summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/arch/Kconfig
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorIngo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>2012-02-24 08:31:31 +0100
committerIngo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>2012-02-24 10:05:59 +0100
commitc5905afb0ee6550b42c49213da1c22d67316c194 (patch)
tree253fdb322e6e5b257ffda3b9b66bce90a473a6f7 /arch/Kconfig
parent1cfa60dc7d7c7cc774a44eee47ff135a644a1f31 (diff)
static keys: Introduce 'struct static_key', static_key_true()/false() and static_key_slow_[inc|dec]()
So here's a boot tested patch on top of Jason's series that does all the cleanups I talked about and turns jump labels into a more intuitive to use facility. It should also address the various misconceptions and confusions that surround jump labels. Typical usage scenarios: #include <linux/static_key.h> struct static_key key = STATIC_KEY_INIT_TRUE; if (static_key_false(&key)) do unlikely code else do likely code Or: if (static_key_true(&key)) do likely code else do unlikely code The static key is modified via: static_key_slow_inc(&key); ... static_key_slow_dec(&key); The 'slow' prefix makes it abundantly clear that this is an expensive operation. I've updated all in-kernel code to use this everywhere. Note that I (intentionally) have not pushed through the rename blindly through to the lowest levels: the actual jump-label patching arch facility should be named like that, so we want to decouple jump labels from the static-key facility a bit. On non-jump-label enabled architectures static keys default to likely()/unlikely() branches. Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu> Acked-by: Jason Baron <jbaron@redhat.com> Acked-by: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org> Cc: a.p.zijlstra@chello.nl Cc: mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com Cc: davem@davemloft.net Cc: ddaney.cavm@gmail.com Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20120222085809.GA26397@elte.hu Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Diffstat (limited to 'arch/Kconfig')
-rw-r--r--arch/Kconfig29
1 files changed, 20 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
index 4f55c736be1..5b448a74d0f 100644
--- a/arch/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/Kconfig
@@ -47,18 +47,29 @@ config KPROBES
If in doubt, say "N".
config JUMP_LABEL
- bool "Optimize trace point call sites"
+ bool "Optimize very unlikely/likely branches"
depends on HAVE_ARCH_JUMP_LABEL
help
+ This option enables a transparent branch optimization that
+ makes certain almost-always-true or almost-always-false branch
+ conditions even cheaper to execute within the kernel.
+
+ Certain performance-sensitive kernel code, such as trace points,
+ scheduler functionality, networking code and KVM have such
+ branches and include support for this optimization technique.
+
If it is detected that the compiler has support for "asm goto",
- the kernel will compile trace point locations with just a
- nop instruction. When trace points are enabled, the nop will
- be converted to a jump to the trace function. This technique
- lowers overhead and stress on the branch prediction of the
- processor.
-
- On i386, options added to the compiler flags may increase
- the size of the kernel slightly.
+ the kernel will compile such branches with just a nop
+ instruction. When the condition flag is toggled to true, the
+ nop will be converted to a jump instruction to execute the
+ conditional block of instructions.
+
+ This technique lowers overhead and stress on the branch prediction
+ of the processor and generally makes the kernel faster. The update
+ of the condition is slower, but those are always very rare.
+
+ ( On 32-bit x86, the necessary options added to the compiler
+ flags may increase the size of the kernel slightly. )
config OPTPROBES
def_bool y