Re: [PATCH v2] arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h: redefine rmb and wmb to lwsync

From: Paul E. McKenney
Date: Wed Feb 22 2023 - 23:16:20 EST


On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 09:31:48AM +0530, Kautuk Consul wrote:
> On 2023-02-22 09:47:19, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> > On Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 02:33:44PM +0530, Kautuk Consul wrote:
> > > A link from ibm.com states:
> > > "Ensures that all instructions preceding the call to __lwsync
> > > complete before any subsequent store instructions can be executed
> > > on the processor that executed the function. Also, it ensures that
> > > all load instructions preceding the call to __lwsync complete before
> > > any subsequent load instructions can be executed on the processor
> > > that executed the function. This allows you to synchronize between
> > > multiple processors with minimal performance impact, as __lwsync
> > > does not wait for confirmation from each processor."
> > >
> > > Thats why smp_rmb() and smp_wmb() are defined to lwsync.
> > > But this same understanding applies to parallel pipeline
> > > execution on each PowerPC processor.
> > > So, use the lwsync instruction for rmb() and wmb() on the PPC
> > > architectures that support it.
> > >
> > > Signed-off-by: Kautuk Consul <kconsul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > ---
> > > arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h | 7 +++++++
> > > 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h
> > > index b95b666f0374..e088dacc0ee8 100644
> > > --- a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h
> > > +++ b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/barrier.h
> > > @@ -36,8 +36,15 @@
> > > * heavy-weight sync, so smp_wmb() can be a lighter-weight eieio.
> > > */
> > > #define __mb() __asm__ __volatile__ ("sync" : : : "memory")
> > > +
> > > +/* The sub-arch has lwsync. */
> > > +#if defined(CONFIG_PPC64) || defined(CONFIG_PPC_E500MC)
> > > +#define __rmb() __asm__ __volatile__ ("lwsync" : : : "memory")
> > > +#define __wmb() __asm__ __volatile__ ("lwsync" : : : "memory")
> >
> > Hmmm...
> >
> > Does the lwsync instruction now order both cached and uncached accesses?
> > Or have there been changes so that smp_rmb() and smp_wmb() get this
> > definition, while rmb() and wmb() still get the sync instruction?
> > (Not seeing this, but I could easily be missing something.)

> Upfront I don't see any documentation that states that lwsync
> distinguishes between cached and uncached accesses.
> That's why I requested the mailing list for test results with
> kernel load testing.

I suggest giving the reference manual a very careful read. I wish I
could be more helpful, but I found that a very long time ago, and no
longer recall exactly where it was stated.

But maybe Michael Ellerman has a pointer?

Thanx, Paul

> > > +#else
> > > #define __rmb() __asm__ __volatile__ ("sync" : : : "memory")
> > > #define __wmb() __asm__ __volatile__ ("sync" : : : "memory")
> > > +#endif
> > >
> > > /* The sub-arch has lwsync */
> > > #if defined(CONFIG_PPC64) || defined(CONFIG_PPC_E500MC)
> > > --
> > > 2.31.1
> > >