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[v8,0/3] powerpc: Detection and scheduler optimization for POWER9 bigcore

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Series powerpc: Detection and scheduler optimization for POWER9 bigcore | expand

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Gautham R Shenoy Sept. 20, 2018, 5:22 p.m. UTC
From: "Gautham R. Shenoy" <ego@linux.vnet.ibm.com>

Hi,

This is the eight iteration of the patchset to add support for
big-core on POWER9. This patch also optimizes the task placement on
such big-core systems.

The previous versions can be found here:

v7: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/8/20/52
v6: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/8/9/119
v5: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/8/6/587
v4: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/7/24/79
v3: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/7/6/255
v2: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/7/3/401
v1: https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/5/11/245

Changes :

v7 --> v8:
   - Reorganized the patch series into three patches :

     	- First one discovers the big-cores and initializes a per-cpu
     	  cpumask with its small-core siblings.

        - The second patch uses the small-core siblings at the SMT
     	  level sched-domains on the big-core systems and also
     	  activates the CACHE domain that corresponds to the big-core
     	  where all the threads share L2 cache.

	- The third patch creates a pair of sysfs attributes named
	  /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuN/topology/smallcore_thread_siblings
	  and
	  /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuN/topology/smallcore_thread_siblings_list

   - The third patch addresses Michael Neuling's review comment for
     the previous iteration.

Description:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A pair of IBM POWER9 SMT4 cores can be fused together to form a
big-core with 8 SMT threads. This can be discovered via the
"ibm,thread-groups" CPU property in the device tree which will
indicate which group of threads that share the L1 cache, translation
cache and instruction data flow.  If there are multiple such group of
threads, then the core is a big-core. Furthermore, on POWER9 the thread-ids of
such a big-core is obtained by interleaving the thread-ids of the
component SMT4 cores.

Eg: Threads in the pair of component SMT4 cores of an interleaved
big-core are numbered {0,2,4,6} and {1,3,5,7} respectively.

 	   -------------------------
	   |  	    L1 Cache       |
       ----------------------------------
       |L2|     |     |     |      |
       |  |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |Small Core0
       |C |     |     |     |      |
Big    |a --------------------------
Core   |c |     |     |     |      |
       |h |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   | Small Core1
       |e |     |     |     |      |
       -----------------------------
	  |  	    L1 Cache       |
	  --------------------------

On such a big-core system, when multiple tasks are scheduled to run on
the big-core, we get the best performance when the tasks are spread
across the pair of SMT4 cores.

Eg: Suppose there 4 tasks {p1, p2, p3, p4} are run on a big core, then

An Example of Optimal Task placement:
	   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |   Small Core0
           | (p1)| (p2)|     |      |
Big Core   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   |   Small Core1
           |     | (p3)|     | (p4) |
           --------------------------

An example of Suboptimal Task placement:
	   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |   Small Core0
           | (p1)| (p2)|     |  (p4)|
Big Core   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   |   Small Core1
           |     | (p3)|     |      |
           --------------------------

In order to achieve optimal task placement, on big-core systems, we
define the SMT level sched-domain to consist of the threads belonging
to the small cores. The CACHE level sched domain will consist of all
the threads belonging to the big-core. With this, the Linux Kernel
load-balancer will ensure that the tasks are spread across all the
component small cores in the system, thereby yielding optimum
performance.

Furthermore, this solution works correctly across all SMT modes
(8,4,2), as the interleaved thread-ids ensures that when we go to
lower SMT modes (4,2) the threads are offlined in a descending order,
thereby leaving equal number of threads from the component small cores
online as illustrated below.

With Patches: (ppc64_cpu --smt=on) : SMT domain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CPU0 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0,2,4,6 level=SMT
   groups: 0:{ span=0 cap=294 }, 2:{ span=2 cap=294 },
           4:{ span=4 cap=294 }, 6:{ span=6 cap=294 }
 CPU1 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=1,3,5,7 level=SMT
   groups: 1:{ span=1 cap=294 }, 3:{ span=3 cap=294 },
           5:{ span=5 cap=294 }, 7:{ span=7 cap=294 }

            Optimal Task placement (SMT 8)
	   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |   Small Core0
           | (p1)| (p2)|     |      |
Big Core   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   |   Small Core1
           |     | (p3)|     | (p4) |
           --------------------------

With Patches : (ppc64_cpu --smt=4) : SMT domain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CPU0 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0,2 level=SMT
   groups: 0:{ span=0 cap=589 }, 2:{ span=2 cap=589 }
 CPU1 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=1,3 level=SMT
   groups: 1:{ span=1 cap=589 }, 3:{ span=3 cap=589 }

            Optimal Task placement (SMT 4)
	   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |   Small Core0
           | (p1)| (p2)| Off | Off  |
Big Core   --------------------------
           |     |     |     |      |
           |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   |   Small Core1
           | (p4)| (p3)| Off | Off  |
           --------------------------

With Patches : (ppc64_cpu --smt=2) : SMT domain ceases to exist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            Optimal Task placement (SMT 2)
	   --------------------------
           | (p2)|     |     |      |
           |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |   Small Core0
           | (p1)| Off | Off | Off  |
Big Core   --------------------------
           | (p3)|     |     |      |
           |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   |   Small Core1
           | (p4)| Off | Off | Off  |
           --------------------------

Thus, as an added advantage in SMT=2 mode, we will only have 3 levels
in the sched-domain topology (CACHE, DIE and NUMA).

