From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mailer.gwdg.de (mailer.gwdg.de [134.76.10.26]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 11C9A3858D3C for ; Wed, 28 Jun 2023 16:07:36 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.4.2 sourceware.org 11C9A3858D3C Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; dmarc=none (p=none dis=none) header.from=gwdg.de Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=gwdg.de Received: from excmbx-25.um.gwdg.de ([134.76.9.235] helo=email.gwdg.de) by mailer.gwdg.de with esmtp (GWDG Mailer) (envelope-from ) id 1qEXhc-000HrU-OJ; Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:07:32 +0200 Received: from EXCMBX-29.um.gwdg.de (134.76.9.204) by excmbx-25.um.gwdg.de (134.76.9.235) with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2, cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P256) id 15.1.2507.27; Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:07:32 +0200 Received: from [172.18.73.167] (10.250.9.199) by EXCMBX-29.um.gwdg.de (134.76.9.204) with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2, cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256) id 15.1.2507.27; Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:07:31 +0200 Message-ID: Subject: Re: wishlist: support for shorter pointers From: Martin Uecker To: "Richard Earnshaw (lists)" , =?UTF-8?Q?Rafa=C5=82?= Pietrak , "gcc@gcc.gnu.org" Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2023 18:07:28 +0200 In-Reply-To: References: <439affd4-11fe-de80-94c8-6fc64cbf76ec@ztk-rp.eu> <112e711791835d56cca38654f83a009cb46707d4.camel@gwdg.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" User-Agent: Evolution 3.38.3-1+deb11u2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Originating-IP: [10.250.9.199] X-ClientProxiedBy: excmbx-25.um.gwdg.de (134.76.9.235) To EXCMBX-29.um.gwdg.de (134.76.9.204) X-Virus-Scanned: (clean) by clamav X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.5 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,KAM_DMARC_STATUS,KAM_SHORT,RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H5,RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL,SPF_HELO_NONE,SPF_PASS,TXREP,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.6 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.6 (2021-04-09) on server2.sourceware.org List-Id: Am Mittwoch, dem 28.06.2023 um 16:44 +0100 schrieb Richard Earnshaw (lists): > On 28/06/2023 15:51, Rafał Pietrak via Gcc wrote: > > Hi Martin, > > > > W dniu 28.06.2023 o 15:00, Martin Uecker pisze: > > > > > > Sounds like named address spaces to me: > > > https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Named-Address-Spaces.html > > > > Only to same extend, and only in x86 case. > > > > The goal of the wish-item I've describe is to shorten pointers. I may be > > wrong and have misread the specs, but the "address spaces" > > implementation you've pointed out don't look like doing that. In > > particular the AVR variant applies to devices that have a "native int" > > of 16-bits, and those devices (most of them) have address space no > > larger. So there is no gain. Their pointers cover all their address > > space and if one wanted to have shorter pointers ... like 12-bits - > > those wouldn't "nicely fit into register", or 8-bits - those would > > reduce the "addressable" space to 256 bytes, which is VERY tight for any > > practical application. > > > > Additionally, the AVR case is explained as "only for rodata" - this > > completely dismisses it from my use. > > > > To explain a little more: the functionality I'm looking for is something > > like x86 implementation of that "address spaces". The key functionality > > here is the additional register like fs/gs (an address offset register). > > IMHO the feature/implementation in question would HAVE TO use additional > > register instead of letting linker adjust them at link time, because > > those "short" pointers would need to be load-and-stored dynamically and > > changed dynamically at runtime. That's why I've put an example of ARM > > instruction that does this. Again IMHO the only "syntactic" feature,that > > is required for a compiler to do "the right thing" is to make compiler > > consider segment (segment name, ordinary linker segment name) where a > > particular pointer target resides. Then if that segment where data (of > > that pointer) reside is declared "short pointers", then compiler loads > > and uses additional register pointing to the base of that segment. Quite > > like intel segments work in