[PATCH v4 14/23] perf annotate-arm64: Support load instruction tracking

From: Tengda Wu

Date: Sat Aug 08 2026 - 08:25:06 EST


Extend update_insn_state_arm64() to handle LDR instructions, tracking
register state changes when data is loaded from memory to registers.

The implementation handles the three primary arm64 addressing modes:
1. Signed offset: [base, #imm|reg]
2. Pre-index: [base, #imm]!
3. Post-index: [base], #imm

Before updating, check the addressing mode via get_reg_index_offset() to
obtain the actual source's reg_offset, and then propagate the type.

Since a load instruction may have two destination registers (in ldp cases),
introduce propagate_load_reg_state() to propagate the type for a specified
destination register using a given reg_offset. The respective reg_offset
values for the two registers are as follows:

dst->reg1: reg_offset = get_reg_index_offset()
dst->reg2: reg_offset = get_reg_index_offset() + reg_size(dst->reg1)

Finally, handle the side effects of pre-index and post-index addressing
via adjust_reg_index_state().

A real-world example is shown below:

ffff80008011f5b0 <pick_task_stop>:
ffff80008011f5b8: ldr x0, [x0, #2712] // x0: struct rq* -> task_struct*
* ffff80008011f5c0: ldr w1, [x0, #104]

Before this commit, the type of x0 was incorrectly inferred as 'struct rq':

find data type for 0x68(reg0) at pick_task_stop+0x10
var [8] reg0 offset 0 type='struct rq*'
chk [10] reg0 offset=0x68 ok=1 kind=1 (struct rq*) : Good!
final result: type='struct rq'

After this commit, the type of x0 is correctly inferred as 'struct task_struct':

find data type for 0x68(reg0) at pick_task_stop+0x10
var [8] reg0 offset 0 type='struct rq*'
ldr [8] 0xa98(reg0) -> reg0 type='struct task_struct*'
chk [10] reg0 offset=0x68 ok=1 kind=1 (struct task_struct*) : Good!
final result: type='struct task_struct'

Signed-off-by: Li Huafei <lihuafei1@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Tengda Wu <wutengda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
.../perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c | 148 +++++++++++++++++-
1 file changed, 147 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c b/tools/perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c
index acff14ca01e0..6557c0ad11b2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c
@@ -358,11 +358,152 @@ static int extract_op_location_arm64(const struct arch *arch,
}

