xref: /linux/Documentation/power/energy-model.rst (revision c532de5a67a70f8533d495f8f2aaa9a0491c3ad0)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3=======================
4Energy Model of devices
5=======================
6
71. Overview
8-----------
9
10The Energy Model (EM) framework serves as an interface between drivers knowing
11the power consumed by devices at various performance levels, and the kernel
12subsystems willing to use that information to make energy-aware decisions.
13
14The source of the information about the power consumed by devices can vary greatly
15from one platform to another. These power costs can be estimated using
16devicetree data in some cases. In others, the firmware will know better.
17Alternatively, userspace might be best positioned. And so on. In order to avoid
18each and every client subsystem to re-implement support for each and every
19possible source of information on its own, the EM framework intervenes as an
20abstraction layer which standardizes the format of power cost tables in the
21kernel, hence enabling to avoid redundant work.
22
23The power values might be expressed in micro-Watts or in an 'abstract scale'.
24Multiple subsystems might use the EM and it is up to the system integrator to
25check that the requirements for the power value scale types are met. An example
26can be found in the Energy-Aware Scheduler documentation
27Documentation/scheduler/sched-energy.rst. For some subsystems like thermal or
28powercap power values expressed in an 'abstract scale' might cause issues.
29These subsystems are more interested in estimation of power used in the past,
30thus the real micro-Watts might be needed. An example of these requirements can
31be found in the Intelligent Power Allocation in
32Documentation/driver-api/thermal/power_allocator.rst.
33Kernel subsystems might implement automatic detection to check whether EM
34registered devices have inconsistent scale (based on EM internal flag).
35Important thing to keep in mind is that when the power values are expressed in
36an 'abstract scale' deriving real energy in micro-Joules would not be possible.
37
38The figure below depicts an example of drivers (Arm-specific here, but the
39approach is applicable to any architecture) providing power costs to the EM
40framework, and interested clients reading the data from it::
41
42       +---------------+  +-----------------+  +---------------+
43       | Thermal (IPA) |  | Scheduler (EAS) |  |     Other     |
44       +---------------+  +-----------------+  +---------------+
45               |                   | em_cpu_energy()   |
46               |                   | em_cpu_get()      |
47               +---------+         |         +---------+
48                         |         |         |
49                         v         v         v
50                        +---------------------+
51                        |    Energy Model     |
52                        |     Framework       |
53                        +---------------------+
54                           ^       ^       ^
55                           |       |       | em_dev_register_perf_domain()
56                +----------+       |       +---------+
57                |                  |                 |
58        +---------------+  +---------------+  +--------------+
59        |  cpufreq-dt   |  |   arm_scmi    |  |    Other     |
60        +---------------+  +---------------+  +--------------+
61                ^                  ^                 ^
62                |                  |                 |
63        +--------------+   +---------------+  +--------------+
64        | Device Tree  |   |   Firmware    |  |      ?       |
65        +--------------+   +---------------+  +--------------+
66
67In case of CPU devices the EM framework manages power cost tables per
68'performance domain' in the system. A performance domain is a group of CPUs
69whose performance is scaled together. Performance domains generally have a
701-to-1 mapping with CPUFreq policies. All CPUs in a performance domain are
71required to have the same micro-architecture. CPUs in different performance
72domains can have different micro-architectures.
73
74To better reflect power variation due to static power (leakage) the EM
75supports runtime modifications of the power values. The mechanism relies on
76RCU to free the modifiable EM perf_state table memory. Its user, the task
77scheduler, also uses RCU to access this memory. The EM framework provides
78API for allocating/freeing the new memory for the modifiable EM table.
79The old memory is freed automatically using RCU callback mechanism when there
80are no owners anymore for the given EM runtime table instance. This is tracked
81using kref mechanism. The device driver which provided the new EM at runtime,
82should call EM API to free it safely when it's no longer needed. The EM
83framework will handle the clean-up when it's possible.
84
85The kernel code which want to modify the EM values is protected from concurrent
86access using a mutex. Therefore, the device driver code must run in sleeping
87context when it tries to modify the EM.
