summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/x86/topology.txt208
1 files changed, 208 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/x86/topology.txt b/Documentation/x86/topology.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..06afac252f5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/x86/topology.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+x86 Topology
+============
+
+This documents and clarifies the main aspects of x86 topology modelling and
+representation in the kernel. Update/change when doing changes to the
+respective code.
+
+The architecture-agnostic topology definitions are in
+Documentation/cputopology.txt. This file holds x86-specific
+differences/specialities which must not necessarily apply to the generic
+definitions. Thus, the way to read up on Linux topology on x86 is to start
+with the generic one and look at this one in parallel for the x86 specifics.
+
+Needless to say, code should use the generic functions - this file is *only*
+here to *document* the inner workings of x86 topology.
+
+Started by Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de> and Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>.
+
+The main aim of the topology facilities is to present adequate interfaces to
+code which needs to know/query/use the structure of the running system wrt
+threads, cores, packages, etc.
+
+The kernel does not care about the concept of physical sockets because a
+socket has no relevance to software. It's an electromechanical component. In
+the past a socket always contained a single package (see below), but with the
+advent of Multi Chip Modules (MCM) a socket can hold more than one package. So
+there might be still references to sockets in the code, but they are of
+historical nature and should be cleaned up.
+
+The topology of a system is described in the units of:
+
+ - packages
+ - cores
+ - threads
+
+* Package:
+
+ Packages contain a number of cores plus shared resources, e.g. DRAM
+ controller, shared caches etc.
+
+ AMD nomenclature for package is 'Node'.
+
+ Package-related topology information in the kernel:
+
+ - cpuinfo_x86.x86_max_cores:
+
+ The number of cores in a package. This information is retrieved via CPUID.
+
+ - cpuinfo_x86.phys_proc_id:
+
+ The physical ID of the package. This information is retrieved via CPUID
+ and deduced from the APIC IDs of the cores in the package.
+
+ - cpuinfo_x86.logical_id:
+
+ The logical ID of the package. As we do not trust BIOSes to enumerate the
+ packages in a consistent way, we introduced the concept of logical package
+ ID so we can sanely calculate the number of maximum possible packages in
+ the system and have the packages enumerated linearly.
+
+ - topology_max_packages():
+
+ The maximum possible number of packages in the system. Helpful for per
+ package facilities to preallocate per package information.
+
+
+* Cores:
+
+ A core consists of 1 or more threads. It does not matter whether the threads
+ are SMT- or CMT-type threads.
+
+ AMDs nomenclature for a CMT core is "Compute Unit". The kernel always uses
+ "core".
+
+ Core-related topology information in the kernel:
+
+ - smp_num_siblings:
+
+ The number of threads in a core. The number of threads in a package can be
+ calculated by:
+
+ threads_per_package = cpuinfo_x86.x86_max_cores * smp_num_siblings
+
+
+* Threads:
+
+ A thread is a single scheduling unit. It's the equivalent to a logical Linux
+ CPU.
+
+ AMDs nomenclature for CMT threads is "Compute Unit Core". The kernel always
+ uses "thread".
+
+ Thread-related topology information in the kernel:
+
+ - topology_core_cpumask():
+
+ The cpumask contains all online threads in the package to which a thread
+ belongs.
+
+ The number of online threads is also printed in /proc/cpuinfo "siblings."
+
+ - topology_sibling_mask():
+
+ The cpumask contains all online threads in the core to which a thread
+ belongs.
+
+ - topology_logical_package_id():
+
+ The logical package ID to which a thread belongs.
+
+ - topology_physical_package_id():
+
+ The physical package ID to which a thread belongs.
+
+ - topology_core_id();
+
+ The ID of the core to which a thread belongs. It is also printed in /proc/cpuinfo
+ "core_id."
+
+
+
+System topology examples
+
+Note:
+
+The alternative Linux CPU enumeration depends on how the BIOS enumerates the
+threads. Many BIOSes enumerate all threads 0 first and then all threads 1.
+That has the "advantage" that the logical Linux CPU numbers of threads 0 stay
+the same whether threads are enabled or not. That's merely an implementation
+detail and has no practical impact.
+
+1) Single Package, Single Core
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+
+2) Single Package, Dual Core
+
+ a) One thread per core
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 1
+
+ b) Two threads per core
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+ Alternative enumeration:
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+ AMD nomenclature for CMT systems:
+
+ [node 0] -> [Compute Unit 0] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [Compute Unit 1] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+4) Dual Package, Dual Core
+
+ a) One thread per core
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 1
+
+ [package 1] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+ b) Two threads per core
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+ [package 1] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 4
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 5
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 6
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 7
+
+ Alternative enumeration:
+
+ [package 0] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 4
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 5
+
+ [package 1] -> [core 0] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 6
+ -> [core 1] -> [thread 0] -> Linux CPU 3
+ -> [thread 1] -> Linux CPU 7
+
+ AMD nomenclature for CMT systems:
+
+ [node 0] -> [Compute Unit 0] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 0
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 1
+ -> [Compute Unit 1] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 2
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 3
+
+ [node 1] -> [Compute Unit 0] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 4
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 5
+ -> [Compute Unit 1] -> [Compute Unit Core 0] -> Linux CPU 6
+ -> [Compute Unit Core 1] -> Linux CPU 7