diff options
author | Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+samsung@kernel.org> | 2018-05-07 06:35:41 -0300 |
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committer | Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net> | 2018-05-08 10:02:34 -0600 |
commit | de0f51e4b1391145e47d6aa60681dab091bcc777 (patch) | |
tree | 03307fd645fcf3b2c9d45d8cb3711b4143891904 /Documentation/cachetlb.txt | |
parent | fe8703cc0de67695e3385ba78b5dfb1091769d50 (diff) |
docs: core-api: add cachetlb documentation
The cachetlb.txt is already in ReST format. So, move it to the
core-api guide, where it belongs.
Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+samsung@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/cachetlb.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/cachetlb.txt | 415 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 415 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/cachetlb.txt b/Documentation/cachetlb.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6eb9d3f090cd..000000000000 --- a/Documentation/cachetlb.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,415 +0,0 @@ -================================== -Cache and TLB Flushing Under Linux -================================== - -:Author: David S. Miller <davem@redhat.com> - -This document describes the cache/tlb flushing interfaces called -by the Linux VM subsystem. It enumerates over each interface, -describes its intended purpose, and what side effect is expected -after the interface is invoked. - -The side effects described below are stated for a uniprocessor -implementation, and what is to happen on that single processor. The -SMP cases are a simple extension, in that you just extend the -definition such that the side effect for a particular interface occurs -on all processors in the system. Don't let this scare you into -thinking SMP cache/tlb flushing must be so inefficient, this is in -fact an area where many optimizations are possible. For example, -if it can be proven that a user address space has never executed -on a cpu (see mm_cpumask()), one need not perform a flush -for this address space on that cpu. - -First, the TLB flushing interfaces, since they are the simplest. The -"TLB" is abstracted under Linux as something the cpu uses to cache -virtual-->physical address translations obtained from the software -page tables. Meaning that if the software page tables change, it is -possible for stale translations to exist in this "TLB" cache. -Therefore when software page table changes occur, the kernel will -invoke one of the following flush methods _after_ the page table -changes occur: - -1) ``void flush_tlb_all(void)`` - - The most severe flush of all. After this interface runs, - any previous page table modification whatsoever will be - visible to the cpu. - - This is usually invoked when the kernel page tables are - changed, since such translations are "global" in nature. - -2) ``void flush_tlb_mm(struct mm_struct *mm)`` - - This interface flushes an entire user address space from - the TLB. After running, this interface must make sure that - any previous page table modifications for the address space - 'mm' will be visible to the cpu. That is, after running, - there will be no entries in the TLB for 'mm'. - - This interface is used to handle whole address space - page table operations such as what happens during - fork, and exec. - -3) ``void flush_tlb_range(struct vm_area_struct *vma, - unsigned long start, unsigned long end)`` - - Here we are flushing a specific range of (user) virtual - address translations from the TLB. After running, this - interface must make sure that any previous page table - modifications for the address space 'vma->vm_mm' in the range - 'start' to 'end-1' will be visible to the cpu. That is, after - running, there will be no entries in the TLB for 'mm' for - virtual addresses in the range 'start' to 'end-1'. - - The "vma" is the backing store being used for the region. - Primarily, this is used for munmap() type operations. - - The interface is provided in hopes that the port can find - a suitably efficient method for removing multiple page - sized translations from the TLB, instead of having the kernel - call flush_tlb_page (see below) for each entry which may be - modified. - -4) ``void flush_tlb_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long addr)`` - - This time we need to remove the PAGE_SIZE sized translation - from the TLB. The 'vma' is the backing structure used by - Linux to keep track of mmap'd regions for a process, the - address space is available via vma->vm_mm. Also, one may - test (vma->vm_flags & VM_EXEC) to see if this region is - executable (and thus could be in the 'instruction TLB' in - split-tlb type