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This changeset adds functionality that allows system calls to retry without
affecting thread context state such as the program counter or register values
for the associated thread context (when system calls return with a retry
fault).
This functionality is needed to solve problems with blocking system calls
in multi-process or multi-threaded simulations where information is passed
between processes/threads. Blocking system calls can cause deadlock because
the simulator itself is single threaded. There is only a single thread
servicing the event queue which can cause deadlock if the thread hits a
blocking system call instruction.
To illustrate the problem, consider two processes using the producer/consumer
sharing model. The processes can use file descriptors and the read and write
calls to pass information to one another. If the consumer calls the blocking
read system call before the producer has produced anything, the call will
block the event queue (while executing the system call instruction) and
deadlock the simulation.
The solution implemented in this changeset is to recognize that the system
calls will block and then generate a special retry fault. The fault will
be sent back up through the function call chain until it is exposed to the
cpu model's pipeline where the fault becomes visible. The fault will trigger
the cpu model to replay the instruction at a future tick where the call has
a chance to succeed without actually going into a blocking state.
In subsequent patches, we recognize that a syscall will block by calling a
non-blocking poll (from inside the system call implementation) and checking
for events. When events show up during the poll, it signifies that the call
would not have blocked and the syscall is allowed to proceed (calling an
underlying host system call if necessary). If no events are returned from the
poll, we generate the fault and try the instruction for the thread context
at a distant tick. Note that retrying every tick is not efficient.
As an aside, the simulator has some multi-threading support for the event
queue, but it is not used by default and needs work. Even if the event queue
was completely multi-threaded, meaning that there is a hardware thread on
the host servicing a single simulator thread contexts with a 1:1 mapping
between them, it's still possible to run into deadlock due to the event queue
barriers on quantum boundaries. The solution of replaying at a later tick
is the simplest solution and solves the problem generally.
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Signed-off-by: Andreas Sandberg <andreas.sandberg@arm.com>
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Change-Id: Ic37311443ca11ee6d95bceffea599e054e7aa110
Reviewed-by: Andreas Sandberg <andreas.sandberg@arm.com>
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Change-Id: I183b9942929c873c3272ce6d1abd4ebc472c7132
Reviewed-by: Andreas Sandberg <andreas.sandberg@arm.com>
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This patch adds SMT support to the MinorCPU. Currently
RoundRobin or Random thread scheduling are supported.
Change-Id: I91faf39ff881af5918cca05051829fc6261f20e3
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For historical reasons, the ExecContext interface had a single
function, readMem(), that did two different things depending on
whether the ExecContext supported atomic memory mode (i.e.,
AtomicSimpleCPU) or timing memory mode (all the other models).
In the former case, it actually performed a memory read; in the
latter case, it merely initiated a read access, and the read
completion did not happen until later when a response packet
arrived from the memory system.
This led to some confusing things, including timing accesses
being required to provide a pointer for the return data even
though that pointer was only used in atomic mode.
This patch splits this interface, adding a new initiateMemRead()
function to the ExecContext interface to replace the timing-mode
use of readMem().
For consistency and clarity, the readMemTiming() helper function
in the ISA definitions is renamed to initiateMemRead() as well.
For x86, where the access size is passed in explicitly, we can
also get rid of the data parameter at this level. For other ISAs,
where the access size is determined from the type of the data
parameter, we have to keep the parameter for that purpose.
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Adds per-thread address monitors to support FullSystem SMT.
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Context IDs used to be declared as ad hoc (usually as int). This
changeset introduces a typedef for ContextIDs and a constant for
invalid context IDs.
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This adds a vector register type. The type is defined as a std::array of a
fixed number of uint64_ts. The isa_parser.py has been modified to parse vector
register operands and generate the required code. Different cpus have vector
register files now.
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Finally took the plunge and made this apply to all ISAs, not just ARM.
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Mwait works as follows:
1. A cpu monitors an address of interest (monitor instruction)
2. A cpu calls mwait - this loads the cache line into that cpu's cache.
3. The cpu goes to sleep.
4. When another processor requests write permission for the line, it is
evicted from the sleeping cpu's cache. This eviction is forwarded to the
sleeping cpu, which then wakes up.
Committed by: Nilay Vaish <nilay@cs.wisc.edu>
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We currently generate and compile one version of the ISA code per CPU
model. This is obviously wasting a lot of resources at compile
time. This changeset factors out the interface into a separate
ExecContext class, which also serves as documentation for the
interface between CPUs and the ISA code. While doing so, this
changeset also fixes up interface inconsistencies between the
different CPU models.
The main argument for using one set of ISA code per CPU model has
always been performance as this avoid indirect branches in the
generated code. However, this argument does not hold water. Booting
Linux on a simulated ARM system running in atomic mode
(opt/10.linux-boot/realview-simple-atomic) is actually 2% faster
(compiled using clang 3.4) after applying this patch. Additionally,
compilation time is decreased by 35%.
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This patch contains a new CPU model named `Minor'. Minor models a four
stage in-order execution pipeline (fetch lines, decompose into
macroops, decompose macroops into microops, execute).
The model was developed to support the ARM ISA but should be fixable
to support all the remaining gem5 ISAs. It currently also works for
Alpha, and regressions are included for ARM and Alpha (including Linux
boot).
Documentation for the model can be found in src/doc/inside-minor.doxygen and
its internal operations can be visualised using the Minorview tool
utils/minorview.py.
Minor was designed to be fairly simple and not to engage in a lot of
instruction annotation. As such, it currently has very few gathered
stats and may lack other gem5 features.
Minor is faster than the o3 model. Sample results:
Benchmark | Stat host_seconds (s)
---------------+--------v--------v--------
(on ARM, opt) | simple | o3 | minor
| timing | timing | timing
---------------+--------+--------+--------
10.linux-boot | 169 | 1883 | 1075
10.mcf | 117 | 967 | 491
20.parser | 668 | 6315 | 3146
30.eon | 542 | 3413 | 2414
40.perlbmk | 2339 | 20905 | 11532
50.vortex | 122 | 1094 | 588
60.bzip2 | 2045 | 18061 | 9662
70.twolf | 207 | 2736 | 1036
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