[PATCH v2 00/16] perf arm64: Support data type profiling

[Tengda Wu]

This patch series implements data type profiling support for arm64,
building upon the foundational work previously contributed by Huafei [1].
While the initial version laid the groundwork for arm64 data type analysis,
this series iterates on that work by refining instruction parsing and
extending support for core architectural features.

The series is organized as follows:

1. Fix disassembly mismatches (Patches 01-02)
   Current perf annotate supports three disassembly backends: llvm,
   capstone, and objdump. On arm64, inconsistencies between the output
   of these backends (specifically llvm/capstone vs. objdump) often
   prevent the tracker from correctly identifying registers and offsets.
   These patches resolve these mismatches, ensuring consistent instruction
   parsing across all supported backends.

2. Infrastructure for arm64 operand parsing (Patches 03-07)
   These patches establish the necessary infrastructure for arm64-specific
   operand handling. This includes implementing new callbacks and data
   structures to manage arm64's unique addressing modes and register sets.
   This foundation is essential for the subsequent type-tracking logic.

3. Core instruction tracking (Patches 08-16)
   These patches implement the core logic for type tracking on arm64,
   covering a wide range of instructions including:

   * Memory Access: ldr/str variants (including stack-based access).
   * Arithmetic & Data Processing: mov, add, and adrp.
   * Special Access: System register access (mrs) and per-cpu variable
     tracking.

The implementation draws inspiration from the existing x86 logic while
adapting it to the nuances of the AArch64 ISA [2][3]. With these changes,
perf annotate can successfully resolve memory locations and register
types, enabling comprehensive data type profiling on arm64 platforms.

Example Result
==============

# perf mem record -a -K -- sleep 1
# perf annotate --data-type --type-stat --stdio
Annotate data type stats:
total 6204, ok 5091 (82.1%), bad 1113 (17.9%)
-----------------------------------------------------------
        29 : no_sym
       196 : no_var
       806 : no_typeinfo
        82 : bad_offset
      1370 : insn_track

Annotate type: 'struct page' in [kernel.kallsyms] (59208 samples):
============================================================================
 Percent     offset       size  field
  100.00          0       0x40  struct page      {
    9.95          0        0x8      long unsigned int   flags;
   52.83        0x8       0x28      union        {
   52.83        0x8       0x28          struct   {
   37.21        0x8       0x10              union        {
   37.21        0x8       0x10                  struct list_head        lru {
   37.21        0x8        0x8                      struct list_head*   next;
    0.00       0x10        0x8                      struct list_head*   prev;
                                                };
   37.21        0x8       0x10                  struct   {
   37.21        0x8        0x8                      void*       __filler;
    0.00       0x10        0x4                      unsigned int        mlock_count;
   ...

Changes since v1: (reworked from Huafei's series):

 - Fix inconsistencies in arm64 instruction output across llvm, capstone,
   and objdump disassembly backends.
 - Support arm64-specific addressing modes and operand formats. (Leo Yan)
 - Extend instruction tracking to support mov and add instructions,
   along with per-cpu and stack variables.
 - Include real-world examples in commit messages to demonstrate
   practical effects. (Namhyung Kim)
 - Improve type-tracking success rate (type stat) from 64.2% to 82.1%.
   https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250314162137.528204-1-lihuafei1@xxxxxxxxxx/

Please let me know if you have any feedback.

Thanks,
Tengda

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250314162137.528204-1-lihuafei1@xxxxxxxxxx/
[2] https://developer.arm.com/documentation/102374/0103
[3] https://github.com/flynd/asmsheets/releases/tag/v8

---

Tengda Wu (16):
  perf llvm: Fix arm64 adrp instruction disassembly mismatch with
    objdump
  perf capstone: Fix arm64 jump/adrp disassembly mismatch with objdump
  perf annotate-arm64: Generalize arm64_mov__parse to support standard
    operands
  perf annotate-arm64: Handle load and store instructions
  perf annotate: Introduce extract_op_location callback for
    arch-specific parsing
  perf dwarf-regs: Adapt get_dwarf_regnum() for arm64
  perf annotate-arm64: Implement extract_op_location() callback
  perf annotate-arm64: Enable instruction tracking support
  perf annotate-arm64: Support load instruction tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support store instruction tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support stack variable tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support 'mov' instruction tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support 'add' instruction tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support 'adrp' instruction to track global
    variables
  perf annotate-arm64: Support per-cpu variable access tracking
  perf annotate-arm64: Support 'mrs' instruction to track 'current'
    pointer

 .../perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-arm64.c  | 642 +++++++++++++++++-
 .../util/annotate-arch/annotate-powerpc.c     |  10 +
 tools/perf/util/annotate-arch/annotate-x86.c  |  88 ++-
 tools/perf/util/annotate-data.c               |  72 +-
 tools/perf/util/annotate-data.h               |   7 +-
 tools/perf/util/annotate.c                    | 108 +--
 tools/perf/util/annotate.h                    |  12 +
 tools/perf/util/capstone.c                    | 107 ++-
 tools/perf/util/disasm.c                      |   5 +
 tools/perf/util/disasm.h                      |   5 +
 .../util/dwarf-regs-arch/dwarf-regs-arm64.c   |  20 +
 tools/perf/util/dwarf-regs.c                  |   2 +-
 tools/perf/util/include/dwarf-regs.h          |   1 +
 tools/perf/util/llvm.c                        |  50 ++
 14 files changed, 984 insertions(+), 145 deletions(-)


base-commit: cf7c3c02fdd0dfccf4d6611714273dcb538af2cb
-- 
2.34.1