From: Andrea Righi <arighi@nvidia.com>
To: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>, David Vernet <void@manifault.com>,
Changwoo Min <changwoo@igalia.com>,
John Stultz <jstultz@google.com>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
Juri Lelli <juri.lelli@redhat.com>,
Vincent Guittot <vincent.guittot@linaro.org>,
Dietmar Eggemann <dietmar.eggemann@arm.com>,
Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
Ben Segall <bsegall@google.com>, Mel Gorman <mgorman@suse.de>,
Valentin Schneider <vschneid@redhat.com>,
K Prateek Nayak <kprateek.nayak@amd.com>,
Christian Loehle <christian.loehle@arm.com>,
David Dai <david.dai@linux.dev>, Koba Ko <kobak@nvidia.com>,
Aiqun Yu <aiqun.yu@oss.qualcomm.com>,
Shuah Khan <shuah@kernel.org>,
sched-ext@lists.linux.dev, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH 06/11] sched_ext: Split curr|donor references properly
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:20:41 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260716132229.61603-7-arighi@nvidia.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260716132229.61603-1-arighi@nvidia.com>
With proxy execution, the task selected by the scheduler and the task
physically executing can differ. A blocked mutex waiter donates its
scheduling context to the lock owner:
D -----------------> M -------------> O ----------------> T
[donor] blocked on [mutex] owned by [owner] preempted by [task]
\_________________________________^
donates scheduling context
where:
D = blocked donor
M = mutex
O = mutex owner
T = competing runnable task
During a proxy execution switch, D supplies the scheduling class,
priority, and runtime budget, while O supplies the execution context: O
is the task whose code physically executes. T is a competing runnable
task which may preempt the D/O proxy execution.
Consider FAIR and EXT tasks with sched_ext running in partial mode. FAIR
can be replaced with a higher scheduling class such as RT or deadline
without changing the class interaction described here. The possible
combinations are:
1. D is EXT, O is EXT, T is EXT
D can interrupt T according to BPF scheduling policy. O executes
with D's EXT priority and runtime budget, while T waits in EXT.
2. D is EXT, O is EXT, T is FAIR
D is visible to the BPF scheduler, but cannot preempt T because
EXT is below FAIR. Once T stops, BPF can dispatch D and O executes
with D's EXT priority and runtime budget. If T becomes runnable
again, it preempts the D/O proxy execution.
3. D is EXT, O is FAIR, T is EXT
This cannot represent T preempting O because EXT is below FAIR.
4. D is EXT, O is FAIR, T is FAIR
D cannot boost O above T because EXT is below FAIR. O and T
continue competing under FAIR. Once O releases M, D wakes and
resumes normal EXT scheduling.
5. D is FAIR, O is EXT, T is EXT
D preempts T as the higher-class scheduling context. O executes
with D's FAIR priority and runtime budget, while T waits in EXT.
D is not visible to the BPF scheduler.
6. D is FAIR, O is EXT, T is FAIR
D competes with T according to its FAIR deadline. When D is
selected, O executes with D's FAIR priority and runtime budget.
D is not visible to the BPF scheduler.
7. D is FAIR, O is FAIR, T is EXT
This cannot represent T preempting O because EXT is below FAIR.
8. D is FAIR, O is FAIR, T is FAIR
O, T, and D all have FAIR scheduling contexts. D remains runnable
as a blocked proxy donor. When CFS selects D, O executes using D's
FAIR scheduling context. When CFS selects O, O executes using its
own FAIR context, and when CFS selects T, T executes normally. D
is not visible to the BPF scheduler.
Thus, sched_ext policy and accounting must generally use rq->donor, the
scheduler-selected task which supplies the scheduling context, rather
than rq->curr, the task whose code physically executes. Without proxy
execution they are the same task.
On nohz_full CPUs, a blocked proxy donor must retain the scheduler tick
even when it has an infinite slice. Otherwise, a full dynticks CPU could
stop the tick while rq->curr and rq->donor differ, violating assumptions
made by the remote NOHZ tick path.
