[PATCH 1/2] lib: sbi_init: Avoid thundering hurd problem with coldbook_lock

Jessica Clarke jrtc27 at jrtc27.com
Sun Aug 16 13:09:15 EDT 2020


On 16 Aug 2020, at 17:59, Anup Patel <anup at brainfault.org> wrote:
> 
> On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 9:30 PM Jessica Clarke <jrtc27 at jrtc27.com> wrote:
>> 
>> On 16 Aug 2020, at 16:45, Anup Patel <anup at brainfault.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 8:18 PM Jessica Clarke <jrtc27 at jrtc27.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> On 16 Aug 2020, at 15:24, Anup Patel <anup at brainfault.org> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 7:43 PM Jessica Clarke <jrtc27 at jrtc27.com> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On 16 Aug 2020, at 15:02, Anup Patel <anup at brainfault.org> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 12:20 PM Bin Meng <bmeng.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 3:49 AM Jessica Clarke <jrtc27 at jrtc27.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On 15 Aug 2020, at 18:00, Anup Patel <anup.patel at wdc.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> We can have thundering hurd problem with coldboot_lock where the
>>>>>>>>>> boot HART can potentially starve trying to acquire coldboot_lock
>>>>>>>>>> because some of the non-boot HARTs are continuously acquiring and
>>>>>>>>>> releasing coldboot_lock. This can happen if WFI is a NOP
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> That is neither necessary nor sufficient, it's solely based on
>>>>>>>>> whether the hart believes an M-mode software interrupt is pending?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> OR if
>>>>>>>>>> MIP.MSIP bit is already set for some of the non-boot HARTs.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> To avoid thundering hurd problem for coldboot_lock, we convert
>>>>>>>>>> coldboot_done flag into atomic variable and using coldboot_lock
>>>>>>>>>> only for coldboot_wait_hmask.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Anup Patel <anup.patel at wdc.com>
>>>>>>>>>> Tested-by: Heinrich Schuchardt <xypron.glpk at gmx.de>
>>>>>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>>>>> lib/sbi/sbi_init.c | 19 ++++++++++++-------
>>>>>>>>>> 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> diff --git a/lib/sbi/sbi_init.c b/lib/sbi/sbi_init.c
>>>>>>>>>> index a7fb848..6b58983 100644
>>>>>>>>>> --- a/lib/sbi/sbi_init.c
>>>>>>>>>> +++ b/lib/sbi/sbi_init.c
>>>>>>>>>> @@ -85,9 +85,10 @@ static void sbi_boot_prints(struct sbi_scratch *scratch, u32 hartid)
>>>>>>>>>> }
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> static spinlock_t coldboot_lock = SPIN_LOCK_INITIALIZER;
>>>>>>>>>> -static unsigned long coldboot_done = 0;
>>>>>>>>>> static struct sbi_hartmask coldboot_wait_hmask = { 0 };
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> +static atomic_t coldboot_done = ATOMIC_INITIALIZER(0);
>>>>>>>>>> +
>>>>>>>>>> static void wait_for_coldboot(struct sbi_scratch *scratch, u32 hartid)
>>>>>>>>>> {
>>>>>>>>>>   unsigned long saved_mie, cmip;
>>>>>>>>>> @@ -105,16 +106,20 @@ static void wait_for_coldboot(struct sbi_scratch *scratch, u32 hartid)
>>>>>>>>>>   /* Mark current HART as waiting */
>>>>>>>>>>   sbi_hartmask_set_hart(hartid, &coldboot_wait_hmask);
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> +     /* Release coldboot lock */
>>>>>>>>>> +     spin_unlock(&coldboot_lock);
>>>>>>>>>> +
>>>>>>>>>>   /* Wait for coldboot to finish using WFI */
>>>>>>>>>> -     while (!coldboot_done) {
>>>>>>>>>> -             spin_unlock(&coldboot_lock);
>>>>>>>>>> +     while (!atomic_read(&coldboot_done)) {
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Personally I'd make this a relaxed read and then explicitly fence
>>>>>>>>> outside the loop, as otherwise if we end up with MSIP erroneously set
>>>>>>>>> there may be a lot of cache coherency traffic due to repeated
>>>>>>>>> unnecessary fences?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>           do {
>>>>>>>>>>                   wfi();
>>>>>>>>>>                   cmip = csr_read(CSR_MIP);
>>>>>>>>>>            } while (!(cmip & MIP_MSIP));
>>>>>>>>>> -             spin_lock(&coldboot_lock);
>>>>>>>>>>   };
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> +     /* Acquire coldboot lock */
>>>>>>>>>> +     spin_lock(&coldboot_lock);
>>>>>>>>>> +
>>>>>>>>>>   /* Unmark current HART as waiting */
>>>>>>>>>>   sbi_hartmask_clear_hart(hartid, &coldboot_wait_hmask);
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> @@ -132,12 +137,12 @@ static void wake_coldboot_harts(struct sbi_scratch *scratch, u32 hartid)
>>>>>>>>>> {
>>>>>>>>>>   const struct sbi_platform *plat = sbi_platform_ptr(scratch);
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> +     /* Mark coldboot done */
>>>>>>>>>> +     atomic_write(&coldboot_done, 1);
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> This only needs to be a store release.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> I believe relaxed read / write can work as well.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Even if we use relaxed read / write, we will still need explicit Acquire
>>>>>>> and Release barriers. Better to use __smp_store_release() and
>>>>>>> __smp_load_acquire().
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Why not just use the C11 versions? Inline assembly is rarely needed
>>>>>> these days for atomics. Especially helpful given the large hammer that
>>>>>> is volatile inline assembly with a memory clobber causes highly
>>>>>> pessimistic code generation from the compiler. In general it should
>>>>>> only be necessary when needing to deal with I/O memory.
>>>>> 
>>>>> We want to keep our barrier usage close to Linux RISC-V so that
>>>>> people familiar with Linux can easily debug. Nothing against C11.
>>>> 
>>>> Ok, but what about those who don't deal with Linux and have to go look
>>>> up the semantics? C11/C++11 atomics are completely target-independent
>>>> and a universal standard. There are far more developers out there who
>>>> know C11/C++11 atomics and how to use them properly than those who know
>>>> the Linux atomics. They are also, in my opinion, far easier to reason
>>>> about, and the Linux ones are just poorly named (e.g. wmb() being
>>>> `fence ow, ow` but smp_wmb() being `fence w, w` is, to my mind,
>>>> confusing and not well-indicated by the names); I think it is far
>>>> easier for a Linux developer to move to the C11/C++11 atomics world
>>>> than the other way round. And, as I've said, using `__asm__
>>>> __volatile__ ("fence ..." ::: "memory")` everywhere does seriously hurt
>>>> the compiler's ability to optimise your code, whereas if you use
>>>> C11/C++11 atomics then it knows exactly what you're doing.
>>> 
>>> Like I said, nothing against C11 atomics. Moving to C11 atomics in
>>> OpenSBI is a separate topic so feel free to send PATCHs for it.
>> 
>> That is not the sentiment that most would extract from "We want to keep
>> our barrier usage close to Linux RISC-V so that people familiar with
>> Linux can easily debug". Such a statement comes across as saying that
>> sending in C11 patches would be a waste of time because OpenSBI has
>> already decided on staying with Linux atomics. Saying "nothing against
>> C11 atomics" is also a bit of a vacuous statement as it omits the key
>> "but", namely "but they are not Linux atomics which we prefer", so
>> somewhat mis-represents your position, or at least the position you
>> initially stated.
>> 
>>>> Quite frankly, settling on Linux atomics in order to make it familiar
>>>> to Linux developers is a bit hostile towards non-Linux developers.
>>>> FreeBSD doesn't use Linux atomics (and in fact it uses its own set that
>>>> are basically C11/C++11 atomics, just currently implemented in assembly
>>>> because they date from before widespread C11 support in compilers, but
>>>> they can all be replaced with their C11 equivalents, with the exception
>>>> of things dealing with I/O), so you're effectively declaring that Linux
>>>> matters more than any other operating system? Whether or not that's
>>>> your intent I don't know, nor do I particularly care, but it's
>>>> nonetheless how it comes across. Picking a universal standard ensures
>>>> you don't express favouritism, whilst making it _more_ accessible
>>>> overall.
>>> 
>>> Most of the OpenSBI contributors have a back-ground of Linux kernel
>>> development hence OpenSBI sources have a lot of Linux influence. This
>>> does not mean we are against non-Linux ways of doing things.
>> 
>> See above. I can completely understand starting out with Linux atomics
>> if that's what the original developers are most familiar with, but that
>> is a rather different position than what you first presented.
>> 
>>> Your implication that "Linux matters more to OpenSBI" is unwarranted.
>> 
>> Please do not mince my words, I chose them very carefully. I did not
>> say "Linux matters more to OpenSBI", I said:
>> 
>>  you're effectively declaring that Linux
>>  matters more than any other operating system? Whether or not that's
>>  your intent I don't know, nor do I particularly care, but it's
>>  nonetheless how it comes across.
> 
> You are making an incorrect conclusion here. I am not commenting
> any more on this.

