Changeset 3d5fba21 for doc/theses
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- Apr 8, 2023, 3:49:44 PM (21 months ago)
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doc/theses/colby_parsons_MMAth/text/channels.tex
r16dff44 r3d5fba21 5 5 % ====================================================================== 6 6 7 Channels were first introduced by Hoare in his paper Communicating Sequentual Processes~\cite{Hoare78}, where he proposes a concurrent language that communicates across processes using input/output channels to send data. 8 Channels are a concurrent language feature used to perform message passing concurrency, a model of concurrency where threads communicate by sending data as messages, and synchronizing via the message passing mechanism. 9 This is an alternative to shared memory concurrency, where threads can communicate directly by changing shared memory state. 10 Most modern concurrent programming languages do not subscribe to just one style of communication between threads, and provide features that support both. 7 Channels were first introduced by Hoare in his paper Communicating Sequentual Processes~\cite{Hoare78}, where he proposes a concurrent language that communicates across processes using input/output channels to send data. 8 Channels are a concurrent language feature used to perform message passing concurrency, a model of concurrency where threads communicate by sending data as messages, and synchronizing via the message passing mechanism. 9 This is an alternative to shared memory concurrency, where threads can communicate directly by changing shared memory state. 10 Most modern concurrent programming languages do not subscribe to just one style of communication between threads, and provide features that support both. 11 11 Channels as a programming language feature has been popularized in recent years due to the language Go, which encourages the use of channels as its fundamental concurrent feature. 12 12 13 13 \section{Producer-Consumer Problem} 14 Most channels in modern programming languages are built on top of a shared memory buffer. 15 While it is possible to create a channel that contains an unbounded buffer, most implementations opt to only support a fixed size channel, where the size is given at the time of channel creation. 16 This turns the implementation of a channel into the producer-consumer problem. 17 The producer-consumer problem, also known as the bounded buffer problem, was introduced by Dijkstra in his book Cooperating Sequential Processes\cite{Dijkstra65}. 18 In the problem threads interact with the buffer in two ways, either consuming values by removing them from the buffer, or producing values and inserting them in the buffer. 19 The buffer needs to be protected from concurrent access since each item in the buffer should only be produced and consumed once. 14 Most channels in modern programming languages are built on top of a shared memory buffer. 15 While it is possible to create a channel that contains an unbounded buffer, most implementations opt to only support a fixed size channel, where the size is given at the time of channel creation. 16 This turns the implementation of a channel into the producer-consumer problem. 17 The producer-consumer problem, also known as the bounded buffer problem, was introduced by Dijkstra in his book Cooperating Sequential Processes\cite{Dijkstra65}. 18 In the problem threads interact with the buffer in two ways, either consuming values by removing them from the buffer, or producing values and inserting them in the buffer. 19 The buffer needs to be protected from concurrent access since each item in the buffer should only be produced and consumed once. 20 20 Additionally, a consumer can only remove from a non-empty buffer and a producer can only insert into a non-full buffer. 21 21 22 22 \section{First-Come First-Served} 23 The channel implementations that will be discussed are \gls{fcfs}. 24 This term was defined by Lamport~\cite{Lamport74}. 25 \gls{fcfs} is defined in relation to a doorway~\cite[p.~330]{Lamport86II}, which is the point at which an ordering among threads can be established. 26 Given this doorway, a critical section is said to be \gls{fcfs}, if threads access the shared resource in the order they proceed through the doorway. 27 \gls{fcfs} is a fairness property which prevents unequal access to the shared resource and prevents starvation, however it can come at a cost. 28 Implementing an algorithm with \gls{fcfs} can lead to double blocking, where entering threads may need to block to allow other threads to proceed first, resulting in blocking both inside and outside the doorway. 