Re: [PATCH] net: raise RCU qs after each threaded NAPI poll

[Paul E. McKenney]

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 05:10:43PM -0500, Joel Fernandes wrote:
> 
> 
> > On Feb 28, 2024, at 4:52 PM, Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > 
> > On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 04:27:47PM -0500, Joel Fernandes wrote:
> >> 
> >> 
> >>>> On Feb 28, 2024, at 4:13 PM, Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>> On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 03:14:34PM -0500, Joel Fernandes wrote:
> >>>>> On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 12:18 PM Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 10:37:51AM -0600, Yan Zhai wrote:
> >>>>>> On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 9:37 AM Joel Fernandes <joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>>>>>> Also optionally, I wonder if calling rcu_tasks_qs() directly is better
> >>>>>>> (for documentation if anything) since the issue is Tasks RCU specific. Also
> >>>>>>> code comment above the rcu_softirq_qs() call about cond_resched() not taking
> >>>>>>> care of Tasks RCU would be great!
> >>>>>>> 
> >>>>>> Yes it's quite surprising to me that cond_resched does not help here,
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> In theory, it would be possible to make cond_resched() take care of
> >>>>> Tasks RCU.  In practice, the lazy-preemption work is looking to get rid
> >>>>> of cond_resched().  But if for some reason cond_resched() needs to stay
> >>>>> around, doing that work might make sense.
> >>>> 
> >>>> In my opinion, cond_resched() doing Tasks-RCU QS does not make sense
> >>>> (to me), because cond_resched() is to inform the scheduler to run
> >>>> something else possibly of higher priority while the current task is
> >>>> still runnable. On the other hand, what's not permitted in a Tasks RCU
> >>>> reader is a voluntary sleep. So IMO even though cond_resched() is a
> >>>> voluntary call, it is still not a sleep but rather a preemption point.
> >>> 
> >>> From the viewpoint of Task RCU's users, the point is to figure out
> >>> when it is OK to free an already-removed tracing trampoline.  The
> >>> current Task RCU implementation relies on the fact that tracing
> >>> trampolines do not do voluntary context switches.
> >> 
> >> Yes.
> >> 
> >>> 
> >>>> So a Tasks RCU reader should perfectly be able to be scheduled out in
> >>>> the middle of a read-side critical section (in current code) by
> >>>> calling cond_resched(). It is just like involuntary preemption in the
> >>>> middle of a RCU reader, in disguise, Right?
> >>> 
> >>> You lost me on this one.  This for example is not permitted:
> >>> 
> >>>   rcu_read_lock();
> >>>   cond_resched();
> >>>   rcu_read_unlock();
> >>> 
> >>> But in a CONFIG_PREEMPT=y kernel, that RCU reader could be preempted.
> >>> 
> >>> So cond_resched() looks like a voluntary context switch to me.  Recall
> >>> that vanilla non-preemptible RCU will treat them as quiescent states if
> >>> the grace period extends long enough.
> >>> 
> >>> What am I missing here?
> >> 
> >> That we are discussing Tasks-RCU read side section? Sorry I should have been more clear. I thought sleeping was not permitted in Tasks RCU reader, but non-sleep context switches (example involuntarily getting preempted were).
> > 
> > Well, to your initial point, cond_resched() does eventually invoke
> > preempt_schedule_common(), so you are quite correct that as far as
> > Tasks RCU is concerned, cond_resched() is not a quiescent state.
> 
>  Thanks for confirming. :-)

However, given that the current Tasks RCU use cases wait for trampolines
to be evacuated, Tasks RCU could make the choice that cond_resched()
be a quiescent state, for example, by adjusting rcu_all_qs() and
rcu_urgent_qs accordingly.

But this seems less pressing given the chance that cond_resched() might
go away in favor of lazy preemption.

							Thanx, Paul