xref: /dpdk/doc/guides/sample_app_ug/vm_power_management.rst (revision f69ed1044230c218c9afd8f1b47b6fe6aa1eeec5)
1..  SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
2    Copyright(c) 2010-2014 Intel Corporation.
3
4Virtual Machine Power Management Application
5============================================
6
7Applications running in virtual environments have an abstract view of
8the underlying hardware on the host. Specifically, applications cannot
9see the binding of virtual components to physical hardware. When looking
10at CPU resourcing, the pinning of Virtual CPUs (vCPUs) to Physical CPUs
11(pCPUs) on the host is not apparent to an application and this pinning
12may change over time. In addition, operating systems on Virtual Machines
13(VMs) do not have the ability to govern their own power policy. The
14Machine Specific Registers (MSRs) for enabling P-state transitions are
15not exposed to the operating systems running on the VMs.
16
17The solution demonstrated in this sample application shows an example of
18how a DPDK application can indicate its processing requirements using
19VM-local only information (vCPU/lcore, and so on) to a host resident VM
20Power Manager. The VM Power Manager is responsible for:
21
22- **Accepting requests for frequency changes for a vCPU**
23- **Translating the vCPU to a pCPU using libvirt**
24- **Performing the change in frequency**
25
26This application demonstrates the following features:
27
28- **The handling of VM application requests to change frequency.**
29  VM applications can request frequency changes for a vCPU. The VM
30  Power Management Application uses libvirt to translate that
31  virtual CPU (vCPU) request to a physical CPU (pCPU) request and
32  performs the frequency change.
33
34- **The acceptance of power management policies from VM applications.**
35  A VM application can send a policy to the host application. The
36  policy contains rules that define the power management behaviour
37  of the VM. The host application then applies the rules of the
38  policy independent of the VM application. For example, the
39  policy can contain time-of-day information for busy/quiet
40  periods, and the host application can scale up/down the relevant
41  cores when required. See :ref:`sending_policy` for information on
42  setting policy values.
43
44- **Out-of-band monitoring of workloads using core hardware event counters.**
45  The host application can manage power for an application by looking
46  at the event counters of the cores and taking action based on the
47  branch miss/hit ratio. See :ref:`enabling_out_of_band`.
48
49  **Note**: This functionality also applies in non-virtualised environments.
50
51In addition to the ``librte_power`` library used on the host, the
52application uses a special version of ``librte_power`` on each VM, which
53directs frequency changes and policies to the host monitor rather than
54the APCI ``cpufreq`` ``sysfs`` interface used on the host in non-virtualised
55environments.
56
57.. _figure_vm_power_mgr_highlevel:
58
59.. figure:: img/vm_power_mgr_highlevel.*
60
61   Highlevel Solution
62
63In the above diagram, the DPDK Applications are shown running in
64virtual machines, and the VM Power Monitor application is shown running
65in the host.
66
67**DPDK VM Application**
68
69- Reuse ``librte_power`` interface, but uses an implementation that
70  forwards frequency requests to the host using a ``virtio-serial`` channel
71- Each lcore has exclusive access to a single channel
72- Sample application reuses ``l3fwd_power``
73- A CLI for changing frequency from within a VM is also included
74
75**VM Power Monitor**
76
77- Accepts VM commands over ``virtio-serial`` endpoints, monitored
78  using ``epoll``
79- Commands include the virtual core to be modified, using ``libvirt`` to get
80  the physical core mapping
81- Uses ``librte_power`` to affect frequency changes using Linux userspace
82  power governor (``acpi_cpufreq`` OR ``intel_pstate`` driver)
83- CLI: For adding VM channels to monitor, inspecting and changing channel
84  state, manually altering CPU frequency. Also allows for the changings
85  of vCPU to pCPU pinning
86
87Sample Application Architecture Overview
88----------------------------------------
89
90The VM power management solution employs ``qemu-kvm`` to provide
91communications channels between the host and VMs in the form of a
92``virtio-serial`` connection that appears as a para-virtualised serial
93device on a VM and can be configured to use various backends on the
94host. For this example, the configuration of each ``virtio-serial`` endpoint
95on the host as an ``AF_UNIX`` file socket, supporting poll/select and
96``epoll`` for event notification. In this example, each channel endpoint on
97the host is monitored for ``EPOLLIN`` events using ``epoll``. Each channel
98is specified as ``qemu-kvm`` arguments or as ``libvirt`` XML for each VM,
99where each VM can have several channels up to a maximum of 64 per VM. In this
100example, each DPDK lcore on a VM has exclusive access to a channel.
