Re: Re: [PATCH] rdma/siw: avoid smp_store_mb() on a u64

From: Bernard Metzler
Date: Fri Jul 12 2019 - 09:05:28 EST


-----"Jason Gunthorpe" <jgg@xxxxxxxx> wrote: -----

>To: "Bernard Metzler" <BMT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: "Jason Gunthorpe" <jgg@xxxxxxxx>
>Date: 07/12/2019 02:03PM
>Cc: "Arnd Bergmann" <arnd@xxxxxxxx>, "Doug Ledford"
><dledford@xxxxxxxxxx>, "Peter Zijlstra" <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>linux-rdma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [PATCH] rdma/siw: avoid smp_store_mb() on a
>u64
>
>On Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 11:33:46AM +0000, Bernard Metzler wrote:
>> >diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/sw/siw/siw_verbs.c
>> >b/drivers/infiniband/sw/siw/siw_verbs.c
>> >index 32dc79d0e898..41c5ab293fe1 100644
>> >+++ b/drivers/infiniband/sw/siw/siw_verbs.c
>> >@@ -1142,10 +1142,11 @@ int siw_req_notify_cq(struct ib_cq
>*base_cq,
>> >enum ib_cq_notify_flags flags)
>> >
>> > if ((flags & IB_CQ_SOLICITED_MASK) == IB_CQ_SOLICITED)
>> > /* CQ event for next solicited completion */
>> >- smp_store_mb(*cq->notify, SIW_NOTIFY_SOLICITED);
>> >+ WRITE_ONCE(*cq->notify, SIW_NOTIFY_SOLICITED);
>> > else
>> > /* CQ event for any signalled completion */
>> >- smp_store_mb(*cq->notify, SIW_NOTIFY_ALL);
>> >+ WRITE_ONCE(*cq->notify, SIW_NOTIFY_ALL);
>> >+ smp_wmb();
>> >
>> > if (flags & IB_CQ_REPORT_MISSED_EVENTS)
>> > return cq->cq_put - cq->cq_get;
>>
>>
>> Hi Arnd,
>> Many thanks for pointing that out! Indeed, this CQ notification
>> mechanism does not take 32 bit architectures into account.
>> Since we have only three flags to hold here, it's probably better
>> to make it a 32bit value. That would remove the issue w/o
>> introducing extra smp_wmb().
>
>I also prefer not to see smp_wmb() in drivers..
>
>> I'd prefer smp_store_mb(), since on some architectures it shall be
>> more efficient. That would also make it sufficient to use
>> READ_ONCE.
>
>The READ_ONCE is confusing to me too, if you need store_release
>semantics then the reader also needs to pair with load_acquite -
>otherwise it doesn't work.
>
>Still, we need to do something rapidly to fix the i386 build, please
>revise right away..
>
>Jason
>
>

We share CQ (completion queue) notification flags between application
(which may be user land) and producer (kernel QP's (queue pairs)).
Those flags can be written by both application and QP's. The application
writes those flags to let the driver know if it shall inform about new
work completions. It can write those flags at any time.
Only a kernel producer reads those flags to decide if
the CQ notification handler shall be kicked, if a new CQ element gets
added to the CQ. When kicking the completion handler, the driver resets the
notification flag, which must get re-armed by the application.

We use READ_ONCE() and WRITE_ONCE(), since the flags are potentially
shared (mmap'd) between user and kernel land.

siw_req_notify_cq() is being called only by kernel consumers to change
(write) the CQ notification state. We use smp_store_mb() to make sure
the new value becomes visible to all kernel producers (QP's) asap.