The SMT levels, without the patches are as follows.

Without Patches: (ppc64_cpu --smt=on) : SMT domain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CPU0 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-7 level=SMT
   groups: 0:{ span=0 cap=147 }, 1:{ span=1 cap=147 },
           2:{ span=2 cap=147 }, 3:{ span=3 cap=147 },
           4:{ span=4 cap=147 }, 5:{ span=5 cap=147 },
	   6:{ span=6 cap=147 }, 7:{ span=7 cap=147 }
 CPU1 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-7 level=SMT
   groups: 1:{ span=1 cap=147 }, 2:{ span=2 cap=147 },
           3:{ span=3 cap=147 }, 4:{ span=4 cap=147 },
	   5:{ span=5 cap=147 }, 6:{ span=6 cap=147 },
	   7:{ span=7 cap=147 }, 0:{ span=0 cap=147 }

Without Patches: (ppc64_cpu --smt=4) : SMT domain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CPU0 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-3 level=SMT
   groups: 0:{ span=0 cap=294 }, 1:{ span=1 cap=294 },
           2:{ span=2 cap=294 }, 3:{ span=3 cap=294 },
 CPU1 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-3 level=SMT
   groups: 1:{ span=1 cap=294 }, 2:{ span=2 cap=294 },
           3:{ span=3 cap=294 }, 0:{ span=0 cap=294 }

Without Patches: (ppc64_cpu --smt=2) : SMT domain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CPU0 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-1 level=SMT
   groups: 0:{ span=0 cap=589 }, 1:{ span=1 cap=589 },

 CPU1 attaching sched-domain(s):
  domain-0: span=0-1 level=SMT
   groups: 1:{ span=1 cap=589 }, 0:{ span=0 cap=589 },

This patchset contains two patches which on detecting the presence of
big-cores, defines the SMT level sched domain to correspond to the
threads of the small cores.

Patch 1: adds support to detect the presence of
big-cores and reports the small-core siblings of each CPU X
via the sysfs file "/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuX/small_core_siblings".

Patch 2: Defines the SMT level sched domain to correspond to the
threads of the small cores.

Results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) 2 thread ebizzy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experimental results for ebizzy with 2 threads, bound to a single big-core
show a marked improvement with this patchset over the 4.19-rc4 vanilla
kernel.

The result of 100 such runs for 4.19-rc4 kernel and the
4.19-rc4 + big-core-smt-patches are as follows

4.19.0-rc4 vanilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        records/s    :  # samples  : Histogram
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[0000000 - 1000000]  :      0      : #
[1000000 - 2000000]  :      1      : #
[2000000 - 3000000]  :      2      : #
[3000000 - 4000000]  :      17     : ####
[4000000 - 5000000]  :      9      : ##
[5000000 - 6000000]  :      5      : ##
[6000000 - 7000000]  :      66     : ##############
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4.19-rc4 + big-core-patches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        records/s    :  # samples  : Histogram
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[0000000 - 1000000]  :      0      : #
[1000000 - 2000000]  :      0      : #
[2000000 - 3000000]  :      5      : ##
[3000000 - 4000000]  :      9      : ##
[4000000 - 5000000]  :      0      : #
[5000000 - 6000000]  :      2      : #
[6000000 - 7000000]  :      84     : #################
=================================================

2) Hackbench (perf bench sched pipe)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
500 iterations of the hackbench run both on 4.19-rc4 vanilla kernel
and v4.19-rc4 + big-core-smt-patches. There isn't a significant
difference between the two.

The values for Min, Max, Median, Avg below are in seconds. Lower the
better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
			4.19-rc4 vanilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    N           Min           Max        Median           Avg        Stddev
  500         4.603         9.438         6.165      5.921446    0.47448034
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
			4.19-rc4 + big-core-patches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    N           Min           Max        Median           Avg        Stddev
  500         4.532         6.476         6.224      5.982098    0.43021891
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Gautham R. Shenoy (3):
  powerpc: Detect the presence of big-cores via "ibm,thread-groups"
  powerpc: Use cpu_smallcore_sibling_mask at SMT level on bigcores
  powerpc/sysfs: Add topology/smallcore_thread_siblings[_list]

 Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-devices-system-cpu |  14 ++
 arch/powerpc/include/asm/cputhreads.h              |   2 +
 arch/powerpc/include/asm/smp.h                     |   6 +
 arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c                          | 240 ++++++++++++++++++++-
 arch/powerpc/kernel/sysfs.c                        |  88 ++++++++
 5 files changed, 349 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

Comments

Dave Hansen Sept. 20, 2018, 6:04 p.m. UTC | #1
On 09/20/2018 10:22 AM, Gautham R. Shenoy wrote:
>  	   -------------------------
> 	   |  	    L1 Cache       |
>        ----------------------------------
>        |L2|     |     |     |      |
>        |  |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |Small Core0
>        |C |     |     |     |      |
> Big    |a --------------------------
> Core   |c |     |     |     |      |
>        |h |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   | Small Core1
>        |e |     |     |     |      |
>        -----------------------------
> 	  |  	    L1 Cache       |
> 	  --------------------------

The scheduler already knows about shared caches.  Could you elaborate on
how this is different from the situation today where we have multiple
cores sharing an L2/L3?