#ifdef HAVE_LIBDW_SUPPORT
+static int arm64__reg_size(const char *reg)
+{
+ if (!reg || !*reg || !arm64__is_reg(reg))
+ return -1;
+
+ if (reg[0] == 'w')
+ return 4;
+
+ if (reg[0] == 'x' || !strncmp(reg, "sp", 2))
+ return 8;
+
+ return -1;
+}
+
+static int get_reg_index_offset(struct annotated_op_loc *op_loc)
+{
+ return op_loc->addr_mode == PERF_ADDR_MODE_POST_INDEX ? 0 : op_loc->offset;
+}
+
+/* Apply addressing mode (pre-index, post-index) to register state */
+static void adjust_reg_index_state(struct type_state *state,
+ struct annotated_op_loc *op_loc,
+ const char *insn_name, u32 insn_offset)
+{
+ struct type_state_reg *tsr;
+ int reg = op_loc->reg1;
+
+ if (op_loc->addr_mode != PERF_ADDR_MODE_PRE_INDEX &&
+ op_loc->addr_mode != PERF_ADDR_MODE_POST_INDEX)
+ return;
+
+ if (!has_reg_type(state, reg) || !state->regs[reg].ok)
+ return;
+
+ tsr = &state->regs[reg];
+ tsr->copied_from = -1;
+ tsr->offset = op_loc->offset + tsr->offset;
+
+ pr_debug_dtp("%s [%x] %s-index %#x(reg%d) -> reg%d", insn_name,
+ insn_offset, op_loc->addr_mode == PERF_ADDR_MODE_PRE_INDEX ?
+ "pre" : "post", op_loc->offset, reg, reg);
+ pr_debug_type_name(&tsr->type, tsr->kind);
+}
+
+/*
+ * For load insns: propagate type from @src to @dreg, applying @reg_offset
+ * to the source struct's field offset.
+ */
+static int propagate_load_reg_state(struct type_state *state,
+ struct disasm_line *dl, int dreg,
+ struct annotated_op_loc *src,
+ int reg_offset, const char *insn_name)
+{
+ struct type_state_reg *tsr;
+ struct type_state_reg src_tsr;
+ Dwarf_Die type_die;
+ u32 insn_offset = dl->al.offset;
+ int sreg = src->reg1;
+
+ if (!has_reg_type(state, dreg))
+ return -1;
+
+ tsr = &state->regs[dreg];
+ tsr->copied_from = -1;
+
+retry:
+ if (!has_reg_type(state, sreg) || !state->regs[sreg].ok)
+ return -1;
+
+ src_tsr = state->regs[sreg];
+
+ /* Dereference the pointer if it has one */
+ if (src_tsr.kind == TSR_KIND_TYPE &&
+ die_deref_ptr_type(&src_tsr.type,
+ src_tsr.offset + reg_offset, &type_die)) {
+ tsr->type = type_die;
+ tsr->kind = TSR_KIND_TYPE;
+ tsr->offset = 0;
+ tsr->ok = true;
+
+ if (src->multi_regs) {
+ pr_debug_dtp("%s [%x] %#x(reg%d, reg%d) -> reg%d",
+ insn_name, insn_offset, reg_offset,
+ src->reg1, src->reg2, dreg);
+ } else {
+ pr_debug_dtp("%s [%x] %#x(reg%d) -> reg%d",
+ insn_name, insn_offset, reg_offset,
+ sreg, dreg);
+ }
+ pr_debug_type_name(&tsr->type, tsr->kind);
+ return 0;
+ }
+ /* Or try another register if any */
+ else if (src->multi_regs && src->reg1 != src->reg2 && sreg != src->reg2) {
+ sreg = src->reg2;
+ goto retry;
+ }
+
+ return -1;
+}
+
+static void update_load_insn_state(struct type_state *state,
+ struct disasm_line *dl,
+ struct annotated_op_loc *src,
+ struct annotated_op_loc *dst)
+{
+ int reg_offset = get_reg_index_offset(src);
+ const char *insn_name = dst->multi_regs ? "ldp" : "ldr";
+
+ if (!has_reg_type(state, dst->reg1) ||
+ (dst->multi_regs && !has_reg_type(state, dst->reg2)))
+ goto out_err_adjust;
+
+ /* Handle the first destination register */
+ if (propagate_load_reg_state(state, dl, dst->reg1, src,
+ reg_offset, insn_name))
+ goto out_err_adjust;
+
+ /* Handle the second destination register (ldp only) */
+ if (dst->multi_regs) {
+ int reg_size = arm64__reg_size(dl->ops.target.raw);
+
+ if (reg_size < 0 ||
+ propagate_load_reg_state(state, dl, dst->reg2, src,
+ reg_offset + reg_size, insn_name))
+ goto out_err_adjust;
+ }
+
+out_adjust:
+ adjust_reg_index_state(state, src, insn_name, dl->al.offset);
+ return;
+
+out_err_adjust:
+ if (has_reg_type(state, dst->reg1))
+ invalidate_reg_state(&state->regs[dst->reg1]);
+ if (dst->multi_regs && has_reg_type(state, dst->reg2))
+ invalidate_reg_state(&state->regs[dst->reg2]);
+ goto out_adjust;
+}
+
static void update_insn_state_arm64(struct type_state *state,
struct data_loc_info *dloc, Dwarf_Die *cu_die,
struct disasm_line *dl)
{
struct annotated_insn_loc loc;
+ struct annotated_op_loc *src = &loc.ops[INSN_OP_SOURCE];
struct annotated_op_loc *dst = &loc.ops[INSN_OP_TARGET];
u32 insn_offset = dl->al.offset;

@@ -418,7 +559,8 @@ static void update_insn_state_arm64(struct type_state *state,
* Invalidate destination register(s) for unsupported instructions to
* prevent stale type info from propagating to subsequent instructions.
*/
- if (has_reg_type(state, dst->reg1)) {
+ if (has_reg_type(state, dst->reg1) &&
+ strncmp(dl->ins.name, "ld", 2)) {
pr_debug_dtp("%s [%x] invalidate reg%d",
dl->ins.name, insn_offset, dst->reg1);
invalidate_reg_state(&state->regs[dst->reg1]);
@@ -429,6 +571,10 @@ static void update_insn_state_arm64(struct type_state *state,
pr_debug_dtp("\n");
return;
}
+
+ /* Memory to register transfers */
+ if (!strncmp(dl->ins.name, "ld", 2))
+ update_load_insn_state(state, dl, src, dst);
}
#endif

--
2.34.1