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Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:13:01 +0800 From: Eric Miao <eric.y.miao@...il.com> To: Nicolas Pitre <nico@....org> CC: linux-netdev <netdev@...r.kernel.org>, linux-arm-kernel <linux-arm-kernel@...ts.arm.linux.org.uk>, Magnus Damm <magnus.damm@...il.com> Subject: Re: [PATCH 5/8] smc91x: add SMC91X_IO_SHIFT* macros and make SMC_IO_SHIFT a variable Nicolas Pitre wrote: > On Fri, 20 Jun 2008, Eric Miao wrote: > >> Nicolas Pitre wrote: >>> On Thu, 19 Jun 2008, Eric Miao wrote: >>> >>>> SMC_IO_SHIFT is currently hardcoded, which makes some platforms (e.g. >>>> Lubbock) unable to use the newly introduced platform data. This patch >>>> introduces SMC91X_IO_SHIFT* macros and make SMC_IO_SHIFT a variable. >>>> >>>> Signed-off-by: Eric Miao <eric.miao@...vell.com> >>> NAK. >>> >>> The very point of those macros is actually to optimize the IO accesses >>> as much as possible at compile time. By introducing a variable element >>> in the definition of those macros (for when the driver is configured >>> with constant params for those macros of course) you add a significant >>> overhead to every access to the hardware, including when transferring >>> data in and out of the chip. >>> >> Contrary to expected, the result shows a slight decrease on zylonite, >> PXA310@...MHz, result shown as below: >> >> (by a simple measurement with "proc/uptime" and tftp) >> >> with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a variable >> >> trial 1: 2062776 bytes in (179.77 - 177.72 = 2.05) seconds = 1,006,232 Bps >> trial 2: 2062776 bytes in (183.00 - 180.95 = 2.05) seconds = 1,006,232 Bps >> trial 3: 2062776 bytes in (261.48 - 259.42 = 2.06) seconds = 1,001,347 Bps >> >> with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a constant >> >> trial 1: 2062776 bytes in (41.07 - 39.04 = 2.03) seconds = 1,016,145 Bps >> trial 2: 2062776 bytes in (97.19 - 95.16 = 2.03) seconds = 1,016,145 Bps >> trial 3: 2062776 bytes in (159.81 - 157.78 = 2.03) seconds = 1,016,145 Bps >> >> The statistics were stable during the test, so I generally think it's >> typical. >> >> On lubbock, PXA255@...MHz, however, the result shows a slight increase: >> >> with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a variable >> >> trial 1: 2062776 bytes in (49.42 - 42.20 = 7.22) seconds = 285,703 Bps >> trial 2: 2062776 bytes in (60.27 - 53.07 = 7.20) seconds = 286,497 Bps >> trial 3: 2062776 bytes in (141.04 - 133.84 = 7.20) seconds = 286,497 Bps >> >> with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a constant >> >> trial 1: 2062776 bytes in (58.93 - 51.62 = 7.31) seconds = 282,185 Bps >> trial 2: 2062776 bytes in (69.26 - 61.95 = 7.31) seconds = 282,185 Bps >> trial 3: 2062776 bytes in (151.58 - 144.27 = 7.31) seconds = 282,185 Bps >> >> So I'm thinking that the overhead may not be so significant as expected, >> 1. control register accesses are rare compared to data register >> 2. data register access is usually fixed at one address and enclosed in >> a loop, which the compiler may well optimize > > You must also look at the CPU usage too. A faster CPU may well mitigate > the latency issue and make no significant throughput difference, but at > a higher CPU cost. That means fewer cycles for doing anything else, > like drawing those pictures on the screen as they are received over the > net for example. > OK, finally got netperf working, and here're the statistics as expected: with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a constant: Recv Send Send Utilization Service Demand Socket Socket Message Elapsed Send Recv Send Recv Size Size Size Time Throughput local remote local remote bytes bytes bytes secs. 10^6bits/s % S % U us/KB us/KB 87380 16384 16384 10.01 6.50 23.99 -1.00 302.459 -1.000 87380 16384 16384 10.02 6.46 25.18 -1.00 319.295 -1.000 87380 16384 16384 10.04 6.37 24.38 -1.00 313.405 -1.000 with SMC_IO_SHIFT being a variable: Recv Send Send Utilization Service Demand Socket Socket Message Elapsed Send Recv Send Recv Size Size Size Time Throughput local remote local remote bytes bytes bytes secs. 10^6bits/s % S % U us/KB us/KB 87380 16384 16384 10.04 6.41 36.25 -1.00 463.470 -1.000 87380 16384 16384 10.04 6.54 36.26 -1.00 454.069 -1.000 87380 16384 16384 10.03 6.40 39.58 -1.00 506.363 -1.000 So the CPU utilization at the local sending side increases by > 10%, which will create much overhead on slow CPU indeed. >>> And this is very important to have the lowest overhead possible with >>> this chip that can do 100mbps on platforms with a CPU clock almost as >>> slow. >>> >> Indeed, the overhead will be magnified on a system with slow CPU clock, >> maybe I should spend some time to have a test also. However, arguably, >> the smc91x chips are usually used as a debug ethernet on most (if not >> all) platforms, I don't think a serious design will deploy such a chip >> for performance critical application, though. > > That's not acceptable as an argument to introduce what actually is a > regression, especially when it should be possible to avoid it. And the > fact is that there are already designs out there using this chip in > production, serious or not. > OK, so is it arguable that boards like lubbock/mainstone/zylonite/littleton can be switched over to use the SMC_IO_SHIFT as a variable and leave other platforms unchanged due to the fact that these boards are just development platforms and do not care much about performance? > > Nicolas -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe netdev" in the body of a message to majordomo@...r.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
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