Re: [PATCH RFC tip/core/rcu] SRCU rewrite

[Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>]

----- On Nov 17, 2016, at 10:31 AM, Mathieu Desnoyers mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com wrote:

> ----- On Nov 17, 2016, at 10:07 AM, Lai Jiangshan jiangshanlai@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 10:31 PM, Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 08:18:51PM +0800, Lai Jiangshan wrote:
>>>> On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 10:37 PM, Paul E. McKenney
>>>> <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
>>>> > On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 09:44:45AM +0800, Boqun Feng wrote:
>>>>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> __srcu_read_lock() used to be called with preemption disabled. I guess
>>>> >> the reason was because we have two percpu variables to increase. So with
>>>> >> only one percpu right, could we remove the preempt_{dis,en}able() in
>>>> >> srcu_read_lock() and use this_cpu_inc() here?
>>>> >
>>>> > Quite possibly...
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>
>>> Hello, Lai ;-)
>>>
>>>> it will be nicer if it is removed.
>>>>
>>>> The reason for the preemption-disabled was also because we
>>>> have to disallow any preemption between the fetching of the idx
>>>> and the increasement. so that we have at most NR_CPUS worth
>>>> of readers using the old index that haven't incremented the counters.
>>>>
>>>
>>> After reading the comment for a while, I actually got a question, maybe
>>> I miss something ;-)
>>>
>>> Why "at most NR_CPUS worth of readers using the old index haven't
>>> incremented the counters" could save us from overflow the counter?
>>>
>>> Please consider the following case in current implementation:
>>>
>>>
>>> {sp->completed = 0} so idx = 1 in srcu_advance_batches(...)
>>>
>>> one thread A is currently in __srcu_read_lock() and using idx = 1 and
>>> about to increase the percpu c[idx], and ULONG_MAX __srcu_read_lock()s
>>> have been called and returned with idx = 1, please note I think this is
>>> possible because I assume we may have some code like this:
>>>
>>>         unsigned long i = 0;
>>>         for (; i < ULONG_MAX; i++)
>>>                 srcu_read_lock(); // return the same idx 1;
>> 
>> this is the wrong usage of the api.
>> 
>> 
>> you might rewrite it as:
>> 
>>        unsigned long index[2] = {0, 0};
>>        unsigned long i = 0;
>>        for (;  index[1] < ULONG_MAX; i++)
>>                 index[srcu_read_lock()]++;
>> 
>> 
>> I think we should add document to disallow this kind of usage.
>> a reader should eat 4bytes on the memory at least.
>> 
> 
> (the analysis below refers to the rewritten SRCU scheme)
> 
> Let's presume we use the API correctly, as you describe (saving
> the returned index of srcu_read_lock() somewhere).
> 
> So for the sake of argument, we can either call srcu_read_lock
> in a loop (during which we can be migrated), or call it
> concurrently from various threads. The effect in terms of
> overflow is pretty much the same.
> 
> What is done here is incrementing per-cpu split-counters. In
> the worse-case scenario, let's assume we're incrementing those
> counters for a single index (0 or 1).
> 
> If we think about this system-wide, we don't really care about
> the overflow of a single CPU counter, because what matters is
> the difference between the overall nr_lock - nr_unlock counts
> for a given index, once summed up by synchronize_srcu().
> 
> So the only situation that could lead to an overflow that matters
> is if synchronize_srcu() see ULONG_MAX more increments of nr_lock
> than the observed number of nr_unlock increments.
> 
> So the bound is not only about the number of concurrent SRCU
> readers, but also about the number of SRCU readers that may
> appear between the moment synchronize_srcu() reads the nr_unlock
> per-cpu counters and the moment it reads the nr_lock counters.
> 
> This maximum bound of ULONG_MAX - 1 therefore applies to the
> sum of:
> - numner of concurrent SRCU read-side critical sections active
>  at the same time,
> - number of SRCU read-side critical sections beginning after
>  synchronize_srcu() has read the nr_unlock counters, before
>  it reads the nr_lock counters.

Now that I think of it, since we flip the period before summing
the nr_unlock counter, we cannot have any newcoming readers appearing
within the target period while we execute synchronize_srcu().
So it ends up being a limit on the number of concurrent SRCU
read-side c.s. active at the same time. (you can scratch the
second bullet above).

Thanks,

Mathieu



> You guys seem to see cases that would require a lower max nr
> reader bound, but I'm afraid I don't quite understand them.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mathieu
> 
> 
>>>
>>> And none of the corresponding srcu_read_unlock() has been called;
>>>
>>> In this case, at the time thread A increases the percpu c[idx], that
>>> will result in an overflow, right? So even one reader using old idx will
>>> result in overflow.
>>>
>>>
>>> I think we won't be hit by overflow is not because we have few readers
>>> using old idx, it's because there are unlikely ULONG_MAX + 1
>>> __srcu_read_lock() called for the same idx, right? And the reason of
>>> this is much complex: because we won't have a fair mount of threads in
>>> the system, because no thread will nest srcu many levels, because there
>>> won't be a lot readers using old idx.
>>>
>>> And this will still be true if we use new mechanism and shrink the
>>> preemption disabled section, right?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Boqun
>>>
>>>> if we remove the preempt_{dis,en}able(). we must change the
>>>> "NR_CPUS" in the comment into ULONG_MAX/4. (I assume
>>>> one on-going reader needs at least need 4bytes at the stack). it is still safe.
>>>>
>>>> but we still need to think more if we want to remove the preempt_{dis,en}able().
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>> >> Lai
> 
> --
> Mathieu Desnoyers
> EfficiOS Inc.
> http://www.efficios.com

-- 
Mathieu Desnoyers
EfficiOS Inc.
http://www.efficios.com