23 The channel implementations that will be discussed are \gls{fcfs}. 24 This term was defined by Lamport~\cite{Lamport74}. 25 \gls{fcfs} is defined in relation to a doorway~\cite[p.~330]{Lamport86II}, which is the point at which an ordering among threads can be established. 26 Given this doorway, a critical section is said to be \gls{fcfs}, if threads access the shared resource in the order they proceed through the doorway. 27 \gls{fcfs} is a fairness property which prevents unequal access to the shared resource and prevents starvation, however it can come at a cost. 28 Implementing an algorithm with \gls{fcfs} can lead to double blocking, where entering threads may need to block to allow other threads to proceed first, resulting in blocking both inside and outside the doorway. 29 29 As such algorithms that are not \gls{fcfs} may be more performant but that performance comes with the downside of likely introducing starvation and unfairness. 30 30 31 31 \section{Channel Implementation} 32 The channel implementation in \CFA is a near carbon copy of the Go implementation. 33 Experimentation was conducted that varied the producer-consumer problem algorithm and lock type used inside the channel. 34 With the exception of non-\gls{fcfs} algorithms, no algorithm or lock usage in the channel implementation was found to be consistently more performant that Go's choice of algorithm and lock implementation. 32 The channel implementation in \CFA is a near carbon copy of the Go implementation. 33 Experimentation was conducted that varied the producer-consumer problem algorithm and lock type used inside the channel. 34 With the exception of non-\gls{fcfs} algorithms, no algorithm or lock usage in the channel implementation was found to be consistently more performant that Go's choice of algorithm and lock implementation. 35 35 As such the research contributions added by \CFA's channel implementation lie in the realm of safety and productivity features. 36 36 37 37 \section{Safety and Productivity} 38 Channels in \CFA come with safety and productivity features to aid users. 38 Channels in \CFA come with safety and productivity features to aid users. 39 39 The features include the following. 40 40 41 41 \begin{itemize} 42 \item Toggle-able statistic collection on channel behvaiour that counts channel operations, and the number of the operations that block. 42 \item Toggle-able statistic collection on channel behvaiour that counts channel operations, and the number of the operations that block. 43 43 Tracking blocking operations helps users tune their channel size or channel usage when the channel is used for buffering, where the aim is to have as few blocking operations as possible. 44 \item Deadlock detection on deallocation of the channel. 44 \item Deadlock detection on deallocation of the channel. 45 45 If any threads are blocked inside the channel when it terminates it is detected and informs the user, as this would cause a deadlock. 46 \item A \code{flush} routine that delivers copies of an element to all waiting consumers, flushing the buffer. 47 Programmers can use this to easily to broadcast data to multiple consumers. 46 \item A \code{flush} routine that delivers copies of an element to all waiting consumers, flushing the buffer. 47 Programmers can use this to easily to broadcast data to multiple consumers. 48 48 Additionally, the \code{flush} routine is more performant then looping around the \code{insert} operation since it can deliver the elements without having to reaquire mutual exclusion for each element sent. 49 49 \end{itemize} 50 50 51 The other safety and productivity feature of \CFA channels deals with concurrent termination. 52 Terminating concurrent programs is often one of the most difficult parts of writing concurrent code, particularly if graceful termination is needed. 53 The difficulty of graceful termination often arises from the usage of synchronization primitives which need to be handled carefully during shutdown. 54 It is easy to deadlock during termination if threads are left behind on synchronization primitives. 55 Additionally, most synchronization primitives are prone to \gls{toctou} issues where there is race between one thread checking the state of a concurrent object and another thread changing the state. 56 \gls{toctou} issues with synchronization primitives often involve a race between one thread checking the primitive for blocked threads and another thread blocking on it. 57 Channels are a particularly hard synchronization primitive to terminate since both sending and receiving off a channel can block. 