This is a conservative compromise that keeps the change local to
sched_ext, at the cost of a periodic tick while a blocked proxy donor is
selected. Allowing blocked proxy donors to run tickless would require
making the core scheduler's remote tick handling aware that rq->curr and
rq->donor can differ.
Moreover, extend scx_dump_state() to report both contexts. Each CPU
record now includes a donor= line. If an EXT donor differs from
rq->curr, also emit its detailed task record. The existing '*' marker
continues to identify rq->curr, while the donor= line identifies the
otherwise unmarked donor record.
Note that at this point in the series, CONFIG_SCHED_PROXY_EXEC still
depends on !CONFIG_SCHED_CLASS_EXT, so proxy execution and sched_ext
cannot be enabled together. The scheduling changes are therefore
preparatory. A later patch removes this restriction.
Co-developed-by: John Stultz <jstultz@google.com>
Signed-off-by: John Stultz <jstultz@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrea Righi <arighi@nvidia.com>
---
kernel/sched/ext/ext.c | 93 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------
kernel/sched/ext/sub.h | 8 ++--
2 files changed, 64 insertions(+), 37 deletions(-)
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
index 08773f0aca5a6..c924af485224f 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
@@ -1333,20 +1333,27 @@ static void apply_task_slice_oob(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p)
static void update_curr_scx(struct rq *rq)
{
- struct task_struct *curr = rq->curr;
+ struct task_struct *donor;
s64 delta_exec;
+ /*
+ * update_curr_scx() is selected through rq->donor->sched_class, not
+ * rq->curr->sched_class, so @donor is always an EXT task here. If an EXT
+ * owner executes for a FAIR donor, FAIR's update_curr() runs instead.
+ */
+ donor = rq->donor;
+
/* apply even on 0 delta_exec, callers may still act on the slice */
- apply_task_slice_oob(rq, curr);
+ apply_task_slice_oob(rq, donor);
delta_exec = update_curr_common(rq);
if (unlikely(delta_exec <= 0))
return;
- if (curr->scx.slice != SCX_SLICE_INF) {
- curr->scx.slice -= min_t(u64, curr->scx.slice, delta_exec);
- if (!curr->scx.slice)
- touch_core_sched(rq, curr);
+ if (donor->scx.slice != SCX_SLICE_INF) {
+ donor->scx.slice -= min_t(u64, donor->scx.slice, delta_exec);
+ if (!donor->scx.slice)
+ touch_core_sched(rq, donor);
}
dl_server_update(&rq->ext_server, delta_exec);
@@ -1516,9 +1523,9 @@ static void rq_owned_post_enq(struct scx_sched *sch, struct rq *rq,
if (rq->scx.flags & SCX_RQ_IN_BALANCE)
return;
- if ((enq_flags & SCX_ENQ_PREEMPT) && p != rq->curr &&
- rq->curr->sched_class == &ext_sched_class) {
- set_task_slice(rq->curr, 0);
+ if ((enq_flags & SCX_ENQ_PREEMPT) && p != rq->donor &&
+ rq->donor->sched_class == &ext_sched_class) {
+ set_task_slice(rq->donor, 0);
resched_curr(rq);
}
}
@@ -2732,7 +2739,8 @@ static void dispatch_to_local_dsq(struct scx_sched *sch, struct rq *rq,
}
/* if the destination CPU is idle, wake it up */
- if (!fallback && sched_class_above(p->sched_class, dst_rq->curr->sched_class))
+ if (!fallback && sched_class_above(p->sched_class,
+ dst_rq->donor->sched_class))
resched_curr(dst_rq);
}
@@ -2943,6 +2951,7 @@ static int balance_one(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *prev)
static void set_next_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, bool first)
{
struct scx_sched *sch = scx_task_sched(p);
+ bool can_stop_tick;
if (p->scx.flags & SCX_TASK_QUEUED) {
/*
@@ -2971,6 +2980,7 @@ static void set_next_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, bool first)
/* apply any pending out-of-band slice request before the tick decision */
apply_task_slice_oob(rq, p);
+ can_stop_tick = p->scx.slice == SCX_SLICE_INF && !p->is_blocked;
/*
* @p is getting newly scheduled or got kicked after someone updated its
@@ -2981,7 +2991,7 @@ static void set_next_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, bool first)
* nohz. In the future, we might want to add a mechanism to update
* load_avgs periodically on tick-stopped CPUs.