88
89With the runtime modifiable EM we switch from a 'single and during the entire
90runtime static EM' (system property) design to a 'single EM which can be
91changed during runtime according e.g. to the workload' (system and workload
92property) design.
93
94It is possible also to modify the CPU performance values for each EM's
95performance state. Thus, the full power and performance profile (which
96is an exponential curve) can be changed according e.g. to the workload
97or system property.
98
99
1002. Core APIs
101------------
102
1032.1 Config options
104^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
105
106CONFIG_ENERGY_MODEL must be enabled to use the EM framework.
107
108
1092.2 Registration of performance domains
110^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
111
112Registration of 'advanced' EM
113~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
114
115The 'advanced' EM gets its name due to the fact that the driver is allowed
116to provide more precised power model. It's not limited to some implemented math
117formula in the framework (like it is in 'simple' EM case). It can better reflect
118the real power measurements performed for each performance state. Thus, this
119registration method should be preferred in case considering EM static power
120(leakage) is important.
121
122Drivers are expected to register performance domains into the EM framework by
123calling the following API::
124
125  int em_dev_register_perf_domain(struct device *dev, unsigned int nr_states,
126		struct em_data_callback *cb, cpumask_t *cpus, bool microwatts);
127
128Drivers must provide a callback function returning <frequency, power> tuples
129for each performance state. The callback function provided by the driver is free
130to fetch data from any relevant location (DT, firmware, ...), and by any mean
131deemed necessary. Only for CPU devices, drivers must specify the CPUs of the
132performance domains using cpumask. For other devices than CPUs the last
133argument must be set to NULL.
134The last argument 'microwatts' is important to set with correct value. Kernel
135subsystems which use EM might rely on this flag to check if all EM devices use
136the same scale. If there are different scales, these subsystems might decide
137to return warning/error, stop working or panic.
138See Section 3. for an example of driver implementing this
139callback, or Section 2.4 for further documentation on this API
140
141Registration of EM using DT
142~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
143
144The  EM can also be registered using OPP framework and information in DT
145"operating-points-v2". Each OPP entry in DT can be extended with a property
146"opp-microwatt" containing micro-Watts power value. This OPP DT property
147allows a platform to register EM power values which are reflecting total power
148(static + dynamic). These power values might be coming directly from
149experiments and measurements.
150
151Registration of 'artificial' EM
152~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
153
154There is an option to provide a custom callback for drivers missing detailed
155knowledge about power value for each performance state. The callback
156.get_cost() is optional and provides the 'cost' values used by the EAS.
157This is useful for platforms that only provide information on relative
158efficiency between CPU types, where one could use the information to
159create an abstract power model. But even an abstract power model can
160sometimes be hard to fit in, given the input power value size restrictions.
161The .get_cost() allows to provide the 'cost' values which reflect the
162efficiency of the CPUs. This would allow to provide EAS information which
163has different relation than what would be forced by the EM internal
164formulas calculating 'cost' values. To register an EM for such platform, the
165driver must set the flag 'microwatts' to 0, provide .get_power() callback
166and provide .get_cost() callback. The EM framework would handle such platform
167properly during registration. A flag EM_PERF_DOMAIN_ARTIFICIAL is set for such
168platform. Special care should be taken by other frameworks which are using EM
169to test and treat this flag properly.
170
171Registration of 'simple' EM
172~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
173
174The 'simple' EM is registered using the framework helper function
175cpufreq_register_em_with_opp(). It implements a power model which is tight to
176math formula::
177
178	Power = C * V^2 * f
179
180The EM which is registered using this method might not reflect correctly the
181physics of a real device, e.g. when static power (leakage) is important.
182
183
1842.3 Accessing performance domains
185^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
186
187There are two API functions which provide the access to the energy model:
188em_cpu_get() which takes CPU id as an argument and em_pd_get() with device
189pointer as an argument. It depends on the subsystem which interface it is
190going to use, but in case of CPU devices both functions return the same
191performance domain.
192
193Subsystems interested in the energy model of a CPU can retrieve it using the
194em_cpu_get() API. The energy model tables are allocated once upon creation of
195the performance domains, and kept in memory untouched.
