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| 1 | +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 |
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| 2 | +.. include:: <isonum.txt> |
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| 3 | + |
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1 | 4 | =============================================== |
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2 | 5 | ``intel_pstate`` CPU Performance Scaling Driver |
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3 | 6 | =============================================== |
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4 | 7 | |
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5 | | -:: |
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| 8 | +:Copyright: |copy| 2017 Intel Corporation |
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6 | 9 | |
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7 | | - Copyright (c) 2017 Intel Corp., Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com> |
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| 10 | +:Author: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com> |
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8 | 11 | |
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9 | 12 | |
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10 | 13 | General Information |
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.. | .. |
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20 | 23 | |
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21 | 24 | For the processors supported by ``intel_pstate``, the P-state concept is broader |
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22 | 25 | than just an operating frequency or an operating performance point (see the |
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23 | | -`LinuxCon Europe 2015 presentation by Kristen Accardi <LCEU2015_>`_ for more |
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| 26 | +LinuxCon Europe 2015 presentation by Kristen Accardi [1]_ for more |
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24 | 27 | information about that). For this reason, the representation of P-states used |
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25 | 28 | by ``intel_pstate`` internally follows the hardware specification (for details |
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26 | | -refer to `Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual |
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27 | | -Volume 3: System Programming Guide <SDM_>`_). However, the ``CPUFreq`` core |
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| 29 | +refer to Intel Software Developer’s Manual [2]_). However, the ``CPUFreq`` core |
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28 | 30 | uses frequencies for identifying operating performance points of CPUs and |
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29 | 31 | frequencies are involved in the user space interface exposed by it, so |
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30 | 32 | ``intel_pstate`` maps its internal representation of P-states to frequencies too |
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.. | .. |
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52 | 54 | Operation Modes |
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53 | 55 | =============== |
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54 | 56 | |
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55 | | -``intel_pstate`` can operate in three different modes: in the active mode with |
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56 | | -or without hardware-managed P-states support and in the passive mode. Which of |
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57 | | -them will be in effect depends on what kernel command line options are used and |
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58 | | -on the capabilities of the processor. |
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| 57 | +``intel_pstate`` can operate in two different modes, active or passive. In the |
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| 58 | +active mode, it uses its own internal performance scaling governor algorithm or |
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| 59 | +allows the hardware to do preformance scaling by itself, while in the passive |
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| 60 | +mode it responds to requests made by a generic ``CPUFreq`` governor implementing |
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| 61 | +a certain performance scaling algorithm. Which of them will be in effect |
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| 62 | +depends on what kernel command line options are used and on the capabilities of |
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| 63 | +the processor. |
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59 | 64 | |
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60 | 65 | Active Mode |
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61 | 66 | ----------- |
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62 | 67 | |
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63 | | -This is the default operation mode of ``intel_pstate``. If it works in this |
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64 | | -mode, the ``scaling_driver`` policy attribute in ``sysfs`` for all ``CPUFreq`` |
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65 | | -policies contains the string "intel_pstate". |
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| 68 | +This is the default operation mode of ``intel_pstate`` for processors with |
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| 69 | +hardware-managed P-states (HWP) support. If it works in this mode, the |
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| 70 | +``scaling_driver`` policy attribute in ``sysfs`` for all ``CPUFreq`` policies |
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| 71 | +contains the string "intel_pstate". |
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66 | 72 | |
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67 | 73 | In this mode the driver bypasses the scaling governors layer of ``CPUFreq`` and |
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68 | 74 | provides its own scaling algorithms for P-state selection. Those algorithms |
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.. | .. |
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117 | 123 | internal P-state selection logic is expected to focus entirely on performance. |
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118 | 124 | |
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119 | 125 | This will override the EPP/EPB setting coming from the ``sysfs`` interface |
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120 | | -(see `Energy vs Performance Hints`_ below). |
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| 126 | +(see `Energy vs Performance Hints`_ below). Moreover, any attempts to change |
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| 127 | +the EPP/EPB to a value different from 0 ("performance") via ``sysfs`` in this |
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| 128 | +configuration will be rejected. |
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121 | 129 | |
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122 | 130 | Also, in this configuration the range of P-states available to the processor's |
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123 | 131 | internal P-state selection logic is always restricted to the upper boundary |
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.. | .. |
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136 | 144 | Active Mode Without HWP |
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137 | 145 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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138 | 146 | |
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139 | | -This is the default operation mode for processors that do not support the HWP |
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140 | | -feature. It also is used by default with the ``intel_pstate=no_hwp`` argument |