I am not saying that is my conclusion. I am saying that is something
people _might_ reasonably conclude given that statement, and whether or
not such a conclusion is true is irrelevant, because by not making it
clear that it's not the case the damage has already been done. That is
all. Again, please read what I write and don't put words in my mouth; I
continue to be very careful in how I phrase this precisely so as to not
be saying the things you claim I am saying.

>> Note that second sentence; I explicitly stated that I was not accusing
>> you of stating that Linux matters more, rather that your statements
>> have the effect of _coming across_ that way _regardless_ of intent.
>> 
>>>> Using __smp_load_acquire/__smp_store_release though does seem
>>>> especially pointless; those are just obfuscated (to the compiler)
>>>> versions of C11 atomics, so those at least should just be the C11
>>>> versions, even if you do end up keeping the barriers.
>>> 
>>> Like I mentioned, moving to C11 atomics is a separate topic
>> 
>> Yes and no. The original patch used C11 atomics and when I suggested
>> using acquire/release you then changed to not using C11 atomics. Using
>> C11 atomics more widely, sure, that can be a separate thread, but given
>> C11 atomics have already been introduced by yourself in this thread I
>> think it's appropriate to discuss their use for this specific patch.
> 
> I am not familiar with C11 atomics. The riscv_atomic.c and riscv_atomic.h
> have atomic operations inspired from Linux sources.
> 
> The coldboot_done usage is classing single-producer and multiple-consumer
> problem so making coldboot_done as atomic seems overkill. That's why
> moving to __smp_load_acquire()/__smp_store_release() is appropriate
> for coldboot_done.

The C11 atomics are the same thing, but expressed with the standard
language primitives rather than black-box memory-clobbering inline
assembly. That means:

  atomic_store_explicit(&coldboot_done, 1, memory_order_release)

and

  while (!atomic_load_explicit(&coldboot_done, memory_order_relaxed)) {
      ...
  }
  atomic_thread_fence(memory_order_acquire);

or just

  while (!atomic_load_explicit(&coldboot_done, memory_order_acquire)) {
      ...
  }

if you're happy having the barrier on every loop iteration. This is no
more overkill than __smp_load_acquire()/__smp_store_release(), in fact
it's _less_ overkill by not having opaque memory clobbers.

Jess




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