101
102To enable frequency changes from within a VM, the VM forwards a
103``librte_power`` request over the ``virtio-serial`` channel to the host. Each
104request contains the vCPU and power command (scale up/down/min/max). The
105API for the host ``librte_power`` and guest ``librte_power`` is consistent
106across environments, with the selection of VM or host implementation
107determined automatically at runtime based on the environment. On
108receiving a request, the host translates the vCPU to a pCPU using the
109libvirt API before forwarding it to the host ``librte_power``.
110
111
112.. _figure_vm_power_mgr_vm_request_seq:
113
114.. figure:: img/vm_power_mgr_vm_request_seq.*
115
116In addition to the ability to send power management requests to the
117host, a VM can send a power management policy to the host. In some
118cases, using a power management policy is a preferred option because it
119can eliminate possible latency issues that can occur when sending power
120management requests. Once the VM sends the policy to the host, the VM no
121longer needs to worry about power management, because the host now
122manages the power for the VM based on the policy. The policy can specify
123power behavior that is based on incoming traffic rates or time-of-day
124power adjustment (busy/quiet hour power adjustment for example). See
125:ref:`sending_policy` for more information.
126
127One method of power management is to sense how busy a core is when
128processing packets and adjusting power accordingly. One technique for
129doing this is to monitor the ratio of the branch miss to branch hits
130counters and scale the core power accordingly. This technique is based
131on the premise that when a core is not processing packets, the ratio of
132branch misses to branch hits is very low, but when the core is
133processing packets, it is measurably higher. The implementation of this
134capability is as a policy of type ``BRANCH_RATIO``.
135See :ref:`sending_policy` for more information on using the
136BRANCH_RATIO policy option.
137
138A JSON interface enables the specification of power management requests
139and policies in JSON format. The JSON interfaces provide a more
140convenient and more easily interpreted interface for the specification
141of requests and policies. See :ref:`power_man_requests` for more information.
142
143Performance Considerations
144~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
145
146While the Haswell microarchitecture allows for independent power control
147for each core, earlier microarchitectures do not offer such fine-grained
148control. When deploying on pre-Haswell platforms, greater care must be
149taken when selecting which cores are assigned to a VM, for example, a
150core does not scale down in frequency until all of its siblings are
151similarly scaled down.
152
153Configuration
154-------------
155
156BIOS
157~~~~
158
159To use the power management features of the DPDK, you must enable
160Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology in the platform BIOS. Otherwise,
161the ``sys`` file folder ``/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq`` does not
162exist, and you cannot use CPU frequency-based power management. Refer to the
163relevant BIOS documentation to determine how to access these settings.
164
165Host Operating System
166~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
167
168The DPDK Power Management library can use either the ``acpi_cpufreq`` or
169the ``intel_pstate`` kernel driver for the management of core frequencies. In
170many cases, the ``intel_pstate`` driver is the default power management
171environment.
172
173Should the ``acpi-cpufreq driver`` be required, the ``intel_pstate``
174module must be disabled, and the ``acpi-cpufreq`` module loaded in its place.
175
176To disable the ``intel_pstate`` driver, add the following to the ``grub``
177Linux command line:
178
179   ``intel_pstate=disable``
180
181On reboot, load the ``acpi_cpufreq`` module:
182
183   ``modprobe acpi_cpufreq``
184
185Hypervisor Channel Configuration
186~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
187
188Configure ``virtio-serial`` channels using ``libvirt`` XML.
