FreeCalypso > hg > freecalypso-tools

annotate doc/Loadtools-performance @ 746:f19c347d0a80

Find changesets by keywords (author, files, the commit message), revision number or hash, or revset expression.
tiffs-mkfile utility written
author Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
date Mon, 19 Oct 2020 17:39:19 +0000
parents 4a1f0bbca58e
children
Ignore whitespace changes - Everywhere: Within whitespace: At end of lines:
rev   line source
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
1 Memory dump performance
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
2 =======================
630
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
3
611
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
4 Here are the expected run times for the flash dump2bin operation of dumping the
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
5 entire flash content of a Calypso GSM device with the current version of
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
6 fc-loadtool which uses the new binary transfer protocol:
611
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
7
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
8 Dump of 4 MiB flash (e.g., Openmoko GTA01/02 or Mot C139/140) at 115200 baud:
693
4a1f0bbca58e doc/Loadtools-performance: two digits for seconds
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 681
diff changeset
9 6m04s
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
10
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
11 The same 4 MiB flash dump at 812500 baud: 0m52s
611
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
12
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
13 Dump of 8 MiB flash (e.g., Mot C155/156) at 812500 baud: 1m44s
611
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
14
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
15 These times are a 2x improvement compared to all previous versions of
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
16 fc-loadtool (prior to fc-host-tools-r13) which used a hex-based transfer
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
17 protocol.
611
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
18
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
19 Because of the architecture of fc-loadtool and its loadagent back-end, the run
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
20 time of a flash dump operation depends only on the serial baud rate and the
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
21 size of the flash area to be dumped; it should not depend on the USB-serial
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
22 adapter type or any host system properties, as long as the host system and
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
23 serial adapter combination supports the desired baud rate. In contrast, flash
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
24 programming and fc-xram loading operations are quite different in that their
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
25 run times do depend on the host system and USB-serial adapter or other serial
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
26 port hardware - this host system dependency exists because of the way these
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
27 operations are implemented in our architecture.
c847d742ab38 doc/Loadtools-performance: article started
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents:
diff changeset
28
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
29 Flash programming operations
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
30 ============================
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
31
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
32 Here are some examples of expected flash programming times, all obtained on the
630
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
33 Mother's Slackware 14.2 host system:
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
34
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
35 Flashing an Openmoko GTA02 modem (K5A3281CTM flash chip) with a new firmware
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
36 image (2376448 bytes), using a PL2303 USB-serial cable at 115200 baud: 0m19s to
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
37 erase 37 sectors, 3m45s to program the image.
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
38
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
39 Flashing the same OM GTA02 modem with the same fw image, using a CP2102
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
40 USB-serial cable at 812500 baud: 0m19s to erase, 0m51s to program.
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
41
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
42 Flashing a Magnetite hybrid fw image (2378084 bytes) into an FCDEV3B board
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
43 (S71PL129N flash chip) via an FT2232D adapter at 812500 baud: 0m24s to erase
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
44 13 sectors (4 small and 9 large), 1m27s to program the image.
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
45
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
46 Regardless of whether you execute these two steps separately or use one of our
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
47 new flash e-program-{bin,m0,srec} commands, flash programming is always done in
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
48 two steps: first the erase operation covering the needed range of sectors, then
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
49 the actual programming operation that includes the data transfer.
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
50
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
51 Flash erase times are determined entirely by physical processes inside the
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
52 flash chip and thus should not be affected by software design or the serial
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
53 link: for each sector to be erased, fc-loadtool issues the sector erase command
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
54 to the flash chip and then polls the chip for operation completion status; the
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
55 polling is done over the serial link and thus may seem very slow, but the extra
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
56 bit of latency added by the finite polling speed is still negligible (at least
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
57 on the Mother's Slackware system) compared to the time of the actual sector
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
58 erase operation inside the flash chip. One remaining flaw is that in our
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
59 current implementation the issuance of each individual sector erase command to
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
60 the flash chip takes 6 command-response exchanges between fc-loadtool and
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
61 loadagent; on my Slackware host system this extra overhead is still negligible
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
62 compared to the 0.5s or more for the actual erase operation time, but this
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
63 overhead may become more significant on host systems with higher latency.
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
64
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
65 After the erase operation, the execution time of the main flash programming
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
66 operation is a sum of 3 components:
613
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
67
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
68 * The time it takes for the bits to be transferred over the serial link;
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
69 * The time it takes for the flash programming operation to complete on the
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
70 target (physics inside the flash chip);
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
71 * The overhead of command-response exchanges between fc-loadtool and loadagent.
ab4021fb1c66 doc/Loadtools-performance: flash programming added
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 611
diff changeset
72
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
73 Because image data transfer is taking place in this step, flash programming at
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
74 812500 baud is faster than 115200 baud, although it is not the same 7x
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
75 improvement as happens with flash dumps. The present version of fc-loadtool
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
76 also uses a new binary transfer protocol instead of the hex-based one used in
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
77 previous versions (prior to fc-host-tools-r13); this change produces a 2x
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
78 improvement for OM GTA02 flashing, but only a smaller improvement for FCDEV3B
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
79 flashing.
