tree f8e62672b35ebdefee048e042a54e8ceaeab0cf0
parent 2dd73a4f09beacadde827a032cf15fd8b1fa3d48
author Peter Williams <pwil3058@bigpond.net.au> 1151402076 -0700
committer Linus Torvalds <torvalds@g5.osdl.org> 1151454764 -0700

[PATCH] sched: modify move_tasks() to improve load balancing outcomes

Problem:

The move_tasks() function is designed to move UP TO the amount of load it
is asked to move and in doing this it skips over tasks looking for ones
whose load weights are less than or equal to the remaining load to be
moved.  This is (in general) a good thing but it has the unfortunate result
of breaking one of the original load balancer's good points: namely, that
(within the limits imposed by the active/expired array model and the fact
the expired is processed first) it moves high priority tasks before low
priority ones and this means there's a good chance (see active/expired
problem for why it's only a chance) that the highest priority task on the
queue but not actually on the CPU will be moved to the other CPU where (as
a high priority task) it may preempt the current task.

Solution:

Modify move_tasks() so that high priority tasks are not skipped when moving
them will make them the highest priority task on their new run queue.

Signed-off-by: Peter Williams <pwil3058@bigpond.com.au>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Cc: "Siddha, Suresh B" <suresh.b.siddha@intel.com>
Cc: "Chen, Kenneth W" <kenneth.w.chen@intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>