189The XML structure is as follows: 
190
191.. code-block:: XML
192
193   <name>{vm_name}</name>
194   <controller type='virtio-serial' index='0'>
195      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x06' function='0x0'/>
196   </controller>
197   <channel type='unix'>
198      <source mode='bind' path='/tmp/powermonitor/{vm_name}.{channel_num}'/>
199      <target type='virtio' name='virtio.serial.port.poweragent.{vm_channel_num}'/>
200      <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='{N}'/>
201   </channel>
202
203Where a single controller of type ``virtio-serial`` is created, up to 32
204channels can be associated with a single controller, and multiple
205controllers can be specified. The convention is to use the name of the
206VM in the host path ``{vm_name}`` and to increment ``{channel_num}`` for each
207channel. Likewise, the port value ``{N}`` must be incremented for each
208channel.
209
210On the host, for each channel to appear in the path, ensure the creation
211of the ``/tmp/powermonitor/`` directory and the assignment of ``qemu``
212permissions:
213
214.. code-block:: console
215
216   mkdir /tmp/powermonitor/
217   chown qemu:qemu /tmp/powermonitor
218
219Note that files and directories in ``/tmp`` are generally removed when
220rebooting the host and you may need to perform the previous steps after
221each reboot.
222
223The serial device as it appears on a VM is configured with the target
224element attribute name and must be in the form:
225``virtio.serial.port.poweragent.{vm_channel_num}``, where
226``vm_channel_num`` is typically the lcore channel to be used in
227DPDK VM applications.
228
229Each channel on a VM is present at:
230
231``/dev/virtio-ports/virtio.serial.port.poweragent.{vm_channel_num}``
232
233Compiling and Running the Host Application
234------------------------------------------
235
236Compiling the Host Application
237~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
238
239For information on compiling the DPDK and sample applications, see
240see :doc:`compiling`.
241
242The application is located in the ``vm_power_manager`` subdirectory.
243
244To build just the ``vm_power_manager`` application using ``make``:
245
246.. code-block:: console
247
248   export RTE_SDK=/path/to/rte_sdk
249   export RTE_TARGET=build
250   cd ${RTE_SDK}/examples/vm_power_manager/
251   make
252
253The resulting binary is ``${RTE_SDK}/build/examples/vm_power_manager``.
254
255To build just the ``vm_power_manager`` application using ``meson``/``ninja``:
256
257.. code-block:: console
258
259   export RTE_SDK=/path/to/rte_sdk
260   cd ${RTE_SDK}
261   meson build
262   cd build
263   ninja
264   meson configure -Dexamples=vm_power_manager
265   ninja
266
267The resulting binary is ``${RTE_SDK}/build/examples/dpdk-vm_power_manager``.
268
269Running the Host Application
270~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
271
272The application does not have any specific command line options other
273than the EAL options:
274
275.. code-block:: console
276
277   ./build/vm_power_mgr [EAL options]
278
279The application requires exactly two cores to run. One core for the CLI
280and the other for the channel endpoint monitor. For example, to run on
281cores 0 and 1 on a system with four memory channels, issue the command:
282
283.. code-block:: console
284
285   ./build/vm_power_mgr -l 0-1 -n 4
286
287After successful initialization, the VM Power Manager CLI prompt appears:
288
289.. code-block:: console
290
291   vm_power>
292
293Now, it is possible to add virtual machines to the VM Power Manager:
294
295.. code-block:: console
296
297   vm_power> add_vm {vm_name}
298
299When a ``{vm_name}`` is specified with the ``add_vm`` command, a lookup is
300performed with ``libvirt`` to ensure that the VM exists. ``{vm_name}`` is a
301unique identifier to associate channels with a particular VM and for
302executing operations on a VM within the CLI. VMs do not have to be
303running to add them.
304
305It is possible to issue several commands from the CLI to manage VMs.