51 The other safety and productivity feature of \CFA channels deals with concurrent termination. 52 Terminating concurrent programs is often one of the most difficult parts of writing concurrent code, particularly if graceful termination is needed. 53 The difficulty of graceful termination often arises from the usage of synchronization primitives which need to be handled carefully during shutdown. 54 It is easy to deadlock during termination if threads are left behind on synchronization primitives. 55 Additionally, most synchronization primitives are prone to \gls{toctou} issues where there is race between one thread checking the state of a concurrent object and another thread changing the state. 56 \gls{toctou} issues with synchronization primitives often involve a race between one thread checking the primitive for blocked threads and another thread blocking on it. 57 Channels are a particularly hard synchronization primitive to terminate since both sending and receiving off a channel can block. 58 58 Thus, improperly handled \gls{toctou} issues with channels often result in deadlocks as threads trying to perform the termination may end up unexpectedly blocking in their attempt to help other threads exit the system. 59 59 60 60 % C_TODO: add reference to select chapter, add citation to go channels info 61 Go channels provide a set of tools to help with concurrent shutdown. 62 Channels in Go have a \code{close} operation and a \code{select} statement that both can be used to help threads terminate. 63 The \code{select} statement will be discussed in \ref{}, where \CFA's \code{waituntil} statement will be compared with the Go \code{select} statement. 64 The \code{close} operation on a channel in Go changes the state of the channel. 65 When a channel is closed, sends to the channel will panic and additional calls to \code{close} will panic. 66 Receives are handled differently where receivers will never block on a closed channel and will continue to remove elements from the channel. 67 Once a channel is empty, receivers can continue to remove elements, but will receive the zero-value version of the element type. 68 To aid in avoiding unwanted zero-value elements, Go provides the ability to iterate over a closed channel to remove the remaining elements. 69 These design choices for Go channels enforce a specific interaction style with channels during termination, where careful thought is needed to ensure that additional \code{close} calls don't occur and that no sends occur after channels are closed. 70 These design choices fit Go's paradigm of error management, where users are expected to explicitly check for errors, rather than letting errors occur and catching them. 71 If errors need to occur in Go, return codes are used to pass error information where they are needed. 61 Go channels provide a set of tools to help with concurrent shutdown. 62 Channels in Go have a \code{close} operation and a \code{select} statement that both can be used to help threads terminate. 63 The \code{select} statement will be discussed in \ref{}, where \CFA's \code{waituntil} statement will be compared with the Go \code{select} statement. 64 The \code{close} operation on a channel in Go changes the state of the channel. 65 When a channel is closed, sends to the channel will panic and additional calls to \code{close} will panic. 66 Receives are handled differently where receivers will never block on a closed channel and will continue to remove elements from the channel. 67 Once a channel is empty, receivers can continue to remove elements, but will receive the zero-value version of the element type. 68 To aid in avoiding unwanted zero-value elements, Go provides the ability to iterate over a closed channel to remove the remaining elements. 69 These design choices for Go channels enforce a specific interaction style with channels during termination, where careful thought is needed to ensure that additional \code{close} calls don't occur and that no sends occur after channels are closed. 70 These design choices fit Go's paradigm of error management, where users are expected to explicitly check for errors, rather than letting errors occur and catching them. 71 If errors need to occur in Go, return codes are used to pass error information where they are needed. 72 72 Note that panics in Go can be caught, but it is not considered an idiomatic way to write Go programs. 73 73 74 While Go's channel closing semantics are powerful enough to perform any concurrent termination needed by a program, their lack of ease of use leaves much to be desired. 75 Since both closing and sending panic, once a channel is closed, a user often has to synchronize the senders to a channel before the channel can be closed to avoid panics. 