Re: [PATCH 3/3] arm64: topology: Reduce the skew for AMU feedback counter sampling
From: Christian Loehle
Date: Wed Nov 11 2026 - 09:35:41 EST
On 11/11/26 12:39, Beata Michalska wrote:
> With the FFH support for CPPC, the AMU feedback counters, core and const
> counter, are being sampled to measure CPU performance. Checking for errata
> (which can affect both counters) between the reads delays the second
> sample and can skew the result.
>
> Take both samples in succession, then discard values from affected
> counters. This narrows the sampling interval used for CPPC feedback.
>
> Signed-off-by: Beata Michalska <beata.michalska@xxxxxxx>
> ---
> arch/arm64/kernel/topology.c | 76 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
> 1 file changed, 49 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/topology.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/topology.c
> index 66ac67bd025e..c968fa5b0c88 100644
> --- a/arch/arm64/kernel/topology.c
> +++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/topology.c
> @@ -381,29 +381,45 @@ enum cpc_ffh_ctr_id {
> CPC_FFH_CTR_CONST = 0x1,
> };
>
> -static void cpu_read_corecnt(void *val)
> +static inline void cpu_read_corecnt(void *val)
> {
> - /*
> - * A value of 0 can be returned if the current CPU does not support AMUs
> - * or if the counter is disabled for this CPU. A return value of 0 at
> - * counter read is properly handled as an error case by the users of the
> - * counter.
> - */
> - *(u64 *)val = this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CORECNT) ?
> - 0UL : read_corecnt();
> + *(u64 *)val = read_corecnt();
> }
>
> -static void cpu_read_constcnt(void *val)
> +static void cpu_try_read_corecnt(void *val)
> {
> - /*
> - * Return 0 if the current CPU is affected by a HW erratum.
> - * A value of 0 is also returned if the current CPU does not
> - * support AMUs or if the counter is disabled. A return
> - * value of 0 at counter read is properly handled as an error
> - * case by the users of the counter.
Since you're moving this comment around, AFAICT it's not actually true?
cpu_has_amu_feat() is checked (which will return -EOPNOTSUPP) before
landing here, right?
> - */
> - *(u64 *)val = this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CONSTCNT) ?
> - 0UL : read_constcnt();
> + if (!this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CORECNT)) {
> + cpu_read_corecnt(val);
> + } else {
> + /*
> + * A value of 0 can be returned if the current CPU does not support AMUs
> + * or if the counter is disabled for this CPU. A return value of 0 at
> + * counter read is properly handled as an error case by the users of the
> + * counter.
> + */
> + *(u64 *)val = 0UL;
> + }
> +}
> +
> +static inline void cpu_read_constcnt(void *val)
> +{
> + *(u64 *)val = read_constcnt();
> +}
> +
> +static void cpu_try_read_constcnt(void *val)
> +{
> + if (!this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CONSTCNT)) {
> + cpu_read_constcnt(val);
> + } else {
> + /*
> + * Return 0 if the current CPU is affected by a HW erratum.
> + * A value of 0 is also returned if the current CPU does not
> + * support AMUs or if the counter is disabled. A return
> + * value of 0 at counter read is properly handled as an error
> + * case by the users of the counter.
> + */
> + *(u64 *)val = 0UL;
> + }
> }
>
> static inline
> @@ -461,14 +477,20 @@ static void amu_read_core_const_ctrs(void *val)
> {
> struct amu_ffh_ctrs *ctrs = val;
>
> + cpu_read_corecnt(&ctrs->corecnt);
> + cpu_read_constcnt(&ctrs->constcnt);
> +
> /*
> - * cpu_read_constcnt() incurs slight latency due to the
> - * ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CONSTCNT check.
> - * Read it first to minimize the sampling skew between the const
> - * and core counters.
> + * Return 0 if the current CPU is affected by a HW erratum.
> + * A value of 0 is also returned if the current CPU does not
> + * support AMUs or if the counter is disabled. A return
> + * value of 0 at counter read is properly handled as an error
> + * case by the users of the counter.
> */
> - cpu_read_constcnt(&ctrs->constcnt);
> - cpu_read_corecnt(&ctrs->corecnt);
> + if (this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CORECNT))
> + ctrs->corecnt = 0UL;
> + if (this_cpu_has_cap(ARM64_WORKAROUND_BROKEN_AMU_CONSTCNT))
> + ctrs->constcnt = 0UL;
> }
>
> static bool cpc_ffh_reg_valid(const struct cpc_reg *reg)
> @@ -543,10 +565,10 @@ int cpc_read_ffh(int cpu, struct cpc_reg *reg, u64 *val)
>
> switch ((u64)reg->address) {
> case CPC_FFH_CTR_CORE:
> - ret = counters_read_on_cpu(cpu, cpu_read_corecnt, val);
> + ret = counters_read_on_cpu(cpu, cpu_try_read_corecnt, val);
> break;
> case CPC_FFH_CTR_CONST:
> - ret = counters_read_on_cpu(cpu, cpu_read_constcnt, val);
> + ret = counters_read_on_cpu(cpu, cpu_try_read_constcnt, val);
> break;
> }
>