From bb3b2cfeb206f5b10b859e134651b54120e3f530 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Linus Walleij Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:05:56 +0100 Subject: ARM: 9480/1: entry: expand comment in __switch_to As per discussion between the developers in the mail thread linked, expand the comment in __switch_to so that readers of the code understand what is going on. Suggested-by: Mark Rutland Acked-by: Mark Rutland Signed-off-by: Linus Walleij > Signed-off-by: Russell King --- Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst | 162 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 162 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst') diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..92195958e --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/propeller.rst @@ -0,0 +1,162 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +===================================== +Using Propeller with the Linux kernel +===================================== + +This enables Propeller build support for the kernel when using Clang +compiler. Propeller is a profile-guided optimization (PGO) method used +to optimize binary executables. Like AutoFDO, it utilizes hardware +sampling to gather information about the frequency of execution of +different code paths within a binary. Unlike AutoFDO, this information +is then used right before linking phase to optimize (among others) +block layout within and across functions. + +A few important notes about adopting Propeller optimization: + +#. Although it can be used as a standalone optimization step, it is + strongly recommended to apply Propeller on top of AutoFDO, + AutoFDO+ThinLTO or Instrument FDO. The rest of this document + assumes this paradigm. + +#. Propeller uses another round of profiling on top of + AutoFDO/AutoFDO+ThinLTO/iFDO. The whole build process involves + "build-afdo - train-afdo - build-propeller - train-propeller - + build-optimized". + +#. Propeller requires LLVM 19 release or later for Clang/Clang++ + and the linker(ld.lld). + +#. In addition to LLVM toolchain, Propeller requires a profiling + conversion tool: https://github.com/google/autofdo with a release + after v0.30.1: https://github.com/google/autofdo/releases/tag/v0.30.1. + +The Propeller optimization process involves the following steps: + +#. Initial building: Build the AutoFDO or AutoFDO+ThinLTO binary as + you would normally do, but with a set of compile-time / link-time + flags, so that a special metadata section is created within the + kernel binary. The special section is only intend to be used by the + profiling tool, it is not part of the runtime image, nor does it + change kernel run time text sections. + +#. Profiling: The above kernel is then run with a representative + workload to gather execution frequency data. This data is collected + using hardware sampling, via perf. Propeller is most effective on + platforms supporting advanced PMU features like LBR on Intel + machines. This step is the same as profiling the kernel for AutoFDO + (the exact perf parameters can be different). + +#. Propeller profile generation: Perf output file is converted to a + pair of Propeller profiles via an offline tool. + +#. Optimized build: Build the AutoFDO or AutoFDO+ThinLTO optimized + binary as you would normally do, but with a compile-time / + link-time flag to pick up the Propeller compile time and link time + profiles. This build step uses 3 profiles - the AutoFDO profile, + the Propeller compile-time profile and the Propeller link-time + profile. + +#. Deployment: The optimized kernel binary is deployed and used + in production environments, providing improved performance + and reduced latency. + +Preparation +=========== + +Configure the kernel with:: + + CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y + CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG=y + +Customization +============= + +The default CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG setting covers kernel space objects +for Propeller builds. One can, however, enable or disable Propeller build +for individual files and directories by adding a line similar to the +following to the respective kernel Makefile: + +- For enabling a single file (e.g. foo.o):: + + PROPELLER_PROFILE_foo.o := y + +- For enabling all files in one directory:: + + PROPELLER_PROFILE := y + +- For disabling one file:: + + PROPELLER_PROFILE_foo.o := n + +- For disabling all files in one directory:: + + PROPELLER__PROFILE := n + + +Workflow +======== + +Here is an example workflow for building an AutoFDO+Propeller kernel: + +1) Assuming an AutoFDO profile is already collected following + instructions in the AutoFDO document, build the kernel on the host + machine, with AutoFDO and Propeller build configs :: + + CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y + CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG=y + + and :: + + $ make LLVM=1 CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE= + +2) Install the kernel on the test machine. + +3) Run the load tests. The '-c' option in perf specifies the sample + event period. We suggest using a suitable prime number, like 500009, + for this purpose. + + - For Intel platforms:: + + $ perf record -e BR_INST_RETIRED.NEAR_TAKEN:k -a -N -b -c -o -- + + - For AMD platforms:: + + $ perf record --pfm-event RETIRED_TAKEN_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS:k -a -N -b -c -o -- + + Note you can repeat the above steps to collect multiple s. + +4) (Optional) Download the raw perf file(s) to the host machine. + +5) Use the create_llvm_prof tool (https://github.com/google/autofdo) to + generate Propeller profile. :: + + $ create_llvm_prof --binary= --profile= + --format=propeller --propeller_output_module_name + --out=_cc_profile.txt + --propeller_symorder=_ld_profile.txt + + "" can be something like "/home/user/dir/any_string". + + This command generates a pair of Propeller profiles: + "_cc_profile.txt" and + "_ld_profile.txt". + + If there are more than 1 perf_file collected in the previous step, + you can create a temp list file "" with each line + containing one perf file name and run:: + + $ create_llvm_prof --binary= --profile=@ + --format=propeller --propeller_output_module_name + --out=_cc_profile.txt + --propeller_symorder=_ld_profile.txt + +6) Rebuild the kernel using the AutoFDO and Propeller + profiles. :: + + CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG=y + CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG=y + + and :: + + $ make LLVM=1 CLANG_AUTOFDO_PROFILE= CLANG_PROPELLER_PROFILE_PREFIX= -- cgit v1.3.1