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141 | | -in the kernel command line. However, in this mode ``intel_pstate`` may refuse |
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142 | | -to work with the given processor if it does not recognize it. [Note that |
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143 | | -``intel_pstate`` will never refuse to work with any processor with the HWP |
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144 | | -feature enabled.] |
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| 147 | +This operation mode is optional for processors that do not support the HWP |
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| 148 | +feature or when the ``intel_pstate=no_hwp`` argument is passed to the kernel in |
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| 149 | +the command line. The active mode is used in those cases if the |
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| 150 | +``intel_pstate=active`` argument is passed to the kernel in the command line. |
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| 151 | +In this mode ``intel_pstate`` may refuse to work with processors that are not |
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| 152 | +recognized by it. [Note that ``intel_pstate`` will never refuse to work with |
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| 153 | +any processor with the HWP feature enabled.] |
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145 | 154 | |
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146 | 155 | In this mode ``intel_pstate`` registers utilization update callbacks with the |
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147 | 156 | CPU scheduler in order to run a P-state selection algorithm, either |
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.. | .. |
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186 | 195 | Passive Mode |
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187 | 196 | ------------ |
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188 | 197 | |
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189 | | -This mode is used if the ``intel_pstate=passive`` argument is passed to the |
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190 | | -kernel in the command line (it implies the ``intel_pstate=no_hwp`` setting too). |
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191 | | -Like in the active mode without HWP support, in this mode ``intel_pstate`` may |
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192 | | -refuse to work with the given processor if it does not recognize it. |
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| 198 | +This is the default operation mode of ``intel_pstate`` for processors without |
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| 199 | +hardware-managed P-states (HWP) support. It is always used if the |
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| 200 | +``intel_pstate=passive`` argument is passed to the kernel in the command line |
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| 201 | +regardless of whether or not the given processor supports HWP. [Note that the |
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| 202 | +``intel_pstate=no_hwp`` setting causes the driver to start in the passive mode |
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| 203 | +if it is not combined with ``intel_pstate=active``.] Like in the active mode |
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| 204 | +without HWP support, in this mode ``intel_pstate`` may refuse to work with |
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| 205 | +processors that are not recognized by it if HWP is prevented from being enabled |
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| 206 | +through the kernel command line. |
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193 | 207 | |
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194 | 208 | If the driver works in this mode, the ``scaling_driver`` policy attribute in |
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195 | 209 | ``sysfs`` for all ``CPUFreq`` policies contains the string "intel_cpufreq". |
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.. | .. |
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310 | 324 | |
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311 | 325 | For this reason, there is a list of supported processors in ``intel_pstate`` and |
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312 | 326 | the driver initialization will fail if the detected processor is not in that |
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313 | | -list, unless it supports the `HWP feature <Active Mode_>`_. [The interface to |
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314 | | -obtain all of the information listed above is the same for all of the processors |
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315 | | -supporting the HWP feature, which is why they all are supported by |
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316 | | -``intel_pstate``.] |
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| 327 | +list, unless it supports the HWP feature. [The interface to obtain all of the |
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| 328 | +information listed above is the same for all of the processors supporting the |
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| 329 | +HWP feature, which is why ``intel_pstate`` works with all of them.] |
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317 | 330 | |
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318 | 331 | |
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319 | 332 | User Space Interface in ``sysfs`` |
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.. | .. |
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417 | 430 | as well as the per-policy ones) are then reset to their default |
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418 | 431 | values, possibly depending on the target operation mode.] |
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419 | 432 | |
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420 | | - That only is supported in some configurations, though (for example, if |
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421 | | - the `HWP feature is enabled in the processor <Active Mode With HWP_>`_, |
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422 | | - the operation mode of the driver cannot be changed), and if it is not |
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423 | | - supported in the current configuration, writes to this attribute will |
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424 | | - fail with an appropriate error. |
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| 433 | +``energy_efficiency`` |
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| 434 | + This attribute is only present on platforms with CPUs matching the Kaby |
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| 435 | + Lake or Coffee Lake desktop CPU model. By default, energy-efficiency |
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| 436 | + optimizations are disabled on these CPU models if HWP is enabled. |
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| 437 | + Enabling energy-efficiency optimizations may limit maximum operating |
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| 438 | + frequency with or without the HWP feature. With HWP enabled, the |
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| 439 | + optimizations are done only in the turbo frequency range. Without it, |
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| 440 | + they are done in the entire available frequency range. Setting this |
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| 441 | + attribute to "1" enables the energy-efficiency optimizations and setting |
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| 442 | + to "0" disables them. |
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425 | 443 | |
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426 | 444 | Interpretation of Policy Attributes |
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427 | 445 | ----------------------------------- |