*/
- if (p->scx.slice == SCX_SLICE_INF) {
+ if (can_stop_tick) {
if (!(rq->scx.flags & SCX_RQ_CAN_STOP_TICK)) {
/*
* Bypass mode always assigns finite slices, so @p
@@ -3002,7 +3012,8 @@ static void set_next_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, bool first)
/*
* @rq still references the outgoing scheduling context. A finite
- * slice is sufficient by itself to require the tick.
+ * slice or a blocked proxy donor is sufficient by itself to require
+ * the tick.
*/
if (tick_nohz_full_cpu(cpu_of(rq)))
tick_nohz_dep_set_cpu(cpu_of(rq), TICK_DEP_BIT_SCHED);
@@ -3177,7 +3188,7 @@ static struct task_struct *first_local_task(struct rq *rq)
static struct task_struct *
do_pick_task_scx(struct rq *rq, struct rq_flags *rf, bool force_scx)
{
- struct task_struct *prev = rq->curr;
+ struct task_struct *prev = rq->donor;
bool keep_prev;
struct task_struct *p;
@@ -3537,9 +3548,9 @@ void scx_tick(struct rq *rq)
update_other_load_avgs(rq);
}
-static void task_tick_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *curr, int queued)
+static void task_tick_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *donor, int queued)
{
- struct scx_sched *sch = scx_task_sched(curr);
+ struct scx_sched *sch = scx_task_sched(donor);
update_curr_scx(rq);
@@ -3548,13 +3559,13 @@ static void task_tick_scx(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *curr, int queued)
* we can't trust the slice management or ops.core_sched_before().
*/
if (scx_bypassing(sch, cpu_of(rq))) {
- set_task_slice(curr, 0);
- touch_core_sched(rq, curr);
+ set_task_slice(donor, 0);
+ touch_core_sched(rq, donor);
} else if (SCX_HAS_OP(sch, tick)) {
- SCX_CALL_OP_TASK(sch, tick, rq, curr);
+ SCX_CALL_OP_TASK(sch, tick, rq, donor);
}
- if (!curr->scx.slice)
+ if (!donor->scx.slice)
resched_curr(rq);
}
@@ -4165,16 +4176,16 @@ static u32 reenq_local(struct scx_sched *sch, struct rq *rq, u64 reenq_flags)
}
/*
- * The revoke that scheduled this scan may have raced the pick: curr
+ * The revoke that scheduled this scan may have raced the pick: donor
* may be a now-capless task, either one that kept running or one
* promoted off the local DSQ between the ecaps sync and this scan.
* Zero the slice to evict it. The enqueue gate blocks new capless
* inserts, so no later pick can slip through after the scan.
*/
if ((reenq_flags & SCX_REENQ_CAP_REVOKE) &&
- rq->curr->sched_class == &ext_sched_class &&
- scx_task_reenq_on_cap_revoke(rq, rq->curr)) {
- set_task_slice(rq->curr, 0);
+ rq->donor->sched_class == &ext_sched_class &&
+ scx_task_reenq_on_cap_revoke(rq, rq->donor)) {
+ set_task_slice(rq->donor, 0);
resched_curr(rq);
}
@@ -4360,14 +4371,14 @@ static void run_deferred(struct rq *rq)
#ifdef CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL
bool scx_can_stop_tick(struct rq *rq)
{
- struct task_struct *p = rq->curr;
+ struct task_struct *p = rq->donor;
struct scx_sched *sch = scx_task_sched(p);
if (p->sched_class != &ext_sched_class)
return true;
/*
- * @rq->curr may still reference an outgoing EXT task after it has been
+ * @rq->donor may still reference an outgoing EXT task after it has been
* dequeued. If no EXT tasks are accounted on @rq, ignore its stale
* slice state. If another task is dispatched from a DSQ,
* set_next_task_scx() will update the dependency for the incoming task.
