[RFC PATCH v2 3/4] hp: Implement Hazard Pointers

From: Mathieu Desnoyers
Date: Fri Oct 04 2024 - 15:40:46 EST


This API provides existence guarantees of objects through Hazard
Pointers (HP). This minimalist implementation is specific to use
with preemption disabled, but can be extended further as needed.

Each HP domain defines a fixed number of hazard pointer slots (nr_cpus)
across the entire system.

Its main benefit over RCU is that it allows fast reclaim of
HP-protected pointers without needing to wait for a grace period.

It also allows the hazard pointer scan to call a user-defined callback
to retire a hazard pointer slot immediately if needed. This callback
may, for instance, issue an IPI to the relevant CPU.

There are a few possible use-cases for this in the Linux kernel:

- Improve performance of mm_count by replacing lazy active mm by HP.
- Guarantee object existence on pointer dereference to use refcount:
- replace locking used for that purpose in some drivers,
- replace RCU + inc_not_zero pattern,
- rtmutex: Improve situations where locks need to be taken in
reverse dependency chain order by guaranteeing existence of
first and second locks in traversal order, allowing them to be
locked in the correct order (which is reverse from traversal
order) rather than try-lock+retry on nested lock.

References:

[1]: M. M. Michael, "Hazard pointers: safe memory reclamation for
lock-free objects," in IEEE Transactions on Parallel and
Distributed Systems, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 491-504, June 2004

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/j3scdl5iymjlxavomgc6u5ndg3svhab6ga23dr36o4f5mt333w@7xslvq6b6hmv/
Link: https://lpc.events/event/18/contributions/1731/
Signed-off-by: Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Nicholas Piggin <npiggin@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Michael Ellerman <mpe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Sebastian Andrzej Siewior <bigeasy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Will Deacon <will@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Alan Stern <stern@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: John Stultz <jstultz@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Neeraj Upadhyay <Neeraj.Upadhyay@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Frederic Weisbecker <frederic@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Joel Fernandes <joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Josh Triplett <josh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Uladzislau Rezki <urezki@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Lai Jiangshan <jiangshanlai@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Zqiang <qiang.zhang1211@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@xxxxxxx>
Cc: maged.michael@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: Mateusz Guzik <mjguzik@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jonas Oberhauser <jonas.oberhauser@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: rcu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-mm@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: lkmm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
Changes since v0:
- Remove slot variable from hp_dereference_allocate().
---
include/linux/hp.h | 158 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
kernel/Makefile | 2 +-
kernel/hp.c | 46 +++++++++++++
3 files changed, 205 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
create mode 100644 include/linux/hp.h
create mode 100644 kernel/hp.c

diff --git a/include/linux/hp.h b/include/linux/hp.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e85fc4365ea2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/hp.h
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
+
+#ifndef _LINUX_HP_H
+#define _LINUX_HP_H
+
+/*
+ * HP: Hazard Pointers
+ *
+ * This API provides existence guarantees of objects through hazard
+ * pointers.
+ *
+ * It uses a fixed number of hazard pointer slots (nr_cpus) across the
+ * entire system for each HP domain.
+ *
+ * Its main benefit over RCU is that it allows fast reclaim of
+ * HP-protected pointers without needing to wait for a grace period.
+ *
+ * It also allows the hazard pointer scan to call a user-defined callback
+ * to retire a hazard pointer slot immediately if needed. This callback
+ * may, for instance, issue an IPI to the relevant CPU.
+ *
+ * References:
+ *
+ * [1]: M. M. Michael, "Hazard pointers: safe memory reclamation for
+ * lock-free objects," in IEEE Transactions on Parallel and
+ * Distributed Systems, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 491-504, June 2004
+ */
+
+#include <linux/rcupdate.h>
+
+/*
+ * Hazard pointer slot.
+ */
+struct hp_slot {
+ void *addr;
+};
+
+/*
+ * Hazard pointer context, returned by hp_use().
+ */
+struct hp_ctx {
+ struct hp_slot *slot;
+ void *addr;
+};
+
+/*
+ * hp_scan: Scan hazard pointer domain for @addr.
+ *
+ * Scan hazard pointer domain for @addr.
+ * If @retire_cb is NULL, wait to observe that each slot contains a value
+ * that differs from @addr.
+ * If @retire_cb is non-NULL, invoke @callback for each slot containing
+ * @addr.
+ */
+void hp_scan(struct hp_slot __percpu *percpu_slots, void *addr,
+ void (*retire_cb)(int cpu, struct hp_slot *slot, void *addr));
+
+/* Get the hazard pointer context address (may be NULL). */
+static inline
+void *hp_ctx_addr(struct hp_ctx ctx)
+{
+ return ctx.addr;
+}
+
+/*
+ * hp_allocate: Allocate a hazard pointer.
+ *
+ * Allocate a hazard pointer slot for @addr. The object existence should
+ * be guaranteed by the caller. Expects to be called from preempt
+ * disable context.
+ *
+ * Returns a hazard pointer context.
+ */
+static inline
+struct hp_ctx hp_allocate(struct hp_slot __percpu *percpu_slots, void *addr)
+{
+ struct hp_slot *slot;
+ struct hp_ctx ctx;
+
+ if (!addr)
+ goto fail;
+ slot = this_cpu_ptr(percpu_slots);
+ /*
+ * A single hazard pointer slot per CPU is available currently.
+ * Other hazard pointer domains can eventually have a different
+ * configuration.
+ */
+ if (READ_ONCE(slot->addr))
+ goto fail;
+ WRITE_ONCE(slot->addr, addr); /* Store B */
+ ctx.slot = slot;
+ ctx.addr = addr;
+ return ctx;
+
+fail:
+ ctx.slot = NULL;
+ ctx.addr = NULL;
+ return ctx;
+}
+
+/*
+ * hp_dereference_allocate: Dereference and allocate a hazard pointer.
+ *
+ * Returns a hazard pointer context. Expects to be called from preempt
+ * disable context.
+ */
+static inline
+struct hp_ctx hp_dereference_allocate(struct hp_slot __percpu *percpu_slots, void * const * addr_p)
+{
+ void *addr, *addr2;
+ struct hp_ctx ctx;
+
+ addr = READ_ONCE(*addr_p);
+retry:
+ ctx = hp_allocate(percpu_slots, addr);
+ if (!hp_ctx_addr(ctx))
+ goto fail;
+ /* Memory ordering: Store B before Load A. */
+ smp_mb();
+ /*
+ * Use RCU dereference without lockdep checks, because
+ * lockdep is not aware of HP guarantees.
+ */
+ addr2 = rcu_access_pointer(*addr_p); /* Load A */
+ /*
+ * If @addr_p content has changed since the first load,
+ * clear the hazard pointer and try again.
+ */
+ if (!ptr_eq(addr2, addr)) {
+ WRITE_ONCE(ctx.slot->addr, NULL);
+ if (!addr2)
+ goto fail;
+ addr = addr2;
+ goto retry;
+ }
+ /*
+ * Use addr2 loaded from rcu_access_pointer() to preserve
+ * address dependency ordering.
+ */
+ ctx.addr = addr2;
+ return ctx;
+
+fail:
+ ctx.slot = NULL;
+ ctx.addr = NULL;
+ return ctx;
+}
+
+/* Retire the hazard pointer in @ctx. */
+static inline
+void hp_retire(const struct hp_ctx ctx)
+{
+ smp_store_release(&ctx.slot->addr, NULL);
+}
+
+#endif /* _LINUX_HP_H */
diff --git a/kernel/Makefile b/kernel/Makefile
index 3c13240dfc9f..ec16de96fa80 100644
--- a/kernel/Makefile
+++ b/kernel/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ obj-y = fork.o exec_domain.o panic.o \
cpu.o exit.o softirq.o resource.o \
sysctl.o capability.o ptrace.o user.o \
signal.o sys.o umh.o workqueue.o pid.o task_work.o \
- extable.o params.o \
+ extable.o params.o hp.o \
kthread.o sys_ni.o nsproxy.o \
notifier.o ksysfs.o cred.o reboot.o \
async.o range.o smpboot.o ucount.o regset.o ksyms_common.o
diff --git a/kernel/hp.c b/kernel/hp.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b2447bf15300
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/hp.c
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
+
+/*
+ * HP: Hazard Pointers
+ */
+
+#include <linux/hp.h>
+#include <linux/percpu.h>
+
+/*
+ * hp_scan: Scan hazard pointer domain for @addr.
+ *
+ * Scan hazard pointer domain for @addr.
+ * If @retire_cb is non-NULL, invoke @callback for each slot containing
+ * @addr.
+ * Wait to observe that each slot contains a value that differs from
+ * @addr before returning.
+ */
+void hp_scan(struct hp_slot __percpu *percpu_slots, void *addr,
+ void (*retire_cb)(int cpu, struct hp_slot *slot, void *addr))
+{
+ int cpu;
+
+ /*
+ * Store A precedes hp_scan(): it unpublishes addr (sets it to
+ * NULL or to a different value), and thus hides it from hazard
+ * pointer readers.
+ */
+
+ if (!addr)
+ return;
+ /* Memory ordering: Store A before Load B. */
+ smp_mb();
+ /* Scan all CPUs slots. */
+ for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
+ struct hp_slot *slot = per_cpu_ptr(percpu_slots, cpu);
+
+ if (retire_cb && smp_load_acquire(&slot->addr) == addr) /* Load B */
+ retire_cb(cpu, slot, addr);
+ /* Busy-wait if node is found. */
+ while ((smp_load_acquire(&slot->addr)) == addr) /* Load B */
+ cpu_relax();
+ }
+}
--
2.39.2