however I don't think it applies
> > in this case since cpu_capacity_min_read_u64() is called only via
> > a function poninter and thus it will never be inlined. isn't it?
> >
> > > > Adding Paul for his expert opinion on the matter ;)
> > >
> > > My personal approach is to use READ_ONCE() and WRITE_ONCE() unless
> > > I can absolutely prove that the compiler cannot do any destructive
> > > optimizations. And I not-infrequently find unsuspected opportunities
> > > for destructive optimization in my own code. Your mileage may vary. ;-)
> >
> > I guess here the main concern from Joel is that such a pattern:
> >
> > u64 var = unsigned_int_value_from_memory;
> >
> > can result is a couple of "load from memory" operations.
>
> Indeed it can. I first learned this the hard way in the early 1990s,
> so 20-year-old compiler optimizations are quite capable of making this
> sort of thing happen.
>
> > In that case a similar:
> >
> > unsigned_int_left_value = new_unsigned_int_value;
> >
> > executed on a different thread can overlap with the previous memory
> > read operations and ending up in "var" containing a not consistent
> > value.
> >
> > Question is: can this really happen, given the data types in use?
>
> So we have an updater changing the value of unsigned_int_left_value,
> while readers in other threads are accessing it, correct? And you
> are asking whether the compiler can optimize the updater so as to
> mess up the readers, right?
>
> One such optimization would be a byte-wise write, though I have no
> idea why a compiler would do such a thing assuming that the variable
> is reasonably sized and aligned. Another is that the compiler could
> use the variable as temporary storage just before the assignment.
> (You haven't told the compiler that anyone else is reading it, though
> I don't know of this being done by production compilers.) A third is
> that the compiler could fuse successive stores, which might or might
> not be a problem, depending.
>
> Probably more, but that should be a start. ;-)

Definitively yes! :)

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I'll add the READ_ONCE as
Joel suggested! +1

--
#include <best/regards.h>

Patrick Bellasi