196
197The energy consumed by a performance domain can be estimated using the
198em_cpu_energy() API. The estimation is performed assuming that the schedutil
199CPUfreq governor is in use in case of CPU device. Currently this calculation is
200not provided for other type of devices.
201
202More details about the above APIs can be found in ``<linux/energy_model.h>``
203or in Section 2.5
204
205
2062.4 Runtime modifications
207^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
208
209Drivers willing to update the EM at runtime should use the following dedicated
210function to allocate a new instance of the modified EM. The API is listed
211below::
212
213  struct em_perf_table __rcu *em_table_alloc(struct em_perf_domain *pd);
214
215This allows to allocate a structure which contains the new EM table with
216also RCU and kref needed by the EM framework. The 'struct em_perf_table'
217contains array 'struct em_perf_state state[]' which is a list of performance
218states in ascending order. That list must be populated by the device driver
219which wants to update the EM. The list of frequencies can be taken from
220existing EM (created during boot). The content in the 'struct em_perf_state'
221must be populated by the driver as well.
222
223This is the API which does the EM update, using RCU pointers swap::
224
225  int em_dev_update_perf_domain(struct device *dev,
226			struct em_perf_table __rcu *new_table);
227
228Drivers must provide a pointer to the allocated and initialized new EM
229'struct em_perf_table'. That new EM will be safely used inside the EM framework
230and will be visible to other sub-systems in the kernel (thermal, powercap).
231The main design goal for this API is to be fast and avoid extra calculations
232or memory allocations at runtime. When pre-computed EMs are available in the
233device driver, than it should be possible to simply re-use them with low
234performance overhead.
235
236In order to free the EM, provided earlier by the driver (e.g. when the module
237is unloaded), there is a need to call the API::
238
239  void em_table_free(struct em_perf_table __rcu *table);
240
241It will allow the EM framework to safely remove the memory, when there is
242no other sub-system using it, e.g. EAS.
243
244To use the power values in other sub-systems (like thermal, powercap) there is
245a need to call API which protects the reader and provide consistency of the EM
246table data::
247
248  struct em_perf_state *em_perf_state_from_pd(struct em_perf_domain *pd);
249
250It returns the 'struct em_perf_state' pointer which is an array of performance
251states in ascending order.
252This function must be called in the RCU read lock section (after the
253rcu_read_lock()). When the EM table is not needed anymore there is a need to
254call rcu_real_unlock(). In this way the EM safely uses the RCU read section
255and protects the users. It also allows the EM framework to manage the memory
256and free it. More details how to use it can be found in Section 3.2 in the
257example driver.
258
259There is dedicated API for device drivers to calculate em_perf_state::cost
260values::
261
262  int em_dev_compute_costs(struct device *dev, struct em_perf_state *table,
263                           int nr_states);
264
265These 'cost' values from EM are used in EAS. The new EM table should be passed
266together with the number of entries and device pointer. When the computation
267of the cost values is done properly the return value from the function is 0.
268The function takes care for right setting of inefficiency for each performance
269state as well. It updates em_perf_state::flags accordingly.
270Then such prepared new EM can be passed to the em_dev_update_perf_domain()
271function, which will allow to use it.
272
273More details about the above APIs can be found in ``<linux/energy_model.h>``
274or in Section 3.2 with an example code showing simple implementation of the
275updating mechanism in a device driver.
276
277
2782.5 Description details of this API
279^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
280.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/energy_model.h
281   :internal:
282
283.. kernel-doc:: kernel/power/energy_model.c
284   :export:
285
286
2873. Examples
288-----------
289
2903.1 Example driver with EM registration
291^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
292
293The CPUFreq framework supports dedicated callback for registering
294the EM for a given CPU(s) 'policy' object: cpufreq_driver::register_em().
295That callback has to be implemented properly for a given driver,
296because the framework would call it at the right time during setup.
