Re: [PATCH v3 2/3] arm64: Optimize __READ_ONCE() with CONFIG_LTO=y
From: Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>
Date: 2026-02-02 15:36:46
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On Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 02:28:25PM +0100, Marco Elver wrote:
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
Rework arm64 LTO __READ_ONCE() to improve code generation as follows: 1. Replace _Generic-based __unqual_scalar_typeof() with more complete __rwonce_typeof_unqual(). This strips qualifiers from all types, not just integer types, which is required to be able to assign (must be non-const) to __u.__val in the non-atomic case (required for #2). Once our minimum compiler versions are bumped, this just becomes TYPEOF_UNQUAL() (or typeof_unqual() should we decide to adopt C23 naming). Sadly the fallback version of __rwonce_typeof_unqual() cannot be used as a general TYPEOF_UNQUAL() fallback (see code comments). One subtle point here is that non-integer types of __val could be const or volatile within the union with the old __unqual_scalar_typeof(), if the passed variable is const or volatile. This would then result in a forced load from the stack if __u.__val is volatile; in the case of const, it does look odd if the underlying storage changes, but the compiler is told said member is "const" -- it smells like UB. 2. Eliminate the atomic flag and ternary conditional expression. Move the fallback volatile load into the default case of the switch, ensuring __u is unconditionally initialized across all paths. The statement expression now unconditionally returns __u.__val. This refactoring appears to help the compiler improve (or fix) code generation. With a defconfig + LTO + debug options builds, we observe different codegen for the following functions: btrfs_reclaim_sweep (708 -> 1032 bytes) btrfs_sinfo_bg_reclaim_threshold_store (200 -> 204 bytes) check_mem_access (3652 -> 3692 bytes) [inlined bpf_map_is_rdonly] console_flush_all (1268 -> 1264 bytes) console_lock_spinning_disable_and_check (180 -> 176 bytes) igb_add_filter (640 -> 636 bytes) igb_config_tx_modes (2404 -> 2400 bytes) kvm_vcpu_on_spin (480 -> 476 bytes) map_freeze (376 -> 380 bytes) netlink_bind (1664 -> 1656 bytes) nmi_cpu_backtrace (404 -> 400 bytes) set_rps_cpu (516 -> 520 bytes) swap_cluster_readahead (944 -> 932 bytes) tcp_accecn_third_ack (328 -> 336 bytes) tcp_create_openreq_child (1764 -> 1772 bytes) tcp_data_queue (5784 -> 5892 bytes) tcp_ecn_rcv_synack (620 -> 628 bytes) xen_manage_runstate_time (944 -> 896 bytes) xen_steal_clock (340 -> 296 bytes) Increase of some functions are due to more aggressive inlining due to better codegen (in this build, e.g. bpf_map_is_rdonly is no longer present due to being inlined completely). Signed-off-by: Marco Elver <elver@google.com> --- v3: * Comment. v2: * Add __rwonce_typeof_unqual() as fallback for old compilers. --- arch/arm64/include/asm/rwonce.h | 21 +++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/rwonce.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/rwonce.h index fc0fb42b0b64..42c9e8429274 100644 --- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/rwonce.h +++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/rwonce.h@@ -19,6 +19,20 @@ "ldapr" #sfx "\t" #regs, \ ARM64_HAS_LDAPR) +#ifdef USE_TYPEOF_UNQUAL +#define __rwonce_typeof_unqual(x) TYPEOF_UNQUAL(x) +#else +/* + * Fallback for older compilers (Clang < 19). + * + * Uses the fact that, for all supported Clang versions, 'auto' correctly drops + * qualifiers. Unlike typeof_unqual(), the type must be completely defined, i.e. + * no forward-declared struct pointer dereferences. The array-to-pointer decay + * case does not matter for usage in READ_ONCE() either. + */ +#define __rwonce_typeof_unqual(x) typeof(({ auto ____t = (x); ____t; })) +#endif
I know that CONFIG_LTO practically depends on Clang, but it's a bit grotty relying on that assumption here. Ideally, it would be straightforward to enable the strong READ_ONCE() semantics on arm64 regardless of the compiler.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
/* * When building with LTO, there is an increased risk of the compiler * converting an address dependency headed by a READ_ONCE() invocation@@ -32,8 +46,7 @@ #define __READ_ONCE(x) \ ({ \ typeof(&(x)) __x = &(x); \ - int atomic = 1; \ - union { __unqual_scalar_typeof(*__x) __val; char __c[1]; } __u; \ + union { __rwonce_typeof_unqual(*__x) __val; char __c[1]; } __u; \ switch (sizeof(x)) { \ case 1: \ asm volatile(__LOAD_RCPC(b, %w0, %1) \@@ -56,9 +69,9 @@ : "Q" (*__x) : "memory"); \ break; \ default: \ - atomic = 0; \ + __u.__val = *(volatile typeof(*__x) *)__x; \
Since we're not providing acquire semantics for the non-atomic case, what we really want is the generic definition of __READ_ONCE() from include/asm-generic/rwonce.h here. The header inclusion mess prevents that, but why can't we just inline that definition here for the 'default' case? If TYPEOF_UNQUAL() leads to better codegen, shouldn't we use that to implement __unqual_scalar_typeof() when it is available? I fear I'm missing something here, but it just feels like we're optimising a pretty niche case (arm64 + LTO + non-atomic __READ_ONCE()) in a way that looks more generally applicable. Will