hardware. > > > > Naturally, although I have hints on such mechanism behavior, I have no > > skills to even imagine where to tweak the sources to achieve that. > > > I think I understand what you're asking for but: > 1) You'd need a new ABI specification to handle this, probably involving > register assignments (for the 'segment' addresses), the initialization > of those at startup, assembler and linker extensions to allow for > relocations describing the symbols, etc. > 2) Implementations for all of the above (it would be a lot of work - > weeks to months, not days). Little existing code, including most of the > hand-written assembly routines is likely to be compatible with the > register conventions you'd need to define, so all that code would need > auditing and alternatives developed. > 3) I doubt it would be an overall win in the end. > > I base the last assertion on the fact that you'd now have three values > in many addresses, the base (segment), the pointer and then a final > offset. This means quite a bit more code being generated, so you trade > smaller pointers in your data section for more code in your code > section. For example, > > struct f > { >    int a; >    int b; > }; > > int func (struct f *p) > { >    return p->b; > } > > would currently compile to something like > > ldr r0, [r0, #4] > bx lr > > but with the new, shorter, pointer you'd end up with > > add r0, r_seg, r0 > ldr r0, [r0, #4] > bx lr > > In some cases it might be even worse as you'd end up with > zero-extensions of the pointer values as well. > I do not quite understand why this wouldn't work with named address spaces? __near struct { int x; int y; }; int func (__near struct f *p) { return p->b; } could produce exactly such code? If you need multiple such segments one could have __near0, ..., __near9. Such a pointer could also be converted to a regular pointer, which could reduce code overhead. Martin > R. > > > -R > > > > > > > > Best, > > > Martin > > > > > > Am Dienstag, dem 27.06.2023 um 14:26 +0200 schrieb Rafał Pietrak via Gcc: > > > > Hello everybody, > > > > > > > > I'm not quite sure if this is correct mailbox for this suggestion (may > > > > be "embedded" would be better), but let me present it first (and while > > > > the examples is from ARM stm32 environment, the issue would equally > > > > apply to i386 or even amd64). So: > > > > > > > > 1. Small MPU (like stm32f103) would normally have small amount of RAM, > > > > and even somewhat larger variant do have its memory "partitioned/ > > > > dedicated" to various subsystems (like CloseCoupledMemory, Ethernet > > > > buffers, USB buffs, etc). > > > > > > > > 2. to address any location within those sections of that memory (or > > > > their entire RAM) it would suffice to use 16-bit pointers. > > > > > > > > 3. still, declaring a pointer in GCC always allocate "natural" size of a > > > > pointer in given architecture. In case of ARM stm32 it would be 32-bits. > > > > > > > > 4. programs using pointers do keep them around in structures. So > > > > programs with heavy use of pointers have those structures like 2 times > > > > larger then necessary .... if only pointers were 16-bit. And memory in > > > > those devices is scarce. > > > > > > > > 5. the same thing applies to 64-bit world. Programs that don't require > > > > huge memories but do use pointers excessively, MUST take up 64-bit for a > > > > pointer no matter what. > > > > > > > > So I was wondering if it would be feasible for GCC to allow SEGMENT to > > > > be declared as "small" (like 16-bit addressable in 32-bit CPU, or 32-bit > > > > addressable in 64-bit CPU), and ANY pointer declared to reference > > > > location within them would then be appropriately reduced. > > > > > > > > In ARM world, the use of such pointers would require the use of an > > > > additional register (functionally being a "segment base address") to > > > > allow for data access using instructions like: "LD Rx, [Ry, Rz]" - > > > > meaning register index reference. Here Ry is the base of the SEGMENT in > > > > question. Or if (like inside a loop) the structure "pointed to" by Rz > > > > must be often used, just one operation "ADD Rz, Ry" will prep Rz for > > > > subsequent "ordinary" offset operations like: "LD Ra, [Rz, #member]" ... > > > > and reentering the loop by "LDH Rz, [Rz, #next]" does what's required by > > > > "x = x->next". > > > > > > > > Not having any experience in compiler implementations I have no idea if > > > > this is a big or a small change to compiler design. > > > > > > > > -R > > > > > > >