306
307Remove the virtual machine identified by ``{vm_name}`` from the VM Power
308Manager using the command:
309
310.. code-block:: console
311
312   rm_vm {vm_name}
313
314Add communication channels for the specified VM using the following
315command. The ``virtio`` channels must be enabled in the VM configuration
316(``qemu/libvirt``) and the associated VM must be active. ``{list}`` is a
317comma-separated list of channel numbers to add. Specifying the keyword
318``all`` attempts to add all channels for the VM:
319
320.. code-block:: console
321
322   set_pcpu {vm_name} {vcpu} {pcpu}
323
324  Enable query of physical core information from a VM:
325
326.. code-block:: console
327
328   set_query {vm_name} enable|disable
329
330Manual control and inspection can also be carried in relation CPU frequency scaling:
331
332  Get the current frequency for each core specified in the mask:
333
334.. code-block:: console
335
336   show_cpu_freq_mask {mask}
337
338  Set the current frequency for the cores specified in {core_mask} by scaling each up/down/min/max:
339
340.. code-block:: console
341
342   add_channels {vm_name} {list}|all
343
344Enable or disable the communication channels in ``{list}`` (comma-separated)
345for the specified VM. Alternatively, replace ``list`` with the keyword
346``all``. Disabled channels receive packets on the host. However, the commands
347they specify are ignored. Set the status to enabled to begin processing
348requests again:
349
350.. code-block:: console
351
352   set_channel_status {vm_name} {list}|all enabled|disabled
353
354Print to the CLI information on the specified VM. The information lists
355the number of vCPUs, the pinning to pCPU(s) as a bit mask, along with
356any communication channels associated with each VM, and the status of
357each channel:
358
359.. code-block:: console
360
361   show_vm {vm_name}
362
363Set the binding of a virtual CPU on a VM with name ``{vm_name}`` to the
364physical CPU mask:
365
366.. code-block:: console
367
368   set_pcpu_mask {vm_name} {vcpu} {pcpu}
369
370Set the binding of the virtual CPU on the VM to the physical CPU:
371 
372  .. code-block:: console
373
374   set_pcpu {vm_name} {vcpu} {pcpu}
375
376It is also possible to perform manual control and inspection in relation
377to CPU frequency scaling.
378
379Get the current frequency for each core specified in the mask:
380
381.. code-block:: console
382
383   show_cpu_freq_mask {mask}
384
385Set the current frequency for the cores specified in ``{core_mask}`` by
386scaling each up/down/min/max:
387
388.. code-block:: console
389
390   set_cpu_freq {core_mask} up|down|min|max
391
392Get the current frequency for the specified core:
393
394.. code-block:: console
395
396   show_cpu_freq {core_num}
397
398Set the current frequency for the specified core by scaling up/down/min/max:
399
400.. code-block:: console
401
402   set_cpu_freq {core_num} up|down|min|max
403
404.. _enabling_out_of_band:
405
406Command Line Options for Enabling Out-of-band Branch Ratio Monitoring
407~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
408
409There are a couple of command line parameters for enabling the out-of-band
410monitoring of branch ratios on cores doing busy polling using PMDs as
411described in the following table.
412
413Table 1 – Command Line Options for Enabling Out-of-band Monitoring of
414Branch Ratios
415
416=============================== ==============================================
417**Command Line Option**         **Description**
418=============================== ==============================================
419``--core-list {list of cores}`` | Specify the list of cores to monitor the ratio of branch misses
420                                | to branch hits.  A tightly-polling PMD thread has a very low
421                                | branch ratio, therefore the core frequency scales down to the
422                                | minimum allowed value. On receiving packets, the code path changes,
423                                | causing the branch ratio to increase. When the ratio goes above
424                                | the ratio threshold, the core frequency scales up to the maximum
425                                | allowed value.
426``--branch-ratio {ratio}``      | Specify a floating-point number that identifies the threshold at which
427                                | to scale up or down for the given workload. The default branch ratio
428                                | is 0.01 and needs adjustment for different workloads.
429=============================== ==============================================
430
431
432
433Compiling and Running the Guest Applications
434--------------------------------------------
435
436It is possible to use the ``l3fwd-power`` application (for example) with the
437``vm_power_manager``.
438
439The distribution also provides a guest CLI for validating the setup.
440
441For both ``l3fwd-power`` and the guest CLI, the host application must use
442the ``add_channels`` command to monitor the channels for the VM. To do this,
443issue the following commands in the host application:
444
445.. code-block:: console
446
447   vm_power> add_vm vmname
448   vm_power> add_channels vmname all
449   vm_power> set_channel_status vmname all enabled
450   vm_power> show_vm vmname
451
452Compiling the Guest Application
453~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
454
455For information on compiling DPDK and the sample applications in general,
456see :doc:`compiling`.
