runtime: use channels in gcBgMarkStartWorkers

gcBgMarkStartWorkers currently starts workers one at a time, using a
note to communicate readiness back from the worker.

However, this is a pretty standard goroutine, so we can just use a
channel to communicate between the goroutines.

In addition to being conceptually simpler, using channels has the
additional advantage of coordinating with the scheduler. Notes use OS
locks and sleep the entire thread, requiring other threads to run the
other goroutines. Waiting on a channel allows the scheduler to directly
run another goroutine. When the worker sends to the channel, the
scheduler can use runnext to run gcBgMarkStartWorker immediately,
reducing latency.

We could additionally batch start all workers and then wait only once,
however this would defeate runnext switching between the workers and
gcBgMarkStartWorkers, so in a heavily loaded system, we expect the
direct switches to reduce latency.

Change-Id: Iedf0d2ad8ad796b43fd8d32ccb1e815cfe010cb4
Reviewed-on: https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/558535
LUCI-TryBot-Result: Go LUCI <golang-scoped@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com>
Reviewed-by: Michael Knyszek <mknyszek@google.com>

diff --git a/src/runtime/mgc.go b/src/runtime/mgc.go
index 6c51517522a1740453b0ac50037ad82c69bf5966..b6c241f141a45a73f743547adb5b8816c7b8de6c 100644 (file)
--- a/src/runtime/mgc.go
+++ b/src/runtime/mgc.go
@@ -378,7 +378,6 @@ type workType struct {
        // markDoneSema protects transitions from mark to mark termination.
        markDoneSema uint32
 
-       bgMarkReady note   // signal background mark worker has started
        bgMarkDone  uint32 // cas to 1 when at a background mark completion point
        // Background mark completion signaling
 
@@ -1230,11 +1229,34 @@ func gcBgMarkStartWorkers() {
        //
        // Worker Gs don't exit if gomaxprocs is reduced. If it is raised
        // again, we can reuse the old workers; no need to create new workers.
+       if gcBgMarkWorkerCount >= gomaxprocs {
+               return
+       }
+
+       // Increment mp.locks when allocating. We are called within gcStart,
+       // and thus must not trigger another gcStart via an allocation. gcStart
+       // bails when allocating with locks held, so simulate that for these
+       // allocations.
+       //
+       // TODO(prattmic): cleanup gcStart to use a more explicit "in gcStart"
+       // check for bailing.
+       mp := acquirem()
+       ready := make(chan struct{}, 1)
+       releasem(mp)
+
        for gcBgMarkWorkerCount < gomaxprocs {
-               go gcBgMarkWorker()
+               mp := acquirem() // See above, we allocate a closure here.
+               go gcBgMarkWorker(ready)
+               releasem(mp)
 
-               notetsleepg(&work.bgMarkReady, -1)
-               noteclear(&work.bgMarkReady)
+               // N.B. we intentionally wait on each goroutine individually
+               // rather than starting all in a batch and then waiting once
+               // afterwards. By running one goroutine at a time, we can take
+               // advantage of runnext to bounce back and forth between
+               // workers and this goroutine. In an overloaded application,
+               // this can reduce GC start latency by prioritizing these
+               // goroutines rather than waiting on the end of the run queue.
+               <-ready
                // The worker is now guaranteed to be added to the pool before
                // its P's next findRunnableGCWorker.
 
@@ -1273,7 +1295,7 @@ type gcBgMarkWorkerNode struct {
        m muintptr
 }
 
-func gcBgMarkWorker() {
+func gcBgMarkWorker(ready chan struct{}) {
        gp := getg()
 
        // We pass node to a gopark unlock function, so it can't be on
@@ -1286,7 +1308,8 @@ func gcBgMarkWorker() {
        node.gp.set(gp)
 
        node.m.set(acquirem())
-       notewakeup(&work.bgMarkReady)
+
+       ready <- struct{}{}
        // After this point, the background mark worker is generally scheduled
        // cooperatively by gcController.findRunnableGCWorker. While performing
        // work on the P, preemption is disabled because we are working on
@@ -1299,10 +1322,10 @@ func gcBgMarkWorker() {
        // fine; it will eventually gopark again for further scheduling via
        // findRunnableGCWorker.
        //
-       // Since we disable preemption before notifying bgMarkReady, we
-       // guarantee that this G will be in the worker pool for the next
-       // findRunnableGCWorker. This isn't strictly necessary, but it reduces
-       // latency between _GCmark starting and the workers starting.
+       // Since we disable preemption before notifying ready, we guarantee that
+       // this G will be in the worker pool for the next findRunnableGCWorker.
+       // This isn't strictly necessary, but it reduces latency between
+       // _GCmark starting and the workers starting.
 
        for {
                // Go to sleep until woken by