Remove pollset->pi_mu since it is redundant. Also do not get polling

island lock in the fast-path

src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_epoll_linux.c

@@ -207,12 +207,7 @@ struct grpc_pollset {
   bool finish_shutdown_called; /* Is the 'finish_shutdown_locked()' called ? */
   grpc_closure *shutdown_done; /* Called after after shutdown is complete */
 
-  /* The polling island to which this pollset belongs to and the mutex
-     protecting the field */
-  /* TODO: sreek: This lock might actually be adding more overhead to the
-     critical path (i.e pollset_work() function). Consider removing this lock
-     and just using the overall pollset lock */
-  gpr_mu pi_mu;
+  /* The polling island to which this pollset belongs to */
   struct polling_island *polling_island;
 };
 
@@ -488,31 +483,47 @@ static void polling_island_delete(polling_island *pi) {
   gpr_mu_unlock(&g_pi_freelist_mu);
 }
 
+/* Attempts to gets the last polling island in the linked list (liked by the
+ * 'merged_to' field). Since this does not lock the polling island, there are no
+ * guarantees that the island returned is the last island */
+static polling_island *polling_island_maybe_get_latest(polling_island *pi) {
+  polling_island *next = (polling_island *)gpr_atm_acq_load(&pi->merged_to);
+  while (next != NULL) {
+    pi = next;
+    next = (polling_island *)gpr_atm_acq_load(&pi->merged_to);
+  }
+
+  return pi;
+}
+
 /* Gets the lock on the *latest* polling island i.e the last polling island in
-   the linked list (linked by 'merged_to' link). Call gpr_mu_unlock on the
+   the linked list (linked by the 'merged_to' field). Call gpr_mu_unlock on the
    returned polling island's mu.
    Usage: To lock/unlock polling island "pi", do the following:
       polling_island *pi_latest = polling_island_lock(pi);
       ...
       ... critical section ..
       ...
-      gpr_mu_unlock(&pi_latest->mu); //NOTE: use pi_latest->mu. NOT pi->mu */
-polling_island *polling_island_lock(polling_island *pi) {
+      gpr_mu_unlock(&pi_latest->mu); // NOTE: use pi_latest->mu. NOT pi->mu */
+static polling_island *polling_island_lock(polling_island *pi) {
   polling_island *next = NULL;
+
   while (true) {
     next = (polling_island *)gpr_atm_acq_load(&pi->merged_to);
     if (next == NULL) {
-      /* pi is the last node in the linked list. Get the lock and check again
-         (under the pi->mu lock) that pi is still the last node (because a merge
-         may have happend after the (next == NULL) check above and before
-         getting the pi->mu lock.
-         If pi is the last node, we are done. If not, unlock and continue
-         traversing the list */
+      /* Looks like 'pi' is the last node in the linked list but unless we check
+         this by holding the pi->mu lock, we cannot be sure (i.e without the
+         pi->mu lock, we don't prevent island merges).
+         To be absolutely sure, check once more by holding the pi->mu lock */
       gpr_mu_lock(&pi->mu);
       next = (polling_island *)gpr_atm_acq_load(&pi->merged_to);
       if (next == NULL) {
+        /* pi is infact the last node and we have the pi->mu lock. we're done */
         break;
       }
+
+      /* pi->merged_to is not NULL i.e pi isn't the last node anymore. pi->mu
+       * isn't the lock we are interested in. Continue traversing the list */
       gpr_mu_unlock(&pi->mu);
     }
 
@@ -526,11 +537,11 @@ polling_island *polling_island_lock(polling_island *pi) {
    This function is needed because calling the following block of code to obtain
    locks on polling islands (*p and *q) is prone to deadlocks.
      {
-       polling_island_lock(*p);
-       polling_island_lock(*q);
+       polling_island_lock(*p, true);
+       polling_island_lock(*q, true);
      }
 
-   Usage/exmaple:
+   Usage/example:
      polling_island *p1;
      polling_island *p2;
      ..
@@ -551,7 +562,7 @@ polling_island *polling_island_lock(polling_island *pi) {
      }
 
 */
-void polling_island_lock_pair(polling_island **p, polling_island **q) {
+static void polling_island_lock_pair(polling_island **p, polling_island **q) {
   polling_island *pi_1 = *p;
   polling_island *pi_2 = *q;
   polling_island *next_1 = NULL;
@@ -611,7 +622,8 @@ void polling_island_lock_pair(polling_island **p, polling_island **q) {
   *q = pi_2;
 }
 
-polling_island *polling_island_merge(polling_island *p, polling_island *q) {
+static polling_island *polling_island_merge(polling_island *p,
+                                            polling_island *q) {
   /* Get locks on both the polling islands */
   polling_island_lock_pair(&p, &q);
 
@@ -1124,7 +1136,6 @@ static void pollset_init(grpc_pollset *pollset, gpr_mu **mu) {
   pollset->finish_shutdown_called = false;
   pollset->shutdown_done = NULL;
 
