qemu-e2k/docs/aio_notify.promela
Paolo Bonzini 0ceb849bd3 AioContext: speed up aio_notify
In many cases, the call to event_notifier_set in aio_notify is unnecessary.
In particular, if we are executing aio_dispatch, or if aio_poll is not
blocking, we know that we will soon get to the next loop iteration (if
necessary); the thread that hosts the AioContext's event loop does not
need any nudging.

The patch includes a Promela formal model that shows that this really
works and does not need any further complication such as generation
counts.  It needs a memory barrier though.

The generation counts are not needed because any change to
ctx->dispatching after the memory barrier is okay for aio_notify.
If it changes from zero to one, it is the right thing to skip
event_notifier_set.  If it changes from one to zero, the
event_notifier_set is unnecessary but harmless.

Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2014-07-09 15:50:11 +02:00

105 lines
2.4 KiB
Promela

/*
* This model describes the interaction between aio_set_dispatching()
* and aio_notify().
*
* Author: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
*
* This file is in the public domain. If you really want a license,
* the WTFPL will do.
*
* To simulate it:
* spin -p docs/aio_notify.promela
*
* To verify it:
* spin -a docs/aio_notify.promela
* gcc -O2 pan.c
* ./a.out -a
*/
#define MAX 4
#define LAST (1 << (MAX - 1))
#define FINAL ((LAST << 1) - 1)
bool dispatching;
bool event;
int req, done;
active proctype waiter()
{
int fetch, blocking;
do
:: done != FINAL -> {
// Computing "blocking" is separate from execution of the
// "bottom half"
blocking = (req == 0);
// This is our "bottom half"
atomic { fetch = req; req = 0; }
done = done | fetch;
// Wait for a nudge from the other side
do
:: event == 1 -> { event = 0; break; }
:: !blocking -> break;
od;
dispatching = 1;
// If you are simulating this model, you may want to add
// something like this here:
//
// int foo; foo++; foo++; foo++;
//
// This only wastes some time and makes it more likely
// that the notifier process hits the "fast path".
dispatching = 0;
}
:: else -> break;
od
}
active proctype notifier()
{
int next = 1;
int sets = 0;
do
:: next <= LAST -> {
// generate a request
req = req | next;
next = next << 1;
// aio_notify
if
:: dispatching == 0 -> sets++; event = 1;
:: else -> skip;
fi;
// Test both synchronous and asynchronous delivery
if
:: 1 -> do
:: req == 0 -> break;
od;
:: 1 -> skip;
fi;
}
:: else -> break;
od;
printf("Skipped %d event_notifier_set\n", MAX - sets);
}
#define p (done == FINAL)
never {
do
:: 1 // after an arbitrarily long prefix
:: p -> break // p becomes true
od;
do
:: !p -> accept: break // it then must remains true forever after
od
}