netdev - RE: [RFC PATCH 0/3] kernel: add support for 256-bit IO access

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Date:   Mon, 19 Mar 2018 16:05:23 +0100 (CET)
From:   Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>
To:     David Laight <David.Laight@...LAB.COM>
cc:     'Rahul Lakkireddy' <rahul.lakkireddy@...lsio.com>,
        "x86@...nel.org" <x86@...nel.org>,
        "linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        "netdev@...r.kernel.org" <netdev@...r.kernel.org>,
        "mingo@...hat.com" <mingo@...hat.com>,
        "hpa@...or.com" <hpa@...or.com>,
        "davem@...emloft.net" <davem@...emloft.net>,
        "akpm@...ux-foundation.org" <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        "torvalds@...ux-foundation.org" <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
        "ganeshgr@...lsio.com" <ganeshgr@...lsio.com>,
        "nirranjan@...lsio.com" <nirranjan@...lsio.com>,
        "indranil@...lsio.com" <indranil@...lsio.com>
Subject: RE: [RFC PATCH 0/3] kernel: add support for 256-bit IO access

On Mon, 19 Mar 2018, David Laight wrote:
> From: Rahul Lakkireddy
> In principle it ought to be possible to get access to one or two
> (eg) AVX registers by saving them to stack and telling the fpu
> save code where you've put them.

No. We have functions for this and we are not adding new ad hoc magic.

> OTOH, for x86, if the code always runs in process context (eg from a
> system call) then, since the ABI defines them all as caller-saved
> the AVX(2) registers, it is only necessary to ensure that the current
> FPU registers belong to the current process once.
> The registers can be set to zero by an 'invalidate' instruction on
> system call entry (hope this is done) and after use.

Why would a system call touch the FPU registers? The kernel normally does
not use FPU instructions and the code which explicitely does has to take
care of save/restore. It would be performance madness to fiddle with the
FPU stuff unconditionally if nothing uses it.

Thanks,

	tglx