76 However, in doing so it renders the \code{close} operation nearly useless, as the only utilities it provides are the ability to ensure that receivers no longer block on the channel, and will receive zero-valued elements. 77 This can be useful if the zero-typed element is recognized as a sentinel value, but if another sentinel value is preferred, then \code{close} only provides its non-blocking feature. 78 To avoid \gls{toctou} issues during shutdown, a busy wait with a \code{select} statement is often used to add or remove elements from a channel. 74 While Go's channel closing semantics are powerful enough to perform any concurrent termination needed by a program, their lack of ease of use leaves much to be desired. 75 Since both closing and sending panic, once a channel is closed, a user often has to synchronize the senders to a channel before the channel can be closed to avoid panics. 76 However, in doing so it renders the \code{close} operation nearly useless, as the only utilities it provides are the ability to ensure that receivers no longer block on the channel, and will receive zero-valued elements. 77 This can be useful if the zero-typed element is recognized as a sentinel value, but if another sentinel value is preferred, then \code{close} only provides its non-blocking feature. 78 To avoid \gls{toctou} issues during shutdown, a busy wait with a \code{select} statement is often used to add or remove elements from a channel. 79 79 Due to Go's asymmetric approach to channel shutdown, separate synchronization between producers and consumers of a channel has to occur during shutdown. 80 80 … … 82 82 As such \CFA uses an exception based approach to channel shutdown that is symmetric for both producers and consumers, and supports graceful shutdown.Exceptions in \CFA support both termination and resumption.Termination exceptions operate in the same way as exceptions seen in many popular programming languages such as \CC, Python and Java. 83 83 Resumption exceptions are a style of exception that when caught run the corresponding catch block in the same way that termination exceptions do. 84 The difference between the exception handling mechanisms arises after the exception is handled. 85 In termination handling, the control flow continues into the code following the catch after the exception is handled. 86 In resumption handling, the control flow returns to the site of the \code{throw}, allowing the control to continue where it left off. 87 Note that in resumption, since control can return to the point of error propagation, the stack is not unwound during resumption propagation. 88 In \CFA if a resumption is not handled, it is reraised as a termination. 84 The difference between the exception handling mechanisms arises after the exception is handled. 85 In termination handling, the control flow continues into the code following the catch after the exception is handled. 86 In resumption handling, the control flow returns to the site of the \code{throw}, allowing the control to continue where it left off. 87 Note that in resumption, since control can return to the point of error propagation, the stack is not unwound during resumption propagation. 88 In \CFA if a resumption is not handled, it is reraised as a termination. 89 89 This mechanism can be used to create a flexible and robust termination system for channels. 90 90 91 When a channel in \CFA is closed, all subsequent calls to the channel will throw a resumption exception at the caller. 92 If the resumption is handled, then the caller will proceed to attempt to complete their operation. 93 If the resumption is not handled it is then rethrown as a termination exception. 94 Or, if the resumption is handled, but the subsequent attempt at an operation would block, a termination exception is thrown. 95 These termination exceptions allow for non-local transfer that can be used to great effect to eagerly and gracefully shut down a thread. 96 When a channel is closed, if there are any blocked producers or consumers inside the channel, they are woken up and also have a resumption thrown at them. 97 The resumption exception, \code{channel_closed}, has a couple fields to aid in handling the exception. 98 The exception contains a pointer to the channel it was thrown from, and a pointer to an element. 99 In exceptions thrown from remove the element pointer will be null. 100 In the case of insert the element pointer points to the element that the thread attempted to insert. 