diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'tools')
| -rw-r--r-- | tools/perf/Documentation/intel-pt.txt | 194 |
1 files changed, 186 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/intel-pt.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/intel-pt.txt index 2866b62eb293..4a0501d7a3b4 100644 --- a/tools/perf/Documentation/intel-pt.txt +++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/intel-pt.txt @@ -142,19 +142,21 @@ which is the same as -e intel_pt/tsc=1,noretcomp=0/ +Note there are now new config terms - see section 'config terms' further below. + The config terms are listed in /sys/devices/intel_pt/format. They are bit fields within the config member of the struct perf_event_attr which is passed to the kernel by the perf_event_open system call. They correspond to bit fields in the IA32_RTIT_CTL MSR. Here is a list of them and their definitions: - $ for f in `ls /sys/devices/intel_pt/format`;do - > echo $f - > cat /sys/devices/intel_pt/format/$f - > done - noretcomp - config:11 - tsc - config:10 + $ grep -H . /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/* + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/cyc:config:1 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/cyc_thresh:config:19-22 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/mtc:config:9 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/mtc_period:config:14-17 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/noretcomp:config:11 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/psb_period:config:24-27 + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/format/tsc:config:10 Note that the default config must be overridden for each term i.e. @@ -209,9 +211,185 @@ perf_event_attr is displayed if the -vv option is used e.g. ------------------------------------------------------------ +config terms +------------ + +The June 2015 version of Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer +Manuals, Chapter 36 Intel Processor Trace, defined new Intel PT features. +Some of the features are reflect in new config terms. All the config terms are +described below. + +tsc Always supported. Produces TSC timestamp packets to provide + timing information. In some cases it is possible to decode + without timing information, for example a per-thread context + that does not overlap executable memory maps. + + The default config selects tsc (i.e. tsc=1). + +noretcomp Always supported. Disables "return compression" so a TIP packet + is produced when a function returns. Causes more packets to be + produced but might make decoding more reliable. + + The default config does not select noretcomp (i.e. noretcomp=0). + +psb_period Allows the frequency of PSB packets to be specified. + + The PSB packet is a synchronization packet that provides a + starting point for decoding or recovery from errors. + + Support for psb_period is indicated by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc + + which contains "1" if the feature is supported and "0" + otherwise. + + Valid values are given by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_periods + + which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent + valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid. + + The psb_period value is converted to the approximate number of + trace bytes between PSB packets as: + + 2 ^ (value + 11) + + e.g. value 3 means 16KiB bytes between PSBs + + If an invalid value is entered, the error message + will give a list of valid values e.g. + + $ perf record -e intel_pt/psb_period=15/u uname + Invalid psb_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-5 + + If MTC packets are selected, the default config selects a value + of 3 (i.e. psb_period=3) or the nearest lower value that is + supported (0 is always supported). Otherwise the default is 0. + + If decoding is expected to be reliable and the buffer is large + then a large PSB period can be used. + + Because a TSC packet is produced with PSB, the PSB period can + also affect the granularity to timing information in the absence + of MTC or CYC. + +mtc Produces MTC timing packets. + + MTC packets provide finer grain timestamp information than TSC + packets. MTC packets record time using the hardware crystal + clock (CTC) which is related to TSC packets using a TMA packet. + + Support for this feature is indicated by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc + + which contains "1" if the feature is supported and + "0" otherwise. + + The frequency of MTC packets can also be specified - see + mtc_period below. + +mtc_period Specifies how frequently MTC packets are produced - see mtc + above for how to determine if MTC packets are supported. + + Valid values are given by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/mtc_periods + + which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent + valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid. + + The mtc_period value is converted to the MTC frequency as: + + CTC-frequency / (2 ^ value) + + e.g. value 3 means one eighth of CTC-frequency + + Where CTC is the hardware crystal clock, the frequency of which + can be related to TSC via values provided in cpuid leaf 0x15. + + If an invalid value is entered, the error message + will give a list of valid values e.g. + + $ perf record -e intel_pt/mtc_period=15/u uname + Invalid mtc_period for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0,3,6,9 + + The default value is 3 or the nearest lower value + that is supported (0 is always supported). + +cyc Produces CYC timing packets. + + CYC packets provide even finer grain timestamp information than + MTC and TSC packets. A CYC packet contains the number of CPU + cycles since the last CYC packet. Unlike MTC and TSC packets, + CYC packets are only sent when another packet is also sent. + + Support for this feature is indicated by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/psb_cyc + + which contains "1" if the feature is supported and + "0" otherwise. + + The number of CYC packets produced can be reduced by specifying + a threshold - see cyc_thresh below. + +cyc_thresh Specifies how frequently CYC packets are produced - see cyc + above for how to determine if CYC packets are supported. + + Valid cyc_thresh values are given by: + + /sys/bus/event_source/devices/intel_pt/caps/cycle_thresholds + + which contains a hexadecimal value, the bits of which represent + valid values e.g. bit 2 set means value 2 is valid. + + The cyc_thresh value represents the minimum number of CPU cycles + that must have passed before a CYC packet can be sent. The + number of CPU cycles is: + + 2 ^ (value - 1) + + e.g. value 4 means 8 CPU cycles must pass before a CYC packet + can be sent. Note a CYC packet is still only sent when another + packet is sent, not at, e.g. every 8 CPU cycles. + + If an invalid value is entered, the error message + will give a list of valid values e.g. + + $ perf record -e intel_pt/cyc,cyc_thresh=15/u uname + Invalid cyc_thresh for intel_pt. Valid values are: 0-12 + + CYC packets are not requested by default. + +no_force_psb This is a driver option and is not in the IA32_RTIT_CTL MSR. + + It stops the driver resetting the byte count to zero whenever + enabling the trace (for example on context switches) which in + turn results in no PSB being forced. However some processors + will produce a PSB anyway. + + In any case, there is still a PSB when the trace is enabled for + the first time. + + no_force_psb can be used to slightly decrease the trace size but + may make it harder for the decoder to recover from errors. + + no_force_psb is not selected by default. + + new snapshot option ------------------- +The difference between full trace and snapshot from the kernel's perspective is +that in full trace we don't overwrite trace data that the user hasn't collected +yet (and indicated that by advancing aux_tail), whereas in snapshot mode we let +the trace run and overwrite older data in the buffer so that whenever something +interesting happens, we can stop it and grab a snapshot of what was going on +around that interesting moment. + To select snapshot mode a new option has been added: -S |