Re: [PATCH v4 bpf-next 0/4] Add bpf_loop helper

On Mon, Nov 29, 2021 at 7:07 PM Joanne Koong [off-list ref] wrote:

This patchset add a new helper, bpf_loop.

One of the complexities of using for loops in bpf programs is that the verifier
needs to ensure that in every possibility of the loop logic, the loop will always
terminate. As such, there is a limit on how many iterations the loop can do.

The bpf_loop helper moves the loop logic into the kernel and can thereby
guarantee that the loop will always terminate. The bpf_loop helper simplifies
a lot of the complexity the verifier needs to check, as well as removes the
constraint on the number of loops able to be run.

From the test results, we see that using bpf_loop in place
of the traditional for loop led to a decrease in verification time
and number of bpf instructions by ~99%. The benchmark results show
that as the number of iterations increases, the overhead per iteration
decreases.

The high-level overview of the patches -
Patch 1 - kernel-side + API changes for adding bpf_loop
Patch 2 - tests
Patch 3 - use bpf_loop in strobemeta + pyperf600 and measure verifier performance
Patch 4 - benchmark for throughput + latency of bpf_loop call

v3 -> v4:
~ Address nits: use usleep for triggering bpf programs, fix copyright style

Applied. Thanks