457
458For compiling and running the ``l3fwd-power`` sample application, see
459:doc:`l3_forward_power_man`.
460
461The application is in the ``guest_cli`` subdirectory under ``vm_power_manager``.
462
463To build just the ``guest_vm_power_manager`` application using ``make``, issue
464the following commands:
465
466.. code-block:: console
467
468   export RTE_SDK=/path/to/rte_sdk
469   export RTE_TARGET=build
470   cd ${RTE_SDK}/examples/vm_power_manager/guest_cli/
471   make
472
473The resulting binary is ``${RTE_SDK}/build/examples/guest_cli``.
474
475**Note**: This sample application conditionally links in the Jansson JSON
476library. Consequently, if you are using a multilib or cross-compile
477environment, you may need to set the ``PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR`` environmental
478variable to point to the relevant ``pkgconfig`` folder so that the correct
479library is linked in.
480
481For example, if you are building for a 32-bit target, you could find the
482correct directory using the following find command:
483
484.. code-block:: console
485
486   # find /usr -type d -name pkgconfig
487   /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
488   /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
489
490Then use:
491
492.. code-block:: console
493
494   export PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/pkgconfig
495
496You then use the ``make`` command as normal, which should find the 32-bit
497version of the library, if it installed. If not, the application builds
498without the JSON interface functionality.
499
500To build just the ``vm_power_manager`` application using ``meson``/``ninja``:
501
502.. code-block:: console
503
504   export RTE_SDK=/path/to/rte_sdk
505   cd ${RTE_SDK}
506   meson build
507   cd build
508   ninja
509   meson configure -Dexamples=vm_power_manager/guest_cli
510   ninja
511
512The resulting binary is ``${RTE_SDK}/build/examples/guest_cli``.
513
514Running the Guest Application
515~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
516
517The standard EAL command line parameters are necessary:
518
519.. code-block:: console
520
521   ./build/vm_power_mgr [EAL options] -- [guest options]
522
523The guest example uses a channel for each lcore enabled. For example, to
524run on cores 0, 1, 2 and 3:
525
526.. code-block:: console
527
528   ./build/guest_vm_power_mgr -l 0-3
529
530.. _sending_policy:
531
532Command Line Options Available When Sending a Policy to the Host
533~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
534
535Optionally, there are several command line options for a user who needs
536to send a power policy to the host application. The following table
537describes these options.
538
539Table 1 – Command Line Options Available When Sending a Policy to the Host
540
541======================================= ======================================
542**Command Line Option**                 **Description**
543======================================= ======================================
544``--vm-name {name of guest vm}``        | Allows the user to change the virtual machine name passed
545                                        | down to the host application using the power policy. The
546                                        | default is ubuntu2.
547``--vcpu-list {list vm cores}``         | A comma-separated list of cores in the VM that the user
548                                        | wants the host application to monitor. The list of cores
549                                        | in any vm starts at zero, and the host application maps
550                                        | these to the physical cores once the policy passes down
551                                        | to the host. Valid syntax includes individual cores
552                                        | 2,3,4, a range of cores 2-4, or a combination of both
553                                        | 1,3,5-7.
554``--busy-hours {list of busy hours}``   | A comma-separated list of hours in which to set the core
555                                        | frequency to the maximum. Valid syntax includes
556                                        | individual hours 2,3,4, a range of hours 2-4, or a
557                                        | combination of both 1,3,5-7. Valid hour values are 0 to 23.
558``--quiet-hours {list of quiet hours}`` | A comma-separated list of hours in which to set the core
559                                        | frequency to minimum. Valid syntax includes individual
560                                        | hours 2,3,4, a range of hours 2-4, or a combination of
561                                        | both 1,3,5-7. Valid hour values are 0 to 23.
562``--policy {policy type}``              | The type of policy. This can be one of the following values:
563
564                                        - | TRAFFIC Based on incoming traffic rates on the NIC.
565
566                                        - | TIME - Uses a busy/quiet hours policy.
567
568                                        - | BRANCH_RATIO - Uses branch ratio counters to determine
569                                          | core busyness.