101 This element pointer allows the handler to know which operation failed and also allows the element to not be lost on a failed insert since it can be moved elsewhere in the handler. 102 Furthermore, due to \CFA's powerful exception system, this data can be used to choose handlers based which channel and operation failed. 103 Exception handlers in \CFA have an optional predicate after the exception type which can be used to optionally trigger or skip handlers based on the content of an exception. 104 It is worth mentioning that the approach of exceptions for termination may incur a larger performance cost during termination that the approach used in Go. 91 When a channel in \CFA is closed, all subsequent calls to the channel will throw a resumption exception at the caller. 92 If the resumption is handled, then the caller will proceed to attempt to complete their operation. 93 If the resumption is not handled it is then rethrown as a termination exception. 94 Or, if the resumption is handled, but the subsequent attempt at an operation would block, a termination exception is thrown. 95 These termination exceptions allow for non-local transfer that can be used to great effect to eagerly and gracefully shut down a thread. 96 When a channel is closed, if there are any blocked producers or consumers inside the channel, they are woken up and also have a resumption thrown at them. 97 The resumption exception, \code{channel_closed}, has a couple fields to aid in handling the exception. 98 The exception contains a pointer to the channel it was thrown from, and a pointer to an element. 99 In exceptions thrown from remove the element pointer will be null. 100 In the case of insert the element pointer points to the element that the thread attempted to insert. 101 This element pointer allows the handler to know which operation failed and also allows the element to not be lost on a failed insert since it can be moved elsewhere in the handler. 102 Furthermore, due to \CFA's powerful exception system, this data can be used to choose handlers based which channel and operation failed. 103 Exception handlers in \CFA have an optional predicate after the exception type which can be used to optionally trigger or skip handlers based on the content of an exception. 104 It is worth mentioning that the approach of exceptions for termination may incur a larger performance cost during termination that the approach used in Go. 105 105 This should not be an issue, since termination is rarely an fast-path of an application and ensuring that termination can be implemented correctly with ease is the aim of the exception approach. 106 106 107 To highlight the differences between \CFA's and Go's close semantics, an example program is presented. 108 The program is a barrier implemented using two channels shown in Listings~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar} and \ref{l:go_chan_bar}. 109 Both of these exaples are implmented using \CFA syntax so that they can be easily compared. 110 Listing~\ref{l:go_chan_bar} uses go-style channel close semantics and Listing~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar} uses \CFA close semantics. 111 In this problem it is infeasible to use the Go \code{close} call since all tasks are both potentially producers and consumers, causing panics on close to be unavoidable. 112 As such in Listing~\ref{l:go_chan_bar} to implement a flush routine for the buffer, a sentinel value of $-1$ has to be used to indicate to threads that they need to leave the barrier. 113 This sentinel value has to be checked at two points. 114 Furthermore, an additional flag \code{done} is needed to communicate to threads once they have left the barrier that they are done. 115 This use of an additional flag or communication method is common in Go channel shutdown code, since to avoid panics on a channel, the shutdown of a channel often has to be communicated with threads before it occurs. 116 In the \CFA version~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar}, the barrier shutdown results in an exception being thrown at threads operating on it, which informs the threads that they must terminate. 117 This avoids the need to use a separate communication method other than the barrier, and avoids extra conditional checks on the fast path of the barrier implementation. 107 To highlight the differences between \CFA's and Go's close semantics, an example program is presented. 108 The program is a barrier implemented using two channels shown in Listings~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar} and \ref{l:go_chan_bar}. 109 Both of these exaples are implmented using \CFA syntax so that they can be easily compared. 