-  gpr_mu_init(&pollset->pi_mu);
   pollset->polling_island = NULL;
 }
 
@@ -1170,12 +1181,10 @@ static void fd_become_writable(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, grpc_fd *fd) {
 }
 
 static void pollset_release_polling_island(grpc_pollset *ps, char *reason) {
-  gpr_mu_lock(&ps->pi_mu);
   if (ps->polling_island != NULL) {
     PI_UNREF(ps->polling_island, reason);
   }
   ps->polling_island = NULL;
-  gpr_mu_unlock(&ps->pi_mu);
 }
 
 static void finish_shutdown_locked(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx,
@@ -1215,7 +1224,6 @@ static void pollset_shutdown(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, grpc_pollset *pollset,
  * here */
 static void pollset_destroy(grpc_pollset *pollset) {
   GPR_ASSERT(!pollset_has_workers(pollset));
-  gpr_mu_destroy(&pollset->pi_mu);
   gpr_mu_destroy(&pollset->mu);
 }
 
@@ -1250,22 +1258,25 @@ static grpc_error *pollset_work_and_unlock(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx,
 
   /* We need to get the epoll_fd to wait on. The epoll_fd is in inside the
      latest polling island pointed by pollset->polling_island.
-     Acquire the following locks:
-     - pollset->mu (which we already have)
-     - pollset->pi_mu
-     - pollset->polling_island lock  */
-  gpr_mu_lock(&pollset->pi_mu);
+
+     Since epoll_fd is immutable, we can read it without obtaining the polling
+     island lock. There is however a possibility that the polling island (from
+     which we got the epoll_fd) got merged with another island while we are
+     in this function. This is still okay because in such a case, we will wakeup
+     right-away from epoll_wait() and pick up the latest polling_island the next
+     this function (i.e pollset_work_and_unlock()) is called.
+     */
 
   if (pollset->polling_island == NULL) {
     pollset->polling_island = polling_island_create(NULL);
     PI_ADD_REF(pollset->polling_island, "ps");
   }
 
-  pi = polling_island_lock(pollset->polling_island);
+  pi = polling_island_maybe_get_latest(pollset->polling_island);
   epoll_fd = pi->epoll_fd;
 
   /* Update the pollset->polling_island since the island being pointed by
-     pollset->polling_island may not be the latest (i.e pi) */
+     pollset->polling_island maybe older than the one pointed by pi) */
   if (pollset->polling_island != pi) {
     /* Always do PI_ADD_REF before PI_UNREF because PI_UNREF may cause the
        polling island to be deleted */
@@ -1278,9 +1289,6 @@ static grpc_error *pollset_work_and_unlock(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx,
      the epoll_fd won't be closed) while we are are doing an epoll_wait() on the
      epoll_fd */
   PI_ADD_REF(pi, "ps_work");
-
-  gpr_mu_unlock(&pi->mu);
-  gpr_mu_unlock(&pollset->pi_mu);
   gpr_mu_unlock(&pollset->mu);
 
   do {
@@ -1413,7 +1421,6 @@ static grpc_error *pollset_work(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, grpc_pollset *pollset,
 static void pollset_add_fd(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, grpc_pollset *pollset,
                            grpc_fd *fd) {
   gpr_mu_lock(&pollset->mu);
-  gpr_mu_lock(&pollset->pi_mu);
   gpr_mu_lock(&fd->pi_mu);
 
   polling_island *pi_new = NULL;
@@ -1465,7 +1472,6 @@ static void pollset_add_fd(grpc_exec_ctx *exec_ctx, grpc_pollset *pollset,
   }
 
   gpr_mu_unlock(&fd->pi_mu);
-  gpr_mu_unlock(&pollset->pi_mu);
   gpr_mu_unlock(&pollset->mu);
 }
 
@@ -1627,9 +1633,9 @@ void *grpc_fd_get_polling_island(grpc_fd *fd) {
 void *grpc_pollset_get_polling_island(grpc_pollset *ps) {
   polling_island *pi;
 
-  gpr_mu_lock(&ps->pi_mu);
+  gpr_mu_lock(&ps->mu);
   pi = ps->polling_island;
-  gpr_mu_unlock(&ps->pi_mu);
+  gpr_mu_unlock(&ps->mu);
 
   return pi;
 }

src/core/lib/iomgr/ev_posix.c

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 grpc_poll_function_type grpc_poll_function = poll;
 
 static const grpc_event_engine_vtable *g_event_engine;
-static const char* g_poll_strategy_name = NULL;
+static const char *g_poll_strategy_name = NULL;
 
 typedef const grpc_event_engine_vtable *(*event_engine_factory_fn)(void);
 
@@ -111,9 +111,7 @@ static void try_engine(const char *engine) {
 }
 
 /* Call this only after calling grpc_event_engine_init() */
-const char *grpc_get_poll_strategy_name() {
-  return g_poll_strategy_name;
-}
+const char *grpc_get_poll_strategy_name() { return g_poll_strategy_name; }
 
 void grpc_event_engine_init(void) {
   char *s = gpr_getenv("GRPC_POLL_STRATEGY");