570
571                                        - | WORKLOAD - Sets the frequency to low, medium or high
572                                          | based on the received policy setting.
573
574                                        | **Note**: Not all policy types need all parameters. For
575                                        |           example, BRANCH_RATIO only needs the vcpu-list
576                                        |           parameter.
577======================================= ======================================
578
579After successful initialization, the VM Power Manager Guest CLI prompt
580appears:
581
582.. code-block:: console
583
584   vm_power(guest)>
585
586To change the frequency of an lcore, use a ``set_cpu_freq`` command similar
587to the following:
588
589.. code-block:: console
590
591   set_cpu_freq {core_num} up|down|min|max
592
593where, ``{core_num}`` is the lcore and channel to change frequency by
594scaling up/down/min/max.
595
596To start an application, configure the power policy, and send it to the
597host, use a command like the following:
598
599.. code-block:: console
600
601   ./build/guest_vm_power_mgr -l 0-3 -n 4 -- --vm-name=ubuntu --policy=BRANCH_RATIO --vcpu-list=2-4
602
603Once the VM Power Manager Guest CLI appears, issuing the 'send_policy now' command
604will send the policy to the host:
605
606.. code-block:: console
607
608  send_policy now
609
610Once the policy is sent to the host, the host application takes over the power monitoring
611of the specified cores in the policy.
612
613.. _power_man_requests:
614
615JSON Interface for Power Management Requests and Policies
616---------------------------------------------------------
617
618In addition to the command line interface for the host command, and a
619``virtio-serial`` interface for VM power policies, there is also a JSON
620interface through which power commands and policies can be sent.
621
622**Note**: This functionality adds a dependency on the Jansson library.
623Install the Jansson development package on the system to avail of the
624JSON parsing functionality in the app. Issue the ``apt-get install
625libjansson-dev`` command to install the development package. The command
626and package name may be different depending on your operating system. It
627is worth noting that the app builds successfully if this package is not
628present, but a warning displays during compilation, and the JSON parsing
629functionality is not present in the app.
630
631Send a request or policy to the VM Power Manager by simply opening a
632fifo file at ``/tmp/powermonitor/fifo``, writing a JSON string to that file,
633and closing the file.
634
635The JSON string can be a power management request or a policy, and takes
636the following format:
637
638.. code-block:: javascript
639
640   {"packet_type": {
641   "pair_1": value,
642   "pair_2": value
643   }}
644
645The ``packet_type`` header can contain one of two values, depending on
646whether a power management request or policy is being sent. The two
647possible values are ``instruction`` and ``policy`` and the expected name-value
648pairs are different depending on which type is sent.
649
650The pairs are in the format of standard JSON name-value pairs. The value
651type varies between the different name-value pairs, and may be integers,
652strings, arrays, and so on. See :ref:`json_interface_ex`
653for examples of policies and instructions and
654:ref:`json_name_value_pair` for the supported names and value types.
655
656.. _json_interface_ex:
657
658JSON Interface Examples
659~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
660
661The following is an example JSON string that creates a time-profile
662policy.
663
664.. code-block:: JSON
665
666   {"policy": {
667   "name": "ubuntu",
668   "command": "create",
669   "policy_type": "TIME",
670   "busy_hours":[ 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 ],
671   "quiet_hours":[ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ],
672   "core_list":[ 11 ]
673   }}
674
675The following is an example JSON string that removes the named policy.
676
677.. code-block:: JSON
678
679   {"policy": {
680   "name": "ubuntu",
681   "command": "destroy",
682   }}
683
684The following is an example JSON string for a power management request.
685
686.. code-block:: JSON
687
688   {"instruction": {
689   "name": "ubuntu",
690   "command": "power",
691   "unit": "SCALE_MAX",
692   "resource_id": 10
693   }}
694
695To query the available frequences of an lcore, use the query_cpu_freq command.
696Where {core_num} is the lcore to query.
697Before using this command, please enable responses via the set_query command on the host.
698
699.. code-block:: console
700
701  query_cpu_freq {core_num}|all
702
703To query the capabilities of an lcore, use the query_cpu_caps command.
704Where {core_num} is the lcore to query.
705Before using this command, please enable responses via the set_query command on the host.