110 Listing~\ref{l:go_chan_bar} uses go-style channel close semantics and Listing~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar} uses \CFA close semantics. 111 In this problem it is infeasible to use the Go \code{close} call since all tasks are both potentially producers and consumers, causing panics on close to be unavoidable. 112 As such in Listing~\ref{l:go_chan_bar} to implement a flush routine for the buffer, a sentinel value of $-1$ has to be used to indicate to threads that they need to leave the barrier. 113 This sentinel value has to be checked at two points. 114 Furthermore, an additional flag \code{done} is needed to communicate to threads once they have left the barrier that they are done. 115 This use of an additional flag or communication method is common in Go channel shutdown code, since to avoid panics on a channel, the shutdown of a channel often has to be communicated with threads before it occurs. 116 In the \CFA version~\ref{l:cfa_chan_bar}, the barrier shutdown results in an exception being thrown at threads operating on it, which informs the threads that they must terminate. 117 This avoids the need to use a separate communication method other than the barrier, and avoids extra conditional checks on the fast path of the barrier implementation. 118 118 Also note that in the Go version~\ref{l:go_chan_bar}, the size of the barrier channels has to be larger than in the \CFA version to ensure that the main thread does not block when attempting to clear the barrier. 119 119 120 120 \begin{cfa}[tabsize=3,caption={\CFA channel barrier termination},label={l:cfa_chan_bar}] 121 121 struct barrier { 122 123 124 122 channel( int ) barWait; 123 channel( int ) entryWait; 124 int size; 125 125 } 126 126 void ?{}(barrier & this, int size) with(this) { 127 128 129 130 131 127 barWait{size}; 128 entryWait{size}; 129 this.size = size; 130 for ( j; size ) 131 insert( *entryWait, j ); 132 132 } 133 133 134 134 void flush(barrier & this) with(this) { 135 136 135 close(barWait); 136 close(entryWait); 137 137 } 138 138 void wait(barrier & this) with(this) { 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 139 int ticket = remove( *entryWait ); 140 if ( ticket == size - 1 ) { 141 for ( j; size - 1 ) 142 insert( *barWait, j ); 143 return; 144 } 145 ticket = remove( *barWait ); 146 147 // last one out 148 if ( size == 1 || ticket == size - 2 ) { 149 for ( j; size ) 150 insert( *entryWait, j ); 151 } 152 152 } 153 153 barrier b{Tasks}; … … 155 155 // thread main 156 156 void main(Task & this) { 157 158 159 160 161 157 try { 158 for ( ;; ) { 159 wait( b ); 160 } 161 } catch ( channel_closed * e ) {} 162 162 } 163 163 164 164 int main() { 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 165 { 166 Task t[Tasks]; 167 168 sleep(10`s); 169 flush( b ); 170 } // wait for tasks to terminate 171 return 0; 172 172 } 173 173 \end{cfa} … … 176 176 177 177 struct barrier { 178 179 180 178 channel( int ) barWait; 179 channel( int ) entryWait; 180 int size; 181 181 } 182 182 void ?{}(barrier & this, int size) with(this) { 183 184 185 186 187 183 barWait{size + 1}; 184 entryWait{size + 1}; 185 this.size = size; 186 for ( j; size ) 187 insert( *entryWait, j ); 188 188 } 189 189 190 190 void flush(barrier & this) with(this) { 191 192 191 insert( *entryWait, -1 ); 192 insert( *barWait, -1 ); 193 193 } 194 194 void wait(barrier & this) with(this) { 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 195 int ticket = remove( *entryWait ); 196 if ( ticket == -1 ) { 197 insert( *entryWait, -1 ); 198 return; 199 } 200 if ( ticket == size - 1 ) { 201 for ( j; size - 1 ) 202 insert( *barWait, j ); 203 return; 204 } 205 ticket = remove( *barWait ); 206 if ( ticket == -1 ) { 207 insert( *barWait, -1 ); 208 return; 209 } 210 211 // last one out 212 if ( size == 1 || ticket == size - 2 ) { 213 for ( j; size ) 214 insert( *entryWait, j ); 215 } 216 216 } 217 217 barrier b; … … 220 220 // thread main 221 221 void main(Task & this) { 222 223 224 225 222 for ( ;; ) { 223 if ( done ) break; 224 wait( b ); 225 } 226 226 } 227 227 228 228 int main() { 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 229 { 230 Task t[Tasks]; 231 232 sleep(10`s); 233 done = true; 234 235 flush( b ); 236 } // wait for tasks to terminate 237 return 0; 238 238 } 239 239 \end{cfa} 240 240 241 In Listing~\ref{l:cfa_resume} an example of channel closing with resumption is used. 242 This program uses resumption in the \code{Consumer} thread main to ensure that all elements in the channel are removed before the consumer thread terminates. 