Re: [PATCH] mm/sparse: Optimize section number calculations using bit shifts

From: Mike Rapoport

Date: Tue Jun 16 2026 - 03:57:30 EST


On Tue, Jun 16, 2026 at 03:29:38PM +0800, zhen.ni wrote:
> 在 2026/6/16 14:32, Mike Rapoport 写道:
> > On Tue, Jun 16, 2026 at 10:59:42AM +0800, Zhen Ni wrote:
> > >
> > > Performance improvement:
> > > Total: (7538-5641)/7538 = 25.2% faster
> > > memblocks_present: (4232-3562)/4232 = 15.8% faster
> > > section initialization: (3261-2057)/3261 = 36.9% faster
> >
> > This is a nice improvement, but it's not the hot path. I believe you can
> > derive improvement to __nr_to_section() from these measurements.
>
> sparse_init() is not a hot path, but it invokes __nr_to_section() in a
> tight loop, making it a good measurement point to demonstrate the
> performance improvement.

Right, and explanation along these lines should be in the changelog.

> > > Signed-off-by: Zhen Ni <zhen.ni@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > ---
> > > include/linux/mmzone.h | 7 +++++--
> > > 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > > index 9adb2ad21da5..5daf471f6823 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > > @@ -2035,11 +2035,14 @@ struct mem_section {
> > > #ifdef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_EXTREME
> > > #define SECTIONS_PER_ROOT (PAGE_SIZE / sizeof (struct mem_section))
> > > +#define SECTIONS_PER_ROOT_SHIFT ilog2(SECTIONS_PER_ROOT)
> > > #else
> > > #define SECTIONS_PER_ROOT 1
> > > +#define SECTIONS_PER_ROOT_SHIFT 0
> > > #endif
> > > -#define SECTION_NR_TO_ROOT(sec) ((sec) / SECTIONS_PER_ROOT)
> > > +#define SECTION_NR_TO_ROOT(sec) ((sec) >> SECTIONS_PER_ROOT_SHIFT)
> > > +#define SECTION_NR_IN_ROOT(sec) ((sec) & SECTION_ROOT_MASK)
> > > #define NR_SECTION_ROOTS DIV_ROUND_UP(NR_MEM_SECTIONS, SECTIONS_PER_ROOT)
> > > #define SECTION_ROOT_MASK (SECTIONS_PER_ROOT - 1)
> > > @@ -2065,7 +2068,7 @@ static inline struct mem_section *__nr_to_section(unsigned long nr)
> > > if (!mem_section || !mem_section[root])
> > > return NULL;
> > > #endif
> > > - return &mem_section[root][nr & SECTION_ROOT_MASK];
> > > + return &mem_section[root][SECTION_NR_IN_ROOT(nr)];
> >
> > The explicit masking is clearer IMO.
> >
> > > }
> > > extern size_t mem_section_usage_size(void);
> >
> > Hmm, I don't see BUILD_BUG_ON() you mention in the changelog.
> > > --
> > > 2.20.1
> > >
> >
>
> Regarding the BUILD_BUG_ON, it is in sparse_init() at line 419:
>
> void __init sparse_init(void)
> {
> ...
> /* see include/linux/mmzone.h 'struct mem_section' definition */
> BUILD_BUG_ON(!is_power_of_2(sizeof(struct mem_section)));
> ...
> }
>
> This guarantees that sizeof(struct mem_section) is a power of 2, and since
> SECTIONS_PER_ROOT = PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct mem_section) and PAGE_SIZE is
> always a power of 2, SECTIONS_PER_ROOT is guaranteed to be a power of 2 as
> well, validating the use of bit shifts.

This was not clear from reading the changelog.

> Thanks,
> Zhen

--
Sincerely yours,
Mike.