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kernbench2/docs/adr/ADR-0009-kernel-execution-messaging.md
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mukesh c1a5cf3a2a ADR-0009 D5: chain-aware target_start_ns + zero-byte launch fanout
The single-walk predictor (find_node_path(io_cpu, pe_cpu) +
compute_path_latency_ns) under-shot actual dispatch latency for far
cubes -- the routing graph could pick a path bypassing M_CPU, and
non-zero-nbytes launch sub-txns serialized on shared first hops.
Far PEs arrived at _execute_kernel after target_start_ns, silently
skipped the barrier yield, and started pe_exec_start late. Their
reported pe_exec_ns under-counted by exactly the late_ns amount
(63 ns observed at h4 cube4.pe0 in the IPCQ test, up to 113 ns
worst case for cubes 9-11), producing the suspicious flat region
in the h4 IPCQ curve at 8192/10240 bytes.

Fix:
  - IO_CPU predictor uses the explicit two-leg chain
    (IO_CPU->M_CPU + M_CPU->PE_CPU - io.overhead - m.overhead), so
    every PE on every targeted cube has a barrier >= its real
    dispatch arrival.
  - Kernel-launch fanout sub-txns carry nbytes=0 (control-plane,
    not data-plane), removing the per-cube fanout serialization
    that pushed far M_CPUs past the predictor.
  - Legacy io_cpu mirror updated.

ADR-0009 D5 mechanism updated to specify the two-leg formula and
the nbytes=0 requirement. New tests/test_d5_barrier_invariant.py
asserts (a) no PE enters _execute_kernel after target_start_ns and
(b) every PE in a multi-cube launch has identical pe_exec_start --
both regressions silently pass on the existing
tests/test_kernel_launch_sync.py because that test only inspects
post-aggregation max(pe_exec_ns).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-04-27 15:12:58 -07:00

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4.9 KiB
Markdown

# ADR-0009: Kernel Execution Messaging and Completion Semantics
## Status
Accepted
## Context
Kernel execution is initiated by the host and proceeds through
device control components:
Host → IO_CPU → M_CPU → PE_CPU → schedulers → engines
Completion propagates in reverse order.
To keep benchmarks simple and topology-agnostic,
kernel execution must be endpoint-driven with deterministic aggregation.
---
## Decision
### D1. Kernel launch is an endpoint request
A kernel launch is initiated by submitting a single KernelLaunch request
to the IO_CPU endpoint.
The runtime API MUST:
- construct the kernel launch request,
- submit it to IO_CPU,
- await a single completion result.
The runtime API MUST NOT orchestrate internal fan-out.
---
### D2. Tensor arguments are passed by metadata
KernelLaunch requests MUST reference tensor arguments via:
- host-owned tensor handles, or
- resolved device address maps derived from those handles.
Bulk tensor data MUST NOT be embedded in kernel launch messages.
---
### D3. Fan-out and aggregation are component responsibilities
- IO_CPU fans out work to M_CPUs.
- M_CPU fans out work to PE_CPUs.
- PE_CPU manages kernel execution and engine dispatch.
Completion semantics:
- M_CPU completes when all targeted PEs complete or a failure policy triggers.
- IO_CPU completes when all targeted CUBEs complete or a failure policy triggers.
---
### D4. Completion and failure propagation
- All messages MUST carry correlation identifiers.
- Completion and failure MUST propagate deterministically to the host.
- The simulation engine provides futures/handles to observe completion.
---
### D5. Launch timing is endpoint-synchronized
All PEs targeted by a single kernel launch MUST begin executing the kernel
body at the same simulated time, regardless of their dispatch path length
from the launch entry point.
Rationale. The dispatch tree Host → IO_CPU → M_CPU → PE_CPU has variable
latency at every level. PEs near their M_CPU receive the launch earlier
than PEs farther away; cubes near an IO_CPU receive it earlier than cubes
farther away. Without synchronization, each PE's kernel begins at a
different `env.now`, making per-PE metrics such as `pe_exec_ns` a function
of dispatch-path geometry rather than of the kernel's behavior —
producing measurement artifacts in benchmarks that time kernel-internal
waits (for example `tl.recv` on cross-cube or cross-SIP hops).
Mechanism.
- `KernelLaunchMsg` carries an optional `target_start_ns: float | None`.
- **IO_CPU** is the canonical stamper. On fan-out to M_CPUs, it
computes `target_start_ns = env.now + max_latency` where
`max_latency` is the maximum, over every target (sip, cube, pe)
tuple, of the **two-leg dispatch chain**:
```
max_latency(sip, cube, pe) =
compute_path_latency_ns(find_node_path(io_cpu, m_cpu(sip, cube)))
+ compute_path_latency_ns(find_node_path(m_cpu(sip, cube), pe_cpu))
- io_cpu.overhead_ns
- m_cpu.overhead_ns
```
This models the actual dispatch as **two sequential Transactions**
(IO_CPU → M_CPU, then M_CPU → PE_CPU). Each leg's
`compute_path_latency_ns` adds its endpoints' `overhead_ns`;
`io_cpu.overhead_ns` is subtracted because IO_CPU has already
paid it before this method runs, and `m_cpu.overhead_ns` is
subtracted once because it appears as endpoint of leg1 *and*
start of leg2 but is paid only once at run time. A single
`find_node_path(io_cpu, pe_cpu)` walk is **not** equivalent —
it can pick a graph path that bypasses M_CPU and silently
under-shoots the prediction for far cubes, breaking the D5
invariant.
The fanned-out sub-Transactions carry **`nbytes = 0`** for
`KernelLaunchMsg` (control message only). Without this,
large kernel-launch payloads would occupy fabric BW on the
shared first hop and serialize the per-cube dispatch, pushing
far M_CPUs past `target_start_ns` and re-introducing the
late-arrival violation.
- **M_CPU** passes an already-stamped `target_start_ns` through
unchanged. Only when the value is absent (e.g. a direct
launch-to-M_CPU unit test) does M_CPU compute a per-cube barrier
`env.now + max(local command-path latency)`.
- **PE_CPU** yields `env.timeout(target_start_ns - env.now)` at the top
of `_execute_kernel`, before recording `pe_exec_start` and invoking
the kernel body.
- When `target_start_ns is None`, PE_CPU falls through to the legacy
unsynchronized behavior — preserving backward compatibility.
IO_CPU-level stamping guarantees every PE across every targeted cube
uses the same barrier sim-time, eliminating both the within-cube
dispatch-offset artifact *and* the cross-cube offset artifact in
multi-cube launches. Models a real-hardware timed-broadcast launch
(latency-equalized dispatch tree).
The synchronization is internal to the engine / IO_CPU / M_CPU / PE_CPU
control plane — runtime API and application kernels are unchanged.
---
## Links
- SPEC R1, R2, R7, R8
- ADR-0007 (Runtime API boundaries)
- ADR-0008 (Tensor deployment)