setups). - - After running, this interface must make sure that any previous - page table modification for address space 'vma->vm_mm' for - user virtual address 'addr' will be visible to the cpu. That - is, after running, there will be no entries in the TLB for - 'vma->vm_mm' for virtual address 'addr'. - - This is used primarily during fault processing. - -5) ``void update_mmu_cache(struct vm_area_struct *vma, - unsigned long address, pte_t *ptep)`` - - At the end of every page fault, this routine is invoked to - tell the architecture specific code that a translation - now exists at virtual address "address" for address space - "vma->vm_mm", in the software page tables. - - A port may use this information in any way it so chooses. - For example, it could use this event to pre-load TLB - translations for software managed TLB configurations. - The sparc64 port currently does this. - -6) ``void tlb_migrate_finish(struct mm_struct *mm)`` - - This interface is called at the end of an explicit - process migration. This interface provides a hook - to allow a platform to update TLB or context-specific - information for the address space. - - The ia64 sn2 platform is one example of a platform - that uses this interface. - -Next, we have the cache flushing interfaces. In general, when Linux -is changing an existing virtual-->physical mapping to a new value, -the sequence will be in one of the following forms:: - - 1) flush_cache_mm(mm); - change_all_page_tables_of(mm); - flush_tlb_mm(mm); - - 2) flush_cache_range(vma, start, end); - change_range_of_page_tables(mm, start, end); - flush_tlb_range(vma, start, end); - - 3) flush_cache_page(vma, addr, pfn); - set_pte(pte_pointer, new_pte_val); - flush_tlb_page(vma, addr); - -The cache level flush will always be first, because this allows -us to properly handle systems whose caches are strict and require -a virtual-->physical translation to exist for a virtual address -when that virtual address is flushed from the cache. The HyperSparc -cpu is one such cpu with this attribute. - -The cache flushing routines below need only deal with cache flushing -to the extent that it is necessary for a particular cpu. Mostly, -these routines must be implemented for cpus which have virtually -indexed caches which must be flushed when virtual-->physical -translations are changed or removed. So, for example, the physically -indexed physically tagged caches of IA32 processors have no need to -implement these interfaces since the caches are fully synchronized -and have no dependency on translation information. - -Here are the routines, one by one: - -1) ``void flush_cache_mm(struct mm_struct *mm)`` - - This interface flushes an entire user address space from - the caches. That is, after running, there will be no cache - lines associated with 'mm'. - - This interface is used to handle whole address space - page table operations such as what happens during exit and exec. - -2) ``void flush_cache_dup_mm(struct mm_struct *mm)`` - - This interface flushes an entire user address space from - the caches. That is, after running, there will be no cache - lines associated with 'mm'. - - This interface is used to handle whole address space - page table operations such as what happens during fork. - - This option is separate from flush_cache_mm to allow some - optimizations for VIPT caches. - -3) ``void flush_cache_range(struct vm_area_struct *vma, - unsigned long start, unsigned long end)`` - - Here we are flushing a specific range of (user) virtual - addresses from the cache. After running, there will be no - entries in the cache for 'vma->vm_mm' for virtual addresses in - the range 'start' to 'end-1'. - - The "vma" is the backing store being used for the region. - Primarily, this is used for munmap() type operations. - - The interface is provided in hopes that the port can find - a suitably efficient method for removing multiple page - sized regions from the cache, instead of having the kernel - call flush_cache_page (see below) for each entry which may be - modified. - -4) ``void flush_cache_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long addr, unsigned long pfn)`` - - This time we need to remove a PAGE_SIZE sized range - from the cache. The 'vma' is the backing structure used by - Linux to keep track of mmap'd regions for a process, the - address space is available via vma->vm_mm. Also, one may - test (vma->vm_flags & VM_EXEC) to see if this region is - executable (and thus could be in the 'instruction cache' in - "Harvard" type cache layouts). - - The 'pfn' indicates the physical page frame (shift this value - left by PAGE_SHIFT to get the physical address) that 'addr' - translates to. It is this mapping which should be removed from - the cache. - - After