[PATCH v4] clocksource: Replace loop within clocks_calc_mult_shift() with find_last_bit() for calculation of "sftacc"

I Hsin Cheng posted 1 patch 3 months, 4 weeks ago
kernel/time/clocksource.c | 17 +++++++++++++----
1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
[PATCH v4] clocksource: Replace loop within clocks_calc_mult_shift() with find_last_bit() for calculation of "sftacc"
Posted by I Hsin Cheng 3 months, 4 weeks ago
Utilize "__fls()" in replacement of while loop counting
for the decremenet of "sftacc". They're equivalent in computation result
but the former is more effective.

"__fls()" will return the bit number of the last set bit of
"tmp", which is 0-based index. Plus 1 to convert it into bit width as
desired.

Note that only the lowest 32 bits of "tmp" is taken into consideration
of the operation, since it was already shifted right by 32 bits, the
topmost 32 bits should remain 0, only the lowest 32 bits are possible to
be non-zero.

This change is tested against a test script [1].
Run the test 10 times for each version of implementation and take the
average. The result shown that with this change, the operation overhead
of "clocks_calc_mult_shift()" can be reduced around 99.7% .

-----------------------------
| old version | new version |
-----------------------------
|  11500.6 ns |       44 ns |
-----------------------------

Signed-off-by: I Hsin Cheng <richard120310@gmail.com>
---
Changelog:

v1 -> v2:
	- Refine commit message to explain more about "why"
	- Check the frequency of "clocks_calc_mult_shift()" get called,
	  it's not in hotpath on my machine, refine the commit message
to avoid overselling it
	- Add comments for the code to explain the implementation in
	  more detail
	- Handle case for "tmp == 0" to avoid undefined behavior

v2 -> v3:
	- Use "find_last_bit()" instead of "__builtin_clz()"
	- Convert the type of "tmp" to "const unsigned long *" when
	  sending into the function
	- Highlight in the comment that only the lowest 32 bits part
	  of "tmp" is taken into consideration

v3 -> v4:
	- Use "__fls()" since "tmp" is of type u64, not cpumask
	- Refine commit messages to match the current implementation

[1]:
static int __init test_init(void)
{
    u32 mult, shift;
    u32 from, to, maxsec;
    ktime_t start_time, end_time, total_time;
    pr_info("Starting clocks_calc_mult_shift simple test\n");

    start_time = ktime_get();
    // Test with parameters from 1 to 1000
    for (from = 1; from <= 1000; from += 100) {
        for (to = 1; to <= 1000; to += 100) {
            for (maxsec = 1; maxsec <= 10; maxsec++) {

                clocks_calc_mult_shift(&mult, &shift, from, to, maxsec);
            }
        }
    }

    end_time = ktime_get();
    total_time = ktime_to_ns(ktime_sub(end_time, start_time));

    pr_info("Test completed\n");
    pr_info("Total execution time: %lld ns \n", total_time);
    return 0;
}

The test is running in the form of kernel module.
The test machine is running ubuntu 24.04 on x86_64 machine with kernel
version of v6.14.0, CPU type is AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 8-Core Processor.

Best regards,
I Hsin Cheng.
---
 kernel/time/clocksource.c | 17 +++++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/time/clocksource.c b/kernel/time/clocksource.c
index 2a7802ec480c..1e3dc68c696d 100644
--- a/kernel/time/clocksource.c
+++ b/kernel/time/clocksource.c
@@ -66,10 +66,19 @@ clocks_calc_mult_shift(u32 *mult, u32 *shift, u32 from, u32 to, u32 maxsec)
 	 * range:
 	 */
 	tmp = ((u64)maxsec * from) >> 32;
-	while (tmp) {
-		tmp >>=1;
-		sftacc--;
-	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Decrement "sftacc" by the number of bits needed to represent "tmp".
+	 * Using "__fls(tmp) + 1" to get the bit width:
+	 * - __fls(tmp) returns the bit number of the last set bit
+	 * - Plus 1 to convert 0-based index into bit width as desired
+	 *
+	 * Note: Only the lowest 32 bits of "tmp" is taken into consideration,
+	 *		 since it was already shifted right by 32 bits, the topmost 32
+	 *		 bits are guaranteed to be 0.
+	 */
+	if (tmp)
+		sftacc -= __fls(tmp) + 1;
 
