Re: [PATCH v2 08/17] PM: EM: Introduce runtime modifiable table

[Dietmar Eggemann <dietmar.eggemann@arm.com>]

On 12/05/2023 11:57, Lukasz Luba wrote:
> This patch introduces the new feature: modifiable EM perf_state table.
> The new runtime table would be populated with a new power data to better
> reflect the actual power. The power can vary over time e.g. due to the
> SoC temperature change. Higher temperature can increase power values.
> For longer running scenarios, such as game or camera, when also other
> devices are used (e.g. GPU, ISP) the CPU power can change. The new
> EM framework is able to addresses this issue and change the data
> at runtime safely. The runtime modifiable EM data is used by the Energy
> Aware Scheduler (EAS) for the task placement.

It's important to say that EAS is the _only_user of the `runtime
modifiable EM`. All the other users (thermal, etc.) are still using the
default (basic) EM. IMHO, this fact drove the design here.

> Signed-off-by: Lukasz Luba <lukasz.luba@arm.com>
> ---
>  include/linux/energy_model.h | 13 +++++++++++++
>  kernel/power/energy_model.c  | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  2 files changed, 37 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/include/linux/energy_model.h b/include/linux/energy_model.h
> index cc2bf607191e..a616006a8130 100644
> --- a/include/linux/energy_model.h
> +++ b/include/linux/energy_model.h
> @@ -36,9 +36,21 @@ struct em_perf_state {
>   */
>  #define EM_PERF_STATE_INEFFICIENT BIT(0)
>  
> +/**
> + * struct em_perf_table - Performance states table, which can be
> + *		runtime modifiable and protected with RCU

which is `runtime modifiable` ? So `runtime modifiable performance state
table`? RCU is obvious since we have `struct rcu_head rcu`.

> + * @state:	List of performance states, in ascending order
> + * @rcu:	RCU used for safe access and destruction
> + */
> +struct em_perf_table {
> +	struct em_perf_state *state;
> +	struct rcu_head rcu;
> +};
> +
>  /**
>   * struct em_perf_domain - Performance domain
>   * @table:		List of performance states, in ascending order
> + * @runtime_table:	Pointer to the runtime modified em_perf_table

s/modified/modifiable

[...]

> @@ -237,12 +238,23 @@ static int em_create_pd(struct device *dev, int nr_states,
>  			return -ENOMEM;
>  	}
>  
> +	runtime_table = kzalloc(sizeof(*runtime_table), GFP_KERNEL);
> +	if (!runtime_table) {
> +		kfree(pd);
> +		return -ENOMEM;
> +	}
> +
>  	ret = em_create_perf_table(dev, pd, nr_states, cb, flags);
>  	if (ret) {
>  		kfree(pd);
> +		kfree(runtime_table);
>  		return ret;
>  	}
>  
> +	/* Re-use temporally (till 1st modification) the memory */

So this means that the runtime (modifiable) table
(pd->runtime_table>state) is mapped to the default (basic) table
(pd->default_table->state) until the first call to
em_dev_update_perf_domain() (here mentioned as the 1st modification)?

IMHO, not easy to understand since neither the cover letter, nor
documentation patch 15/17 describes this in a consistent story.

[...]