706
707.. code-block:: console
708
709  query_cpu_caps {core_num}|all
710
711To start the application and configure the power policy, and send it to the host:
712
713.. code-block:: console
714
715 ./build/guest_vm_power_mgr -l 0-3 -n 4 -- --vm-name=ubuntu --policy=BRANCH_RATIO --vcpu-list=2-4
716
717Once the VM Power Manager Guest CLI appears, issuing the 'send_policy now' command
718will send the policy to the host:
719
720.. code-block:: console
721
722  send_policy now
723
724Once the policy is sent to the host, the host application takes over the power monitoring
725of the specified cores in the policy.
726
727.. _json_name_value_pair:
728
729JSON Name-value Pairs
730~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
731
732The following are the name-value pairs supported by the JSON interface:
733
734-  `avg_packet_thresh`_
735-  `busy_hours`_
736-  `command`_
737-  `core_list`_
738-  `mac_list`_
739-  `max_packet_thresh`_
740-  `name`_
741-  `policy_type`_
742-  `quiet_hours`_
743-  `resource_id`_
744-  `unit`_
745-  `workload`_
746
747avg_packet_thresh
748^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
749
750================== ===========================================================
751 **Pair Name:**     "avg_packet_thresh"
752================== ===========================================================
753 **Description:**   | The threshold below which the frequency is set to the minimum value for the
754                    | TRAFFIC policy. If the traffic rate is above this value and below the
755                    | maximum value, the frequency is set to medium.
756 **Type:**          integer
757 **Values:**        | The number of packets below which the TRAFFIC policy applies the minimum
758                    | frequency, or the medium frequency if between the average and maximum
759                    | thresholds.
760 **Required:**      Yes
761 **Example:**       ``"avg_packet_thresh": 100000``
762================== ===========================================================
763
764busy_hours
765^^^^^^^^^^
766
767================== ===========================================================
768 **Pair Name:**     "busy_hours"
769================== ===========================================================
770 **Description:**   The hours of the day in which we scale up the cores for busy times.
771 **Type:**          array of integers
772 **Values:**        An array with a list of hour values (0-23).
773 **Required:**      For the TIME policy only.
774 **Example:**       ``"busy_hours":[ 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 ]``
775================== ===========================================================
776
777command
778^^^^^^^
779
780================== ===========================================================
781 **Pair Name:**     "command"
782================== ===========================================================
783 **Description:**   | The type of packet to send to the VM Power Manager. It is possible to create
784                    | or destroy a policy or send a direct command to adjust the frequency of a core,
785                    | as is possible on the command line interface.
786 **Type:**          | string
787 **Values:**        Possible values are:
788
789                    - CREATE: Create a new policy.
790                    - DESTROY: Remove an existing policy.
791                    - POWER: Send an immediate command, max, min, and so on.
792
793 **Required:**       Yes
794 **Example:**        ``"command": "CREATE"``
795================== ===========================================================
796
797core_list
798^^^^^^^^^
799
800================== ===========================================================
801 **Pair Name:**     "core_list"
802================== ===========================================================
803 **Description:**   The cores to which to apply a policy.
804 **Type:**          array of integers
805 **Values:**        An array with a list of virtual CPUs.
806 **Required:**      For CREATE/DESTROY policy requests only.
807 **Example:**       ``"core_list":[ 10, 11 ]``
808================== ===========================================================
809
810mac_list
811^^^^^^^^
812
813================== ===========================================================
814 **Pair Name:**     "mac_list"
815================== ===========================================================
816 **Description:**   | When the policy is of type TRAFFIC, it is necessary to specify the MAC addresses
817                    | that the host must monitor.
818 **Type:**          | array of strings
819 **Values:**        An array with a list of mac address strings.
820 **Required:**      For TRAFFIC policy types only.
821 **Example:**       ``"mac_list":[ "de:ad:be:ef:01:01","de:ad:be:ef:01:02" ]``
822================== ===========================================================
823
824
825max_packet_thresh
826^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
827
828================== ===========================================================
829 **Pair Name:**     "max_packet_thresh"
830================== ===========================================================
831 **Description:**   | In a policy of type TRAFFIC, the threshold value above which the frequency is set
832                    | to a maximum.