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.. | .. |
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465 | 483 | policy for the time interval between the last two invocations of the |
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466 | 484 | driver's utilization update callback by the CPU scheduler for that CPU. |
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467 | 485 | |
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| 486 | +One more policy attribute is present if the HWP feature is enabled in the |
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| 487 | +processor: |
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| 488 | + |
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| 489 | +``base_frequency`` |
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| 490 | + Shows the base frequency of the CPU. Any frequency above this will be |
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| 491 | + in the turbo frequency range. |
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| 492 | + |
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468 | 493 | The meaning of these attributes in the `passive mode <Passive Mode_>`_ is the |
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469 | 494 | same as for other scaling drivers. |
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470 | 495 | |
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.. | .. |
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488 | 513 | |
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489 | 514 | 2. Each individual CPU is affected by its own per-policy limits (that is, it |
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490 | 515 | cannot be requested to run faster than its own per-policy maximum and it |
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491 | | - cannot be requested to run slower than its own per-policy minimum). |
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| 516 | + cannot be requested to run slower than its own per-policy minimum). The |
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| 517 | + effective performance depends on whether the platform supports per core |
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| 518 | + P-states, hyper-threading is enabled and on current performance requests |
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| 519 | + from other CPUs. When platform doesn't support per core P-states, the |
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| 520 | + effective performance can be more than the policy limits set on a CPU, if |
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| 521 | + other CPUs are requesting higher performance at that moment. Even with per |
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| 522 | + core P-states support, when hyper-threading is enabled, if the sibling CPU |
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| 523 | + is requesting higher performance, the other siblings will get higher |
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| 524 | + performance than their policy limits. |
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492 | 525 | |
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493 | 526 | 3. The global and per-policy limits can be set independently. |
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494 | 527 | |
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495 | | -If the `HWP feature is enabled in the processor <Active Mode With HWP_>`_, the |
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496 | | -resulting effective values are written into its registers whenever the limits |
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497 | | -change in order to request its internal P-state selection logic to always set |
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498 | | -P-states within these limits. Otherwise, the limits are taken into account by |
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499 | | -scaling governors (in the `passive mode <Passive Mode_>`_) and by the driver |
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| 528 | +In the `active mode with the HWP feature enabled <Active Mode With HWP_>`_, the |
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| 529 | +resulting effective values are written into hardware registers whenever the |
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| 530 | +limits change in order to request its internal P-state selection logic to always |
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| 531 | +set P-states within these limits. Otherwise, the limits are taken into account |
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| 532 | +by scaling governors (in the `passive mode <Passive Mode_>`_) and by the driver |
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500 | 533 | every time before setting a new P-state for a CPU. |
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501 | 534 | |
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502 | 535 | Additionally, if the ``intel_pstate=per_cpu_perf_limits`` command line argument |
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.. | .. |
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507 | 540 | Energy vs Performance Hints |
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508 | 541 | --------------------------- |
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509 | 542 | |
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510 | | -If ``intel_pstate`` works in the `active mode with the HWP feature enabled |
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511 | | -<Active Mode With HWP_>`_ in the processor, additional attributes are present |
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512 | | -in every ``CPUFreq`` policy directory in ``sysfs``. They are intended to allow |
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513 | | -user space to help ``intel_pstate`` to adjust the processor's internal P-state |
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514 | | -selection logic by focusing it on performance or on energy-efficiency, or |
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515 | | -somewhere between the two extremes: |
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| 543 | +If the hardware-managed P-states (HWP) is enabled in the processor, additional |
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| 544 | +attributes, intended to allow user space to help ``intel_pstate`` to adjust the |
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| 545 | +processor's internal P-state selection logic by focusing it on performance or on |
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| 546 | +energy-efficiency, or somewhere between the two extremes, are present in every |
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| 547 | +``CPUFreq`` policy directory in ``sysfs``. They are : |
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516 | 548 | |
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517 | 549 | ``energy_performance_preference`` |
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518 | 550 | Current value of the energy vs performance hint for the given policy |
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.. | .. |
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531 | 563 | Strings written to the ``energy_performance_preference`` attribute are |
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532 | 564 | internally translated to integer values written to the processor's |
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533 | 565 | Energy-Performance Preference (EPP) knob (if supported) or its |
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534 | | -Energy-Performance Bias (EPB) knob. |
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| 566 | +Energy-Performance Bias (EPB) knob. It is also possible to write a positive |
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| 567 | +integer value between 0 to 255, if the EPP feature is present. If the EPP |
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| 568 | +feature is not present, writing integer value to this attribute is not |
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| 569 | +supported. In this case, user can use the |