@@ -4381,7 +4392,8 @@ bool scx_can_stop_tick(struct rq *rq)
/*
* @rq can dispatch from different DSQs, so we can't tell whether it
* needs the tick or not by looking at nr_running. Allow stopping ticks
- * iff the BPF scheduler indicated so. See set_next_task_scx().
+ * iff set_next_task_scx() determined that the selected scheduling context
+ * can run tickless.
*/
return rq->scx.flags & SCX_RQ_CAN_STOP_TICK;
}
@@ -6480,6 +6492,9 @@ static void scx_dump_cpu(struct scx_sched *sch, struct seq_buf *s,
dump_line(&ns, " curr=%s[%d] class=%ps",
rq->curr->comm, rq->curr->pid,
rq->curr->sched_class);
+ dump_line(&ns, " donor=%s[%d] class=%ps",
+ rq->donor->comm, rq->donor->pid,
+ rq->donor->sched_class);
if (!cpumask_empty(pcpu->cpus_to_kick))
dump_line(&ns, " cpus_to_kick : %*pb",
cpumask_pr_args(pcpu->cpus_to_kick));
@@ -6523,6 +6538,10 @@ static void scx_dump_cpu(struct scx_sched *sch, struct seq_buf *s,
if (rq->curr->sched_class == &ext_sched_class &&
(dump_all_tasks || scx_task_on_sched(sch, rq->curr)))
scx_dump_task(sch, s, dctx, rq, rq->curr, '*');
+ if (rq->donor != rq->curr &&
+ rq->donor->sched_class == &ext_sched_class &&
+ (dump_all_tasks || scx_task_on_sched(sch, rq->donor)))
+ scx_dump_task(sch, s, dctx, rq, rq->donor, ' ');
list_for_each_entry(p, &rq->scx.runnable_list, scx.runnable_node)
if (dump_all_tasks || scx_task_on_sched(sch, p))
@@ -8035,7 +8054,7 @@ static bool kick_one_cpu(s32 cpu, struct scx_sched_pcpu *pcpu, struct rq *this_r
unsigned long flags;
raw_spin_rq_lock_irqsave(rq, flags);
- cur_class = rq->curr->sched_class;
+ cur_class = rq->donor->sched_class;
/*
* During CPU hotplug, a CPU may depend on kicking itself to make
@@ -8052,7 +8071,7 @@ static bool kick_one_cpu(s32 cpu, struct scx_sched_pcpu *pcpu, struct rq *this_r
if (cur_class == &ext_sched_class) {
if (likely(!scx_missing_caps(pcpu->sch, cpu,
scx_caps_for_preempt(pcpu->sch, rq))))
- set_task_slice(rq->curr, 0);
+ set_task_slice(rq->donor, 0);
else
__scx_add_event(pcpu->sch,
SCX_EV_SUB_PREEMPT_DENIED, 1);
@@ -9864,12 +9883,16 @@ __bpf_kfunc void scx_bpf_put_cpumask(const struct cpumask *cpumask)
}
/**
- * scx_bpf_task_running - Is task currently running?
+ * scx_bpf_task_running - Is task the current scheduling context?
* @p: task of interest
+ *
+ * Under proxy execution, this reports the donor rather than the task whose
+ * code is physically executing. ops.running() continues to report when the
+ * task itself starts executing.
*/
__bpf_kfunc bool scx_bpf_task_running(const struct task_struct *p)
{
- return task_rq(p)->curr == p;
+ return rcu_access_pointer(task_rq(p)->donor) == p;
}
/**
@@ -9926,10 +9949,14 @@ __bpf_kfunc struct rq *scx_bpf_locked_rq(const struct bpf_prog_aux *aux)
}
/**
- * scx_bpf_cpu_curr - Return remote CPU's curr task
+ * scx_bpf_cpu_curr - Return remote CPU's current scheduling context
* @cpu: CPU of interest
* @aux: implicit BPF argument to access bpf_prog_aux hidden from BPF progs
*
+ * Under proxy execution, this returns the donor, which supplies the scheduling
+ * policy and runtime budget, rather than the task whose code is physically
+ * executing. ops.running() continues to report physical task execution.
