[Xen-devel] [PATCH v3 1/3] xen: RCU: let the RCU idle timer handler run

[Dario Faggioli <dario.faggioli@xxxxxxxxxx>]

If stop_timer() is called between when the RCU
idle timer's interrupt arrives (and TIMER_SOFTIRQ is
raised) and when softirqs are checked and handled, the
timer is deactivated, and the handler never runs.

This happens to the RCU idle timer because stop_timer()
is called on it during the wakeup from idle (e.g., C-states,
on x86) path.

To fix that, we avoid calling stop_timer(), in case we see
that the timer itself is:
- still active,
- expired (i.e., it's expiry time is in the past).
In fact, that indicates (for this particular timer) that
it has fired, and we are just about to handle the TIMER_SOFTIRQ
(which will perform the timer deactivation and run its handler).

Signed-off-by: Dario Faggioli <dario.faggioli@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
Cc: Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: George Dunlap <George.Dunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: Stefano Stabellini <sstabellini@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Julien Grall <julien.grall@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Tim Deegan <tim@xxxxxxx>
---
Changes from v2:
- improved comment in rcu_idle_timer_stop();
- introduce a more generic timer_expires_before() function, and make
  timer_is_expired() a macro which does not take any time parameter.

Changes from v1:
- logic changed completely: instead of avoiding deactivate_timer() in
  stop_timer(), we avoid stop_timer() in rcu_idle_timer_stop() (if
  appropriate, of course).
---
 xen/common/rcupdate.c   |   19 ++++++++++++++++++-
 xen/common/timer.c      |   17 +++++++++++++++++
 xen/include/xen/timer.h |    5 +++++
 3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/xen/common/rcupdate.c b/xen/common/rcupdate.c
index 871936f..252e01b 100644
--- a/xen/common/rcupdate.c
+++ b/xen/common/rcupdate.c
@@ -465,7 +465,24 @@ void rcu_idle_timer_stop()
         return;
 
     rdp->idle_timer_active = false;
-    stop_timer(&rdp->idle_timer);
+
+    /*
+     * In general, as the CPU is becoming active again, we don't need the
+     * idle timer, and so we want to stop it.
+     *
+     * However, in case we are here because idle_timer has (just) fired and
+     * has woken up the CPU, we skip stop_timer() now. In fact, when a CPU
+     * wakes up from idle, this code always runs before do_softirq() has the
+     * chance to check and deal with TIMER_SOFTIRQ. And if we stop the timer
+     * now, the TIMER_SOFTIRQ handler will see it as inactive, and will not
+     * call rcu_idle_timer_handler().
+     *
+     * Therefore, if we see that the timer is expired already, we leave it
+     * alone. The TIMER_SOFTIRQ handler will then run the timer routine, and
+     * deactivate it.
+     */
+    if ( !timer_is_expired(&rdp->idle_timer) )
+        stop_timer(&rdp->idle_timer);
 }
 
 static void rcu_idle_timer_handler(void* data)
diff --git a/xen/common/timer.c b/xen/common/timer.c
index d9ff669..fa45db2 100644
--- a/xen/common/timer.c
+++ b/xen/common/timer.c
@@ -332,6 +332,23 @@ void stop_timer(struct timer *timer)
 }
 
 
+bool timer_expires_before(struct timer *timer, s_time_t t)
+{
+    unsigned long flags;
+    bool ret = false;
+
+    if ( !timer_lock_irqsave(timer, flags) )
+        return ret;
+
+    if ( active_timer(timer) && timer->expires <= t )
+        ret = true;
+
+    timer_unlock_irqrestore(timer, flags);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 void migrate_timer(struct timer *timer, unsigned int new_cpu)
 {
     unsigned int old_cpu;
diff --git a/xen/include/xen/timer.h b/xen/include/xen/timer.h
index 9531800..4513260 100644
--- a/xen/include/xen/timer.h
+++ b/xen/include/xen/timer.h
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ void set_timer(struct timer *timer, s_time_t expires);
  */
 void stop_timer(struct timer *timer);
 
+/* True if a timer is active, and its expiry time is earlier than t. */
+bool timer_expires_before(struct timer *timer, s_time_t t);
+
+#define timer_is_expired(t) timer_expires_before(t, NOW())
+
 /* Migrate a timer to a different CPU. The timer may be currently active. */
 void migrate_timer(struct timer *timer, unsigned int new_cpu);
 


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