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| 570 | +"/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/power/energy_perf_bias" interface. |
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535 | 571 | |
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536 | 572 | [Note that tasks may by migrated from one CPU to another by the scheduler's |
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537 | 573 | load-balancing algorithm and if different energy vs performance hints are |
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.. | .. |
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546 | 582 | |
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547 | 583 | On the majority of systems supported by ``intel_pstate``, the ACPI tables |
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548 | 584 | provided by the platform firmware contain ``_PSS`` objects returning information |
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549 | | -that can be used for CPU performance scaling (refer to the `ACPI specification`_ |
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550 | | -for details on the ``_PSS`` objects and the format of the information returned |
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551 | | -by them). |
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| 585 | +that can be used for CPU performance scaling (refer to the ACPI specification |
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| 586 | +[3]_ for details on the ``_PSS`` objects and the format of the information |
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| 587 | +returned by them). |
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552 | 588 | |
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553 | 589 | The information returned by the ACPI ``_PSS`` objects is used by the |
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554 | 590 | ``acpi-cpufreq`` scaling driver. On systems supported by ``intel_pstate`` |
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.. | .. |
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612 | 648 | Do not register ``intel_pstate`` as the scaling driver even if the |
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613 | 649 | processor is supported by it. |
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614 | 650 | |
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| 651 | +``active`` |
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| 652 | + Register ``intel_pstate`` in the `active mode <Active Mode_>`_ to start |
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| 653 | + with. |
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| 654 | + |
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615 | 655 | ``passive`` |
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616 | 656 | Register ``intel_pstate`` in the `passive mode <Passive Mode_>`_ to |
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617 | 657 | start with. |
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618 | | - |
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619 | | - This option implies the ``no_hwp`` one described below. |
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620 | 658 | |
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621 | 659 | ``force`` |
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622 | 660 | Register ``intel_pstate`` as the scaling driver instead of |
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.. | .. |
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632 | 670 | driver is used instead of ``acpi-cpufreq``. |
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633 | 671 | |
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634 | 672 | ``no_hwp`` |
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635 | | - Do not enable the `hardware-managed P-states (HWP) feature |
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636 | | - <Active Mode With HWP_>`_ even if it is supported by the processor. |
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| 673 | + Do not enable the hardware-managed P-states (HWP) feature even if it is |
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| 674 | + supported by the processor. |
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637 | 675 | |
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638 | 676 | ``hwp_only`` |
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639 | 677 | Register ``intel_pstate`` as the scaling driver only if the |
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640 | | - `hardware-managed P-states (HWP) feature <Active Mode With HWP_>`_ is |
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641 | | - supported by the processor. |
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| 678 | + hardware-managed P-states (HWP) feature is supported by the processor. |
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642 | 679 | |
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643 | 680 | ``support_acpi_ppc`` |
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644 | 681 | Take ACPI ``_PPC`` performance limits into account. |
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.. | .. |
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685 | 722 | |
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686 | 723 | The ``ftrace`` interface can be used for low-level diagnostics of |
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687 | 724 | ``intel_pstate``. For example, to check how often the function to set a |
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688 | | -P-state is called, the ``ftrace`` filter can be set to to |
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| 725 | +P-state is called, the ``ftrace`` filter can be set to |
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689 | 726 | :c:func:`intel_pstate_set_pstate`:: |
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690 | 727 | |
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691 | 728 | # cd /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/ |
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.. | .. |
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713 | 750 | <idle>-0 [000] ..s. 2537.654843: intel_pstate_set_pstate <-intel_pstate_timer_func |
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714 | 751 | |
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715 | 752 | |
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716 | | -.. _LCEU2015: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/sites/events/files/slides/LinuxConEurope_2015.pdf |
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717 | | -.. _SDM: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/64-ia-32-architectures-software-developer-system-programming-manual-325384.html |
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718 | | -.. _ACPI specification: http://www.uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/ACPI_6_1.pdf |
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| 753 | +References |
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| 754 | +========== |
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| 755 | + |
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| 756 | +.. [1] Kristen Accardi, *Balancing Power and Performance in the Linux Kernel*, |
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| 757 | + https://events.static.linuxfound.org/sites/events/files/slides/LinuxConEurope_2015.pdf |
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| 758 | + |
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| 759 | +.. [2] *Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual Volume 3: System Programming Guide*, |
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| 760 | + https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/64-ia-32-architectures-software-developer-system-programming-manual-325384.html |
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| 761 | + |
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| 762 | +.. [3] *Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification*, |
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| 763 | + https://uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/ACPI_6_3_final_Jan30.pdf |
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