running, there will be no entries in the cache for - 'vma->vm_mm' for virtual address 'addr' which translates - to 'pfn'. - - This is used primarily during fault processing. - -5) ``void flush_cache_kmaps(void)`` - - This routine need only be implemented if the platform utilizes - highmem. It will be called right before all of the kmaps - are invalidated. - - After running, there will be no entries in the cache for - the kernel virtual address range PKMAP_ADDR(0) to - PKMAP_ADDR(LAST_PKMAP). - - This routing should be implemented in asm/highmem.h - -6) ``void flush_cache_vmap(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)`` - ``void flush_cache_vunmap(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)`` - - Here in these two interfaces we are flushing a specific range - of (kernel) virtual addresses from the cache. After running, - there will be no entries in the cache for the kernel address - space for virtual addresses in the range 'start' to 'end-1'. - - The first of these two routines is invoked after map_vm_area() - has installed the page table entries. The second is invoked - before unmap_kernel_range() deletes the page table entries. - -There exists another whole class of cpu cache issues which currently -require a whole different set of interfaces to handle properly. -The biggest problem is that of virtual aliasing in the data cache -of a processor. - -Is your port susceptible to virtual aliasing in its D-cache? -Well, if your D-cache is virtually indexed, is larger in size than -PAGE_SIZE, and does not prevent multiple cache lines for the same -physical address from existing at once, you have this problem. - -If your D-cache has this problem, first define asm/shmparam.h SHMLBA -properly, it should essentially be the size of your virtually -addressed D-cache (or if the size is variable, the largest possible -size). This setting will force the SYSv IPC layer to only allow user -processes to mmap shared memory at address which are a multiple of -this value. - -.. note:: - - This does not fix shared mmaps, check out the sparc64 port for - one way to solve this (in particular SPARC_FLAG_MMAPSHARED). - -Next, you have to solve the D-cache aliasing issue for all -other cases. Please keep in mind that fact that, for a given page -mapped into some user address space, there is always at least one more -mapping, that of the kernel in its linear mapping starting at -PAGE_OFFSET. So immediately, once the first user maps a given -physical page into its address space, by implication the D-cache -aliasing problem has the potential to exist since the kernel already -maps this page at its virtual address. - - ``void copy_user_page(void *to, void *from, unsigned long addr, struct page *page)`` - ``void clear_user_page(void *to, unsigned long addr, struct page *page)`` - - These two routines store data in user anonymous or COW - pages. It allows a port to efficiently avoid D-cache alias - issues between userspace and the kernel. - - For example, a port may temporarily map 'from' and 'to' to - kernel virtual addresses during the copy. The virtual address - for these two pages is chosen in such a way that the kernel - load/store instructions happen to virtual addresses which are - of the same "color" as the user mapping of the page. Sparc64 - for example, uses this technique. - - The 'addr' parameter tells the virtual address where the - user will ultimately have this page mapped, and the 'page' - parameter gives a pointer to the struct page of the target. - - If D-cache aliasing is not an issue, these two routines may - simply call memcpy/memset directly and do nothing more. - - ``void flush_dcache_page(struct page *page)`` - - Any time the kernel writes to a page cache page, _OR_ - the kernel is about to read from a page cache page and - user space shared/writable mappings of this page potentially - exist, this routine is called. - - .. note:: - - This routine need only be called for page cache pages - which can potentially ever be mapped into the address - space of a user process. So for example, VFS layer code - handling vfs symlinks in the page cache need not call - this interface at all. - - The phrase "kernel writes to a page cache page" means, - specifically, that the kernel executes store instructions - that dirty data in that page at the page->virtual mapping - of that page. It is important to flush here to handle - D-cache aliasing, to make sure these kernel stores are - visible to user space mappings of that page. - - The corollary case is just as important, if there are users - which have shared+writable mappings of this file, we must make - sure that kernel reads of these pages will see the most recent - stores done by the user. - - If D-cache aliasing is not an issue, this