No description
  • C 96.8%
  • Assembly 0.9%
  • Rust 0.7%
  • Shell 0.6%
  • Python 0.5%
  • Other 0.3%
Find a file
Wang Yechao 1b5ea65ffd RISC-V: KVM: Improve dirty log clearing by skipping zero bits in mask
The existing kvm_riscv_gstage_wp_range() walks the entire [start, end)
range to apply write protection for dirty log clearing, even when the
provided mask has zero bits (i.e., many GFNs do not need protection).
This leads to unnecessary page table walks when the mask is sparse.

Replace the range-based approach with a new function
kvm_riscv_gstage_wp_pt_masked() that iterates only over the set bits in
the mask. For each set bit, it looks up the leaf PTE and applies write
protection. Once a huge page is encountered, the entire huge-page range
is processed in one go, and the corresponding bits in the mask are cleared
using bitmap_clear().

Performance was measured with KVM selftests dirty_log_perf_test on a
Spacemit k3 host with the following configuration:
- vCPUs: 2 (-v 2)
- Memory: 1GB (-b 1G)
- Iterations: 3 (-i 3)
- Write percentage varied via -w parameter to simulate different
  dirty mask densities.

The following data shows the time spent in the clear-dirty-log phase
(i.e., the KVM_CLEAR_DIRTY_LOG ioctl) under each configuration.

+------------------+------------------+------------------+-------------+
| Write Percentage | Original (s)     | Patched (s)      | Improvement |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+-------------+
| 10%              | 0.012905         | 0.009213         | +28.6%      |
| 30%              | 0.014217         | 0.010287         | +27.6%      |
| 50%              | 0.014606         | 0.011772         | +19.4%      |
| 70%              | 0.014735         | 0.013199         | +10.4%      |
| 100%             | 0.014759         | 0.015294         | -3.6%       |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+-------------+

The performance improvement is most significant when the dirty mask is
sparse (low write percentage), which is common in real-world scenarios
with low to moderate memory write intensity. In the worst-case scenario
where the mask is fully set (100% write), the optimization introduces
a slight 3.6% overhead due to the additional bit operations, which is
acceptable given the substantial gains in common cases.

This change significantly reduces the number of page-table walks when
the dirty mask has many zero bits, improving the efficiency of
KVM_CLEAR_DIRTY_LOG and related ioctls.

Signed-off-by: Wang Yechao <wang.yechao255@zte.com.cn>
Reviewed-by: Anup Patel <anup@brainfault.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260717080654.877151-1-wang.yechao255@zte.com.cn
Signed-off-by: Anup Patel <anup@brainfault.org>
History 2026-08-07 18:44:46 +05:30
arch
block
certs
crypto
Documentation
drivers
fs
include
init
io_uring
ipc
kernel
lib
LICENSES
mm
net
rust
samples
scripts
security
sound
tools
usr
virt
.clang-format
.clippy.toml
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig
.get_maintainer.ignore
.gitattributes
.gitignore
.mailmap
.pylintrc
.rustfmt.toml
COPYING
CREDITS
Kbuild
Kconfig
MAINTAINERS
Makefile
README

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst