From: Kuba Piecuch <jpiecuch@google.com>
To: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>, Andrea Righi <arighi@nvidia.com>,
Changwoo Min <changwoo@igalia.com>,
David Vernet <void@manifault.com>,
Christian Loehle <christian.loehle@arm.com>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, sched-ext@lists.linux.dev,
Kuba Piecuch <jpiecuch@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 sched_ext/for-7.1] sched_ext: Documentation: improve accuracy of task lifecycle pseudo-code
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2026 16:57:44 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260409165744.1526489-1-jpiecuch@google.com> (raw)
* Add ops.quiescent() and ops.runnable() to the sched_change path.
When a queued task has one of its scheduling properties changed
(e.g. nice, affinity), it goes through dequeue() -> quiescent() ->
(property change callback, e.g. ops.set_weight()) -> runnable() ->
enqueue().
* Change && to || in ops.enqueue() condition. We want to enqueue tasks
that have a non-zero slice and are not in any DSQ.
* Call ops.dispatch() and ops.dequeue() only for tasks that have had
ops.enqueue() called. This is to account for tasks direct-dispatched
from ops.select_cpu().
* Add a note explaining that the pseudo-code provides a simplified view
of the task lifecycle and list some examples of cases that the
pseudo-code does not account for.
Fixes: a4f61f0a1afd ("sched_ext: Documentation: Add ops.dequeue() to task lifecycle")
Signed-off-by: Kuba Piecuch <jpiecuch@google.com>
---
Changes in v2:
- Changed && to || in ops.enqueue() condition (Andrea)
- Moved ops.dispatch() and ops.dequeue() inside the if statement
(Andrea)
- Added a note after the pseudo-code with examples of cases that the
pseudo-code does not account for
- Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260408091821.91063-1-jpiecuch@google.com
Documentation/scheduler/sched-ext.rst | 43 ++++++++++++++++++++++-----
1 file changed, 36 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/scheduler/sched-ext.rst b/Documentation/scheduler/sched-ext.rst
index ec594ae8086de..2d77ab4816a63 100644
--- a/Documentation/scheduler/sched-ext.rst
+++ b/Documentation/scheduler/sched-ext.rst
@@ -408,8 +408,8 @@ for more information.
Task Lifecycle
--------------
-The following pseudo-code summarizes the entire lifecycle of a task managed
-by a sched_ext scheduler:
+The following pseudo-code presents a rough overview the entire lifecycle
+of a task managed by a sched_ext scheduler:
.. code-block:: c
@@ -423,20 +423,25 @@ by a sched_ext scheduler:
ops.runnable(); /* Task becomes ready to run */
while (task_is_runnable(task)) {
- if (task is not in a DSQ && task->scx.slice == 0) {
+ if (task is not in a DSQ || task->scx.slice == 0) {
ops.enqueue(); /* Task can be added to a DSQ */
/* Task property change (i.e., affinity, nice, etc.)? */
if (sched_change(task)) {
ops.dequeue(); /* Exiting BPF scheduler custody */
+ ops.quiescent();
+
+ /* Property change callback, e.g. ops.set_weight() */
+
+ ops.runnable();
continue;
}
- }
- /* Any usable CPU becomes available */
+ /* Any usable CPU becomes available */
- ops.dispatch(); /* Task is moved to a local DSQ */
- ops.dequeue(); /* Exiting BPF scheduler custody */
+ ops.dispatch(); /* Task is moved to a local DSQ */
+ ops.dequeue(); /* Exiting BPF scheduler custody */
+ }
ops.running(); /* Task starts running on its assigned CPU */
@@ -456,6 +461,30 @@ by a sched_ext scheduler:
ops.disable(); /* Disable BPF scheduling for the task */
ops.exit_task(); /* Task is destroyed */
+Note that the above pseudo-code does not cover all possible state transitions
+and edge cases, to name a few examples:
+
+* ``ops.dispatch()`` may fail to move the task to a local DSQ due to a racing
+ property change on that task, in which case ``ops.dispatch()`` will be
+ retried.
+
+* The task may be direct-dispatched to a local DSQ from ``ops.enqueue()``,
+ in which case ``ops.dispatch()`` and ``ops.dequeue()`` are skipped and we go
+ straight to ``ops.running()``.
+
+* Property changes may occur at virtually any point during the task's lifecycle,
+ not just when the task is queued and waiting to be dispatched. For example,
+ changing a property of a running task will lead to the callback sequence
+ ``ops.stopping()`` -> ``ops.quiescent()`` -> (property change callback) ->
+ ``ops.runnable()`` -> ``ops.running()``.
+
+* A sched_ext task can be preempted by a task from a higher-priority scheduling
+ class, in which it will exit the tick-dispatch loop even though it is runnable
+ and has a non-zero slice.
+
+See the "Scheduling Cycle" section for a more detailed description of how
+a freshly woken up task gets on a CPU.
+
Where to Look
=============
--
2.53.0.1213.gd9a14994de-goog
next reply other threads:[~2026-04-09 16:58 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-04-09 16:57 Kuba Piecuch [this message]
2026-04-09 17:46 ` [PATCH v2 sched_ext/for-7.1] sched_ext: Documentation: improve accuracy of task lifecycle pseudo-code Andrea Righi
2026-04-10 8:54 ` Tejun Heo
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