routine may - simply be defined as a nop on that architecture. - - There is a bit set aside in page->flags (PG_arch_1) as - "architecture private". The kernel guarantees that, - for pagecache pages, it will clear this bit when such - a page first enters the pagecache. - - This allows these interfaces to be implemented much more - efficiently. It allows one to "defer" (perhaps indefinitely) - the actual flush if there are currently no user processes - mapping this page. See sparc64's flush_dcache_page and - update_mmu_cache implementations for an example of how to go - about doing this. - - The idea is, first at flush_dcache_page() time, if - page->mapping->i_mmap is an empty tree, just mark the architecture - private page flag bit. Later, in update_mmu_cache(), a check is - made of this flag bit, and if set the flush is done and the flag - bit is cleared. - - .. important:: - - It is often important, if you defer the flush, - that the actual flush occurs on the same CPU - as did the cpu stores into the page to make it - dirty. Again, see sparc64 for examples of how - to deal with this. - - ``void copy_to_user_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct page *page, - unsigned long user_vaddr, void *dst, void *src, int len)`` - ``void copy_from_user_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct page *page, - unsigned long user_vaddr, void *dst, void *src, int len)`` - - When the kernel needs to copy arbitrary data in and out - of arbitrary user pages (f.e. for ptrace()) it will use - these two routines. - - Any necessary cache flushing or other coherency operations - that need to occur should happen here. If the processor's - instruction cache does not snoop cpu stores, it is very - likely that you will need to flush the instruction cache - for copy_to_user_page(). - - ``void flush_anon_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct page *page, - unsigned long vmaddr)`` - - When the kernel needs to access the contents of an anonymous - page, it calls this function (currently only - get_user_pages()). Note: flush_dcache_page() deliberately - doesn't work for an anonymous page. The default - implementation is a nop (and should remain so for all coherent - architectures). For incoherent architectures, it should flush - the cache of the page at vmaddr. - - ``void flush_kernel_dcache_page(struct page *page)`` - - When the kernel needs to modify a user page is has obtained - with kmap, it calls this function after all modifications are - complete (but before kunmapping it) to bring the underlying - page up to date. It is assumed here that the user has no - incoherent cached copies (i.e. the original page was obtained - from a mechanism like get_user_pages()). The default - implementation is a nop and should remain so on all coherent - architectures. On incoherent architectures, this should flush - the kernel cache for page (using page_address(page)). - - - ``void flush_icache_range(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)`` - - When the kernel stores into addresses that it will execute - out of (eg when loading modules), this function is called. - - If the icache does not snoop stores then this routine will need - to flush it. - - ``void flush_icache_page(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct page *page)`` - - All the functionality of flush_icache_page can be implemented in - flush_dcache_page and update_mmu_cache. In the future, the hope - is to remove this interface completely. - -The final category of APIs is for I/O to deliberately aliased address -ranges inside the kernel. Such aliases are set up by use of the -vmap/vmalloc API. Since kernel I/O goes via physical pages, the I/O -subsystem assumes that the user mapping and kernel offset mapping are -the only aliases. This isn't true for vmap aliases, so anything in -the kernel trying to do I/O to vmap areas must manually manage -coherency. It must do this by flushing the vmap range before doing -I/O and invalidating it after the I/O returns. - - ``void flush_kernel_vmap_range(void *vaddr, int size)`` - - flushes the kernel cache for a given virtual address range in - the vmap area. This is to make sure that any data the kernel - modified in the vmap range is made visible to the physical - page. The design is to make this area safe to perform I/O on. - Note that this API does *not* also flush the offset map alias - of the area. - - ``void invalidate_kernel_vmap_range(void *vaddr, int size) invalidates`` - - the cache for a given virtual address range in the vmap area - which prevents the processor from making the cache stale by - speculatively reading data while the I/O was occurring to the - physical pages. This is only necessary for data reads into the - vmap area. |