243 The producer only has a \code{catch} so the moment it receives an exception it terminates, whereas the consumer will continue to remove from the closed channel via handling resumptions until the buffer is empty, which then throws a termination exception. 241 In Listing~\ref{l:cfa_resume} an example of channel closing with resumption is used. 242 This program uses resumption in the \code{Consumer} thread main to ensure that all elements in the channel are removed before the consumer thread terminates. 243 The producer only has a \code{catch} so the moment it receives an exception it terminates, whereas the consumer will continue to remove from the closed channel via handling resumptions until the buffer is empty, which then throws a termination exception. 244 244 If the same program was implemented in Go it would require explicit synchronization with both producers and consumers by some mechanism outside the channel to ensure that all elements were removed before task termination. 245 245 … … 249 249 // Consumer thread main 250 250 void main(Consumer & this) { 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 catch ( channel_closed * e ) {} 251 size_t runs = 0; 252 try { 253 for ( ;; ) { 254 remove( chan ); 255 } 256 } catchResume ( channel_closed * e ) {} 257 catch ( channel_closed * e ) {} 258 258 } 259 259 260 260 // Producer thread main 261 261 void main(Producer & this) { 262 263 264 265 266 267 } catch ( channel_closed * e ) {} 262 int j = 0; 263 try { 264 for ( ;;j++ ) { 265 insert( chan, j ); 266 } 267 } catch ( channel_closed * e ) {} 268 268 } 269 269 270 270 int main( int argc, char * argv[] ) { 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 271 { 272 Consumers c[4]; 273 Producer p[4]; 274 275 sleep(10`s); 276 277 for ( i; Channels ) 278 close( channels[i] ); 279 } 280 return 0; 281 281 } 282 282 \end{cfa} … … 284 284 \section{Performance} 285 285 286 Given that the base implementation of the \CFA channels is very similar to the Go implementation, this section aims to show that the performance of the two implementations are comparable. 287 One microbenchmark is conducted to compare Go and \CFA. 288 The benchmark is a ten second experiment where producers and consumers operate on a channel in parallel and throughput is measured. 289 The number of cores is varied to measure how throughtput scales. 290 The cores are divided equally between producers and consumers, with one producer or consumer owning each core. 291 The results of the benchmark are shown in Figure~\ref{f:chanPerf}. 292 The performance of Go and \CFA channels on this microbenchmark is comparable. 286 Given that the base implementation of the \CFA channels is very similar to the Go implementation, this section aims to show that the performance of the two implementations are comparable. 287 One microbenchmark is conducted to compare Go and \CFA. 288 The benchmark is a ten second experiment where producers and consumers operate on a channel in parallel and throughput is measured. 289 The number of cores is varied to measure how throughtput scales. 290 The cores are divided equally between producers and consumers, with one producer or consumer owning each core. 291 The results of the benchmark are shown in Figure~\ref{f:chanPerf}. 292 The performance of Go and \CFA channels on this microbenchmark is comparable. 293 293 Note, it is expected for the performance to decline as the number of cores increases as the channel operations all occur in a critical section so an increase in cores results in higher contention with no increase in parallelism. 294 294 295 295 296 296 \begin{figure} 297 \centering 298 \begin{subfigure}{0.5\textwidth} 299 \centering 300 \scalebox{0.5}{\input{figures/nasus_Channel_Contention.pgf}} 301 \subcaption{AMD \CFA Channel Benchmark}\label{f:chanAMD} 302 \end{subfigure}\hfill 303 \begin{subfigure}{0.5\textwidth} 304 \centering 305 \scalebox{0.5}{\input{figures/pyke_Channel_Contention.pgf}} 306 \subcaption{Intel \CFA Channel Benchmark}\label{f:chanIntel} 307 \end{subfigure} 308 \caption{The channel contention benchmark comparing \CFA and Go channel throughput (higher is better).} 309 \label{f:chanPerf} 297 \centering 298 \subfloat[AMD \CFA Channel Benchmark]{ 299 \resizebox{0.5\textwidth}{!}{\input{figures/nasus_Channel_Contention.pgf}} 300 \label{f:chanAMD} 301 } 302 \subfloat[Intel \CFA Channel Benchmark]{ 303 \resizebox{0.5\textwidth}{!}{\input{figures/pyke_Channel_Contention.pgf}} 304 \label{f:chanIntel} 305 } 306 \caption{The channel contention benchmark comparing \CFA and Go channel throughput (higher is better).} 307 \label{f:chanPerf} 310 308 \end{figure} 309 310 % Local Variables: % 311 % tab-width: 4 % 312 % End: %
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