297This section provides a simple example of a CPUFreq driver registering a
298performance domain in the Energy Model framework using the (fake) 'foo'
299protocol. The driver implements an est_power() function to be provided to the
300EM framework::
301
302  -> drivers/cpufreq/foo_cpufreq.c
303
304  01	static int est_power(struct device *dev, unsigned long *mW,
305  02			unsigned long *KHz)
306  03	{
307  04		long freq, power;
308  05
309  06		/* Use the 'foo' protocol to ceil the frequency */
310  07		freq = foo_get_freq_ceil(dev, *KHz);
311  08		if (freq < 0);
312  09			return freq;
313  10
314  11		/* Estimate the power cost for the dev at the relevant freq. */
315  12		power = foo_estimate_power(dev, freq);
316  13		if (power < 0);
317  14			return power;
318  15
319  16		/* Return the values to the EM framework */
320  17		*mW = power;
321  18		*KHz = freq;
322  19
323  20		return 0;
324  21	}
325  22
326  23	static void foo_cpufreq_register_em(struct cpufreq_policy *policy)
327  24	{
328  25		struct em_data_callback em_cb = EM_DATA_CB(est_power);
329  26		struct device *cpu_dev;
330  27		int nr_opp;
331  28
332  29		cpu_dev = get_cpu_device(cpumask_first(policy->cpus));
333  30
334  31     	/* Find the number of OPPs for this policy */
335  32     	nr_opp = foo_get_nr_opp(policy);
336  33
337  34     	/* And register the new performance domain */
338  35     	em_dev_register_perf_domain(cpu_dev, nr_opp, &em_cb, policy->cpus,
339  36					    true);
340  37	}
341  38
342  39	static struct cpufreq_driver foo_cpufreq_driver = {
343  40		.register_em = foo_cpufreq_register_em,
344  41	};
345
346
3473.2 Example driver with EM modification
348^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
349
350This section provides a simple example of a thermal driver modifying the EM.
351The driver implements a foo_thermal_em_update() function. The driver is woken
352up periodically to check the temperature and modify the EM data::
353
354  -> drivers/soc/example/example_em_mod.c
355
356  01	static void foo_get_new_em(struct foo_context *ctx)
357  02	{
358  03		struct em_perf_table __rcu *em_table;
359  04		struct em_perf_state *table, *new_table;
360  05		struct device *dev = ctx->dev;
361  06		struct em_perf_domain *pd;
362  07		unsigned long freq;
363  08		int i, ret;
364  09
365  10		pd = em_pd_get(dev);
366  11		if (!pd)
367  12			return;
368  13
369  14		em_table = em_table_alloc(pd);
370  15		if (!em_table)
371  16			return;
372  17
373  18		new_table = em_table->state;
374  19
375  20		rcu_read_lock();
376  21		table = em_perf_state_from_pd(pd);
377  22		for (i = 0; i < pd->nr_perf_states; i++) {
378  23			freq = table[i].frequency;
379  24			foo_get_power_perf_values(dev, freq, &new_table[i]);
380  25		}
381  26		rcu_read_unlock();
382  27
383  28		/* Calculate 'cost' values for EAS */
384  29		ret = em_dev_compute_costs(dev, table, pd->nr_perf_states);
385  30		if (ret) {
386  31			dev_warn(dev, "EM: compute costs failed %d\n", ret);
387  32			em_free_table(em_table);
388  33			return;
389  34		}
390  35
391  36		ret = em_dev_update_perf_domain(dev, em_table);
392  37		if (ret) {
393  38			dev_warn(dev, "EM: update failed %d\n", ret);
394  39			em_free_table(em_table);
395  40			return;
396  41		}
397  42
398  43		/*
399  44		 * Since it's one-time-update drop the usage counter.
400  45		 * The EM framework will later free the table when needed.
401  46		 */
402  47		em_table_free(em_table);
403  48	}
404  49
405  50	/*
406  51	 * Function called periodically to check the temperature and
407  52	 * update the EM if needed
408  53	 */
409  54	static void foo_thermal_em_update(struct foo_context *ctx)
410  55	{
411  56		struct device *dev = ctx->dev;
412  57		int cpu;
413  58
414  59		ctx->temperature = foo_get_temp(dev, ctx);
415  60		if (ctx->temperature < FOO_EM_UPDATE_TEMP_THRESHOLD)
416  61			return;
417  62
418  63		foo_get_new_em(ctx);
419  64	}
420