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
80
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
81 Notice the difference in flash programming times between GTA02 and FCDEV3B: the
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
82 fw image size is almost exactly the same, any difference in latency between
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
83 CP2102 and FT2232D is less likely to produce such significant time difference
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
84 given our current 2048 byte transfer block size (in fact fc-xram transfer times
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
85 suggest that FT2232D is faster), thus the difference in physical flash program
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
86 operation times between K5A3281CTM and S71PL129N flash chips seems to be the
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
87 most likely explanation.
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
88
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
89 It also needs to be noted that in the current version of fc-loadtool there is
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
90 no difference in performance between flash program-bin, program-m0 and
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
91 program-srec operations: they all use the same binary protocol with 2048 byte
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
92 transfer block size. There is no coupling between source S-records and flash
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
93 programming operation blocks (2048-byte units) in the case of flash program-m0
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
94 and program-srec: the new implementation of these commands prereads the entire
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
95 S-record image as a separate preparatory step on the host side, the bits to be
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
96 programmed are saved in a temporary binary file (automatically deleted
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
97 afterward), and the actual flash programming operation proceeds from this
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
98 internal binary source - but it knows about any discontiguous program regions
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
99 and skips the gaps properly.
671
e66fafeeb377 doc/Loadtools-performance: new faster flash operations
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 630
diff changeset
100
630
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
101 XRAM loading via fc-xram
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
102 ========================
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
103
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
104 The new version of fc-xram as of fc-host-tools-r13 is dramatically faster than
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
105 the original implementation from 2013, using a new binary transfer protocol.
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
106 The speed increase comes from not only switching from hex to binary, but even
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
107 more so from eliminating the command-response turnaround time on every S3
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
108 record. The new XRAM loading times obtained on the Mother's Slackware 14.2
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
109 host system are:
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
110
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
111 Pirelli DP-L10 with built-in CP2102 USB-serial chip, 812500 baud, loading
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
112 hybrid-vpm fw build, 49969 S3 records: 0m27s
615
39b74c39d914 doc/Loadtools-performance: complete for now
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 613
diff changeset
113
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
114 FCDEV3B interfaced via FT2232D adapter, 812500 baud, loading hybrid fw build,
681
0815661d6e3e doc/Loadtools-performance: typo fix
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 680
diff changeset
115 78875 S3 records: 0m35s
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
116
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
117 With the previous version of fc-xram these two loads took 1m40s and 2m54s,
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
118 respectively. With the current version of loadtools XRAM loading is faster
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
119 than flash programming for the same fw image as one would naturally expect (the
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
120 flash programming step on the target is replaced with a simple memcpy()
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
121 operation), but in the previous version XRAM loading was slower because of
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
122 massive command-response exchange overhead: there was a command-response
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
123 turnaround time incurred for every S3 record, typically carrying only 30 bytes
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
124 of payload.
630
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
125
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
126 Additional complication with FTDI adapters and newer Linux kernel versions
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
127 ==========================================================================
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
128
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
129 If you are using an FTDI adapter and a Linux kernel version newer than early
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
130 2017 (the change was introduced between 4.10 and 4.11), then you have one
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
131 additional complication: a change was made to the ftdi_sio driver in the Linux
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
132 kernel that made many loadtools operations (basically everything other than
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
133 flash dumps which are entirely target-driven) unbearably slow, at least with
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
134 previous versions of loadtools that made many more command-response exchanges
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
135 with loadagent for smaller transfer units and thus were much more sensitive to
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
136 host system latency on these exchanges. We do not yet know if this FTDI
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
137 latency timer issue still has a significant negative impact or not with current
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
138 loadtools, but if it does, the solution is to run a special setserial command.
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
139 After you plug in your FTDI-based USB-serial cable or connect the USB cable
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
140 between your PC or laptop and your FTDI adapter board, causing the
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
141 corresponding ttyUSBx device to appear, execute the following command:
630
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
142
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
143 setserial /dev/ttyUSBx low_latency
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
144
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
145 (Obviously change ttyUSBx to your actual ttyUSB number.) Execute this
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
146 setserial command before running fc-loadtool or fc-xram, and then hopefully you
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
147 should get performance that is comparable to what I get on classic Slackware.
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
148 I say "hopefully" because I am not able to test it myself - I refuse to run any
8c6e7b7e701c doc/Loadtools-performance: updates for new program-m0 and setserial
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 618
diff changeset
149 OS that can be categorized as "modern" - but field reports of performance on
680
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
150 non-Slackware systems running newer Linux kernels (4.11 or later) are welcome,
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
151 both with and without the low_latency setting. Please be sure to include your
89ed8b374bc0 doc/Loadtools-performance: finished updates for fc-host-tools-r13
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
parents: 678
diff changeset
152 Linux kernel version and your USB-serial adapter type in your report!