Adding the new sysfs stuff seems like overkill if that's all that you
are trying to do.
Gautham R Shenoy Sept. 22, 2018, 11:03 a.m. UTC | #2
Hi Dave,

On Thu, Sep 20, 2018 at 11:04:54AM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote:
> On 09/20/2018 10:22 AM, Gautham R. Shenoy wrote:
> >  	   -------------------------
> > 	   |  	    L1 Cache       |
> >        ----------------------------------
> >        |L2|     |     |     |      |
> >        |  |  0  |  2  |  4  |  6   |Small Core0
> >        |C |     |     |     |      |
> > Big    |a --------------------------
> > Core   |c |     |     |     |      |
> >        |h |  1  |  3  |  5  |  7   | Small Core1
> >        |e |     |     |     |      |
> >        -----------------------------
> > 	  |  	    L1 Cache       |
> > 	  --------------------------
> 
> The scheduler already knows about shared caches.  Could you elaborate on
> how this is different from the situation today where we have multiple
> cores sharing an L2/L3?

The issue is not so much about the threads in the core sharing L2
cache. But the two group of threads in the core, each of which has its
own L1-cache. This patchset (the second patch in the series) informs
the scheduler of this distinction by defining the SMT sched-domain
have groups correspond to the threads that share L1 cache. With this
the scheduler will treat a pair of threads {1,2} differently from
{1,3} when threads 1 and 3 share the L1 cache, while 1 and 2 don't.

The next sched-domain (CACHE domain) is defined as the group of
threads that share the L2 cache, which happens to be the entire big
core.

Without this patchset, the SMT domain would be defined as the group of
threads that share L2 cache. Thus, the scheduler would treat any two
threads in the big-core in the same way, resulting in run-to-run
variance when the software threads are placed on pair of threads
within the same L1-cache group or on separate ones.

> 
> Adding the new sysfs stuff seems like overkill if that's all that you
> are trying to do.
>

The sysfs attributes are to inform the users that we have a big-core
configuration comprising of two small cores, thereby allowing them to
make informed choices should they want to pin the tasks to the CPUs.

--
Thanks and Regards
gautham.
Dave Hansen Sept. 25, 2018, 10:16 p.m. UTC | #3
On 09/22/2018 04:03 AM, Gautham R Shenoy wrote:
> Without this patchset, the SMT domain would be defined as the group of
> threads that share L2 cache.

Could you try to make a more clear, concise statement about the current
state of the art vs. what you want it to be?  Right now, the sched
domains do something like this in terms of ordering:

1. SMT siblings
2. Caches
3. NUMA

It sounds like you don't want SMT siblings to be the things that we use,
right?  Because some siblings share caches and some do not.  Right?  You
want something like this:

1. SMT siblings (sharing L1)
2. SMT siblings (sharing L2)
3. Other caches
4. NUMA
Gautham R Shenoy Sept. 26, 2018, 6:06 a.m. UTC | #4
Hello Dave,

On Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 03:16:30PM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote:
> On 09/22/2018 04:03 AM, Gautham R Shenoy wrote:
> > Without this patchset, the SMT domain would be defined as the group of
> > threads that share L2 cache.
> 
> Could you try to make a more clear, concise statement about the current
> state of the art vs. what you want it to be?  Right now, the sched
> domains do something like this in terms of ordering:
> 
> 1. SMT siblings
> 2. Caches
> 3. NUMA

Yes. you are right. The state of art on POWER9 machines having SMT8
cores is as you described above with

1. SMT siblings sharing L2-cache, called the SMT domain
2. Cores on the same die, called the DIE domain
3. NUMA

> 
> It sounds like you don't want SMT siblings to be the things that we use,
> right?  Because some siblings share caches and some do not.  Right?  You
> want something like this:
> 
> 1. SMT siblings (sharing L1)
> 2. SMT siblings (sharing L2)
> 3. Other caches
> 4. NUMA
>

Yes, with the patchset the sched-domain hierarchy on POWER9 machines
having SMT8 will be:

1. SMT siblings sharing L1 cache, called the SMT domain
2. SMT siblings sharing L2 cache, called the CACHE domain (introduced in
   commit 96d91431d691 "powerpc/smp: Add Power9 scheduler topology")
3. Cores on the same die, called the DIE domain.
4. NUMA

--
Thanks and Regards
gautham.