Re: [PATCH v2 04/14] sched_ext: Use per-CPU DSQs instead of per-node global DSQs in bypass mode

Emil Tsalapatis
2025-11-10T21:43:35Z

On Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org> wrote:
>
> Bypass mode routes tasks through fallback dispatch queues. Originally a single
> global DSQ, b7b3b2dbae73 ("sched_ext: Split the global DSQ per NUMA node")
> changed this to per-node DSQs to resolve NUMA-related livelocks.
>
> Dan Schatzberg found per-node DSQs can still livelock when many threads are
> pinned to different small CPU subsets: each CPU must scan many incompatible
> tasks to find runnable ones, causing severe contention with high CPU counts.
>
> Switch to per-CPU bypass DSQs. Each task queues on its current CPU. Default
> idle CPU selection and direct dispatch handle most cases well.
>
> This introduces a failure mode when tasks concentrate on one CPU in
> over-saturated systems. If the BPF scheduler severely skews placement before
> triggering bypass, that CPU's queue may be too long to drain, causing RCU
> stalls. A load balancer in a future patch will address this. The bypass DSQ is
> separate from local DSQ to enable load balancing: local DSQs use rq locks,
> preventing efficient scanning and transfer across CPUs, especially problematic
> when systems are already contended.
>
> v2: Clarified why bypass DSQ is separate from local DSQ (Andrea Righi).
>
> Reported-by: Dan Schatzberg <schatzberg.dan@gmail.com>
> Cc: Emil Tsalapatis <etsal@meta.com>
> Reviewed-by: Andrea Righi <arighi@nvidia.com>
> Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
> ---

Reviewed-by: Emil Tsalapatis <emil@etsalapatis.com>

> include/linux/sched/ext.h | 1 +
> kernel/sched/ext.c | 16 +++++++++++++---
> kernel/sched/sched.h | 1 +
> 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/sched/ext.h b/include/linux/sched/ext.h
> index 60285c3d07cf..3d3216ff9188 100644
> --- a/include/linux/sched/ext.h
> +++ b/include/linux/sched/ext.h
> @@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ enum scx_dsq_id_flags {
> SCX_DSQ_INVALID = SCX_DSQ_FLAG_BUILTIN | 0,
> SCX_DSQ_GLOBAL = SCX_DSQ_FLAG_BUILTIN | 1,
> SCX_DSQ_LOCAL = SCX_DSQ_FLAG_BUILTIN | 2,
> + SCX_DSQ_BYPASS = SCX_DSQ_FLAG_BUILTIN | 3,
> SCX_DSQ_LOCAL_ON = SCX_DSQ_FLAG_BUILTIN | SCX_DSQ_FLAG_LOCAL_ON,
> SCX_DSQ_LOCAL_CPU_MASK = 0xffffffffLLU,
> };
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext.c
> index b18864655d3a..4e128b139e7c 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/ext.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/ext.c
> @@ -1298,7 +1298,7 @@ static void do_enqueue_task(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, u64 enq_flags,
>
> if (scx_rq_bypassing(rq)) {
> __scx_add_event(sch, SCX_EV_BYPASS_DISPATCH, 1);

Nit: The bypass label has a single statement, and there is no fallthrough to it.
Can we just add the logic here:

dsq = &task_rq(p)->scx.bypass_dsq;
goto enqueue;

and remove the new label?

> - goto global;
> + goto bypass;
> }
>
> if (p->scx.ddsp_dsq_id != SCX_DSQ_INVALID)
> @@ -1356,6 +1356,9 @@ static void do_enqueue_task(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, u64 enq_flags,
> global:
> dsq = find_global_dsq(sch, p);
> goto enqueue;
> +bypass:
> + dsq = &task_rq(p)->scx.bypass_dsq;

Nit: If we keep the bypass label, we can remove the goto since the
label is right below. Otherwise, we could remove it

> + goto enqueue;
>
> enqueue:
> /*
> @@ -2154,8 +2157,14 @@ static int balance_one(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *prev)
> if (consume_global_dsq(sch, rq))
> goto has_tasks;
>
> - if (unlikely(!SCX_HAS_OP(sch, dispatch)) ||
> - scx_rq_bypassing(rq) || !scx_rq_online(rq))
> + if (scx_rq_bypassing(rq)) {
> + if (consume_dispatch_q(sch, rq, &rq->scx.bypass_dsq))
> + goto has_tasks;
> + else
> + goto no_tasks;
> + }
> +
> + if (unlikely(!SCX_HAS_OP(sch, dispatch)) || !scx_rq_online(rq))
> goto no_tasks;
>
> dspc->rq = rq;
> @@ -5367,6 +5376,7 @@ void __init init_sched_ext_class(void)
> int n = cpu_to_node(cpu);
>
> init_dsq(&rq->scx.local_dsq, SCX_DSQ_LOCAL);
> + init_dsq(&rq->scx.bypass_dsq, SCX_DSQ_BYPASS);
> INIT_LIST_HEAD(&rq->scx.runnable_list);
> INIT_LIST_HEAD(&rq->scx.ddsp_deferred_locals);
>
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/sched.h b/kernel/sched/sched.h
> index 27aae2a298f8..5991133a4849 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/sched.h
> +++ b/kernel/sched/sched.h
> @@ -808,6 +808,7 @@ struct scx_rq {
> struct balance_callback deferred_bal_cb;
> struct irq_work deferred_irq_work;
> struct irq_work kick_cpus_irq_work;
> + struct scx_dispatch_q bypass_dsq;
> };
> #endif /* CONFIG_SCHED_CLASS_EXT */
>
> --
> 2.51.2
>
>