 	/*
 	 * Find the conversion shift/mult pair which has the best
-- 
2.43.0
Re: [PATCH v4] clocksource: Replace loop within clocks_calc_mult_shift() with find_last_bit() for calculation of "sftacc"
Posted by I Hsin Cheng 3 months, 4 weeks ago
On Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 11:48:55AM +0800, I Hsin Cheng wrote:
> Utilize "__fls()" in replacement of while loop counting
> for the decremenet of "sftacc". They're equivalent in computation result
> but the former is more effective.
> 
> "__fls()" will return the bit number of the last set bit of
> "tmp", which is 0-based index. Plus 1 to convert it into bit width as
> desired.
> 
> Note that only the lowest 32 bits of "tmp" is taken into consideration
> of the operation, since it was already shifted right by 32 bits, the
> topmost 32 bits should remain 0, only the lowest 32 bits are possible to
> be non-zero.
> 
> This change is tested against a test script [1].
> Run the test 10 times for each version of implementation and take the
> average. The result shown that with this change, the operation overhead
> of "clocks_calc_mult_shift()" can be reduced around 99.7% .
> 
> -----------------------------
> | old version | new version |
> -----------------------------
> |  11500.6 ns |       44 ns |
> -----------------------------
> 
> Signed-off-by: I Hsin Cheng <richard120310@gmail.com>
> ---
> Changelog:
> 
> v1 -> v2:
> 	- Refine commit message to explain more about "why"
> 	- Check the frequency of "clocks_calc_mult_shift()" get called,
> 	  it's not in hotpath on my machine, refine the commit message
> to avoid overselling it
> 	- Add comments for the code to explain the implementation in
> 	  more detail
> 	- Handle case for "tmp == 0" to avoid undefined behavior
> 
> v2 -> v3:
> 	- Use "find_last_bit()" instead of "__builtin_clz()"
> 	- Convert the type of "tmp" to "const unsigned long *" when
> 	  sending into the function
> 	- Highlight in the comment that only the lowest 32 bits part
> 	  of "tmp" is taken into consideration
> 
> v3 -> v4:
> 	- Use "__fls()" since "tmp" is of type u64, not cpumask
> 	- Refine commit messages to match the current implementation
> 
> [1]:
> static int __init test_init(void)
> {
>     u32 mult, shift;
>     u32 from, to, maxsec;
>     ktime_t start_time, end_time, total_time;
>     pr_info("Starting clocks_calc_mult_shift simple test\n");
> 
>     start_time = ktime_get();
>     // Test with parameters from 1 to 1000
>     for (from = 1; from <= 1000; from += 100) {
>         for (to = 1; to <= 1000; to += 100) {
>             for (maxsec = 1; maxsec <= 10; maxsec++) {
> 
>                 clocks_calc_mult_shift(&mult, &shift, from, to, maxsec);
>             }
>         }
>     }
> 
>     end_time = ktime_get();
>     total_time = ktime_to_ns(ktime_sub(end_time, start_time));
> 
>     pr_info("Test completed\n");
>     pr_info("Total execution time: %lld ns \n", total_time);
>     return 0;
> }
> 
> The test is running in the form of kernel module.
> The test machine is running ubuntu 24.04 on x86_64 machine with kernel
> version of v6.14.0, CPU type is AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 8-Core Processor.
> 
> Best regards,
> I Hsin Cheng.
> ---
>  kernel/time/clocksource.c | 17 +++++++++++++----
>  1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/kernel/time/clocksource.c b/kernel/time/clocksource.c
> index 2a7802ec480c..1e3dc68c696d 100644
> --- a/kernel/time/clocksource.c
> +++ b/kernel/time/clocksource.c
> @@ -66,10 +66,19 @@ clocks_calc_mult_shift(u32 *mult, u32 *shift, u32 from, u32 to, u32 maxsec)
>  	 * range:
>  	 */
>  	tmp = ((u64)maxsec * from) >> 32;
> -	while (tmp) {
> -		tmp >>=1;
> -		sftacc--;
> -	}
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * Decrement "sftacc" by the number of bits needed to represent "tmp".
> +	 * Using "__fls(tmp) + 1" to get the bit width:
> +	 * - __fls(tmp) returns the bit number of the last set bit
> +	 * - Plus 1 to convert 0-based index into bit width as desired
> +	 *
> +	 * Note: Only the lowest 32 bits of "tmp" is taken into consideration,
> +	 *		 since it was already shifted right by 32 bits, the topmost 32
> +	 *		 bits are guaranteed to be 0.
> +	 */
> +	if (tmp)
> +		sftacc -= __fls(tmp) + 1;
>  
>  	/*
>  	 * Find the conversion shift/mult pair which has the best
> -- 
> 2.43.0
>

Sorry, forgot to update the commit title, please ignore this one, I'll
send v5 immediately.

Best regards,
I Hsin Cheng