833 **Type:**          | integer
834 **Values:**        | The number of packets per interval above which the TRAFFIC
835                    | policy applies the maximum frequency.
836 **Required:**      For the TRAFFIC policy only.
837 **Example:**       ``"max_packet_thresh": 500000``
838================== ===========================================================
839
840name
841^^^^
842
843================== ===========================================================
844 **Pair Name:**     "name"
845================== ===========================================================
846 **Description:**   | The name of the VM or host. Allows the parser to associate the policy with the
847                    | relevant VM or host OS.
848 **Type:**          | string
849 **Values:**        Any valid string.
850 **Required:**      Yes
851 **Example:**       ``"name": "ubuntu2"``
852================== ===========================================================
853
854policy_type
855^^^^^^^^^^^
856
857================== ===========================================================
858 **Pair Name:**     "policy_type"
859================== ===========================================================
860 **Description:**   | The type of policy to apply. See the ``--policy`` option description for more
861                    | information.
862 **Type:**          string
863 **Values:**        Possible values are:
864
865                    - | TIME: Time-of-day policy. Scale the frequencies of the relevant cores up/down
866                      | depending on busy and quiet hours.
867                    - | TRAFFIC: Use statistics from the NIC and scale up and down accordingly.
868                    - | WORKLOAD: Determine how heavily loaded the cores are and scale up and down
869                      | accordingly.
870                    - | BRANCH_RATIO: An out-of-band policy that looks at the ratio between branch
871                      | hits and misses on a core and uses that information to determine how much
872                      | packet processing a core is doing.
873
874 **Required:**       For ``CREATE`` and ``DESTROY`` policy requests only.
875 **Example:**        ``"policy_type": "TIME"``
876================== ===========================================================
877
878quiet_hours
879^^^^^^^^^^^
880
881================== ===========================================================
882 **Pair Name:**     "quiet_hours"
883================== ===========================================================
884 **Description:**   | The hours of the day to scale down the cores for quiet times.
885 **Type:**          array of integers
886 **Values:**        | An array with a list of hour numbers with values in the range 0 to 23.
887 **Required:**      For the TIME policy only.
888 **Example:**       ``"quiet_hours":[ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ]``
889================== ===========================================================
890
891resource_id
892^^^^^^^^^^^
893
894================== ===========================================================
895 **Pair Name:**     "resource_id"
896================== ===========================================================
897 **Description:**   The core to which to apply a power command.
898 **Type:**          integer
899 **Values:**        A valid core ID for the VM or host OS.
900 **Required:**      For the ``POWER`` instruction only.
901 **Example:**       ``"resource_id": 10``
902================== ===========================================================
903
904unit
905^^^^
906
907================== ===========================================================
908 **Pair Name:**     "unit"
909================== ===========================================================
910 **Description:**   The type of power operation to apply in the command.
911 **Type:**          string
912 **Values:**         - SCALE_MAX: Scale the frequency of this core to the maximum.
913                     - SCALE_MIN: Scale the frequency of this core to the minimum.
914                     - SCALE_UP: Scale up the frequency of this core.
915                     - SCALE_DOWN: Scale down the frequency of this core.
916                     - ENABLE_TURBO: Enable Intel® Turbo Boost Technology for this core.
917                     - DISABLE_TURBO: Disable Intel® Turbo Boost Technology for this core.
918 **Required:**      For the ``POWER`` instruction only.
919 **Example:**       ``"unit": "SCALE_MAX"``
920================== ===========================================================
921
922workload
923^^^^^^^^
924
925================== ===========================================================
926 **Pair Name:**     "workload"
927================== ===========================================================
928 **Description:**   In a policy of type WORKLOAD, it is necessary to specify
929                    how heavy the workload is.
930 **Type:**          string
931 **Values:**         - HIGH: Scale the frequency of this core to maximum.
932                     - MEDIUM: Scale the frequency of this core to minimum.
933                     - LOW: Scale up the frequency of this core.
934 **Required:**       For the ``WORKLOAD`` policy only.
935 **Example:**        ``"workload": "MEDIUM"``
936================== ===========================================================
937
938