+ *
* Callers must hold RCU read lock (KF_RCU).
*/
__bpf_kfunc struct task_struct *scx_bpf_cpu_curr(s32 cpu, const struct bpf_prog_aux *aux)
@@ -9945,7 +9972,7 @@ __bpf_kfunc struct task_struct *scx_bpf_cpu_curr(s32 cpu, const struct bpf_prog_
if (!scx_cpu_valid(sch, cpu, NULL))
return NULL;
- return rcu_dereference(cpu_rq(cpu)->curr);
+ return rcu_dereference(cpu_rq(cpu)->donor);
}
/**
@@ -9969,7 +9996,7 @@ __bpf_kfunc struct task_struct *scx_bpf_cid_curr(s32 cid, const struct bpf_prog_
cpu = scx_cid_to_cpu(sch, cid);
if (cpu < 0)
return NULL;
- return rcu_dereference(cpu_rq(cpu)->curr);
+ return rcu_dereference(cpu_rq(cpu)->donor);
}
/**
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/sub.h b/kernel/sched/ext/sub.h
index 625d7ce334aa8..a164e6b2f2562 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/sub.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/sub.h
@@ -141,14 +141,14 @@ static inline u64 scx_caps_for_task(struct task_struct *p)
return SCX_CAP_ENQ;
}
-/* the cap @sch needs to preempt @rq's current task, 0 if none */
+/* the cap @sch needs to preempt @rq's current scheduling context, 0 if none */
static inline u64 scx_caps_for_preempt(struct scx_sched *sch, struct rq *rq)
{
- struct task_struct *curr = rq->curr;
+ struct task_struct *donor = rq->donor;
/* a non-ext task can't be preempted by ext, own-subtree needs no cap */
- if (curr->sched_class != &ext_sched_class ||
- scx_is_descendant(scx_task_sched(curr), sch))
+ if (donor->sched_class != &ext_sched_class ||
+ scx_is_descendant(scx_task_sched(donor), sch))
return 0;
return SCX_CAP_PREEMPT;
}
--
2.55.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-07-16 13:23 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 25+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-16 13:20 [PATCHSET v7 sched_ext/for-7.3] sched: Make proxy execution compatible with sched_ext Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 01/11] sched: Make NOHZ CFS bandwidth checks follow proxy donor Andrea Righi
2026-07-18 3:11 ` John Stultz
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 02/11] sched: Add helper to block retained proxy donors Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 03/11] sched_ext: Block proxy donors across scheduler transitions Andrea Righi
2026-07-18 3:16 ` John Stultz
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 04/11] sched_ext: Fix ops.running/stopping() pairing for proxy-exec donors Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 05/11] sched_ext: Fix TOCTOU race in consume_remote_task() Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 21:29 ` Tejun Heo
2026-07-16 21:38 ` Tejun Heo
2026-07-17 6:35 ` Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` Andrea Righi [this message]
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 07/11] sched_ext: Handle blocked donor migration with proxy execution Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 08/11] sched_ext: Delegate proxy donor admission to BPF schedulers Andrea Righi
2026-07-18 6:16 ` John Stultz
2026-07-18 6:50 ` John Stultz
2026-07-18 14:23 ` Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 09/11] sched_ext: Add selftest for blocked donor admission Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 10/11] sched_ext: scx_qmap: Add proxy execution support Andrea Righi
2026-07-18 2:28 ` John Stultz
2026-07-18 5:47 ` Andrea Righi
2026-07-18 6:04 ` John Stultz
2026-07-18 8:24 ` Andrea Righi
2026-07-16 13:20 ` [PATCH 11/11] sched: Allow enabling proxy exec with sched_ext Andrea Righi
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2026-07-15 20:54 [PATCHSET v6 sched_ext/for-7.3] sched: Make proxy execution compatible " Andrea Righi
2026-07-15 20:54 ` [PATCH 06/11] sched_ext: Split curr|donor references properly Andrea Righi
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