Files
rebbarb/scripts/test-analyse-pcap.py
T
Roflin d8ddea13ba Measure the throughput limit: window x RTT, not the adapter
Swiss dumping a disc over the adapter measures 850 KB/s (6.97 Mbit/s, 25.8% of
the 27 Mbit/s EXI ceiling).  The capture decomposes it completely:

  18395 data frames / 9200 ACKs = 2.0 frames per ACK
  18.84 MB / 9200             = 2048 B per round trip
  22.78 s / 9200              = 2.48 ms per round trip
  2048 B / 2.48 ms            = 826 KB/s  ~= the measured 850

So the flow is window x RTT bound and nothing else.  Payload per frame is
exactly 1024 B (wire 1078 minus 54 of headers) against a 2920 B window, so two
segments fit in flight.  Zero retransmissions means the 15-page ring never
overflowed; 0.2% stall time means nothing waits on the disc; our W5100 bus
engine sits at ~17% utilisation.  The adapter is not the constraint.

Levers, and the first two are not ours: a larger lwIP TCP_SND_BUF (scales
almost linearly while window-bound), and full-MSS segments -- Swiss writes
1024 B at a time, so the same window and RTT at 1460 B would give ~1150 KB/s,
a 1.43x gain for free.  Third is a shorter round trip, which is GC-side
interrupt dispatch plus lwIP, plus EXI lock contention: libogc2's
bba_event_handler defers when EXI_Lock fails, so RX queues behind TX on the
single channel.

⚠️ This REVERSES an earlier recommendation in the TODO.  RX interrupt
coalescing (NCRB.RXINTC, RXINTT) was listed as a throughput lever; for a
window-bound flow it makes things worse, because delaying the ACK's interrupt
lengthens the round trip and throughput is bytes-per-round-trip / RTT.  The
measurement showed the guess was backwards.  Noted in item 3 as "implement for
fidelity, not for speed".

analyse-pcap.py now derives frames-per-ACK, bytes-per-round-trip and the
implied RTT itself, identifies a window-bound flow, quantifies the full-MSS
gain, and warns against coalescing -- so the next person gets the conclusion
rather than the raw numbers.  Self-test G replays this exact shape.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-10 15:26:39 +02:00

164 lines
6.2 KiB
Python
Executable File

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Self-test for analyse-pcap.py: synthesise a capture with known properties
and check the tool reports them."""
import os, socket, struct, subprocess, sys, tempfile
GC = socket.inet_aton("10.0.0.64")
PC = socket.inet_aton("10.0.0.1")
MAC_GC = bytes.fromhex("0009bf000001")
MAC_PC = bytes.fromhex("002b67d4156c")
def tcp_frame(src, dst, smac, dmac, seq, payload, win=4096):
tcp = struct.pack("!HHIIBBHHH", 4000, 21, seq, 0, 5 << 4, 0x10, win, 0, 0)
ip = struct.pack("!BBHHHBBH4s4s", 0x45, 0, 20 + len(tcp) + len(payload),
0, 0, 64, socket.IPPROTO_TCP, 0, src, dst)
return dmac + smac + b"\x08\x00" + ip + tcp + payload
def write_pcap(path, pkts):
with open(path, "wb") as f:
f.write(struct.pack("<IHHiIII", 0xA1B2C3D4, 2, 4, 0, 0, 65535, 1))
for ts, data in pkts:
s, us = int(ts), int(round((ts - int(ts)) * 1e6))
f.write(struct.pack("<IIII", s, us, len(data), len(data)))
f.write(data)
def run(path, *args):
r = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-I", "scripts/analyse-pcap.py", path,
"--gc-ip", "10.0.0.64", *args],
capture_output=True, text=True)
if r.returncode:
print(r.stdout, r.stderr)
raise SystemExit(f"analyser failed: {r.returncode}")
return r.stdout
fails = []
tmp = tempfile.mkdtemp()
# Scenario A: 1000 full frames in 2 s from the GC, no retransmits.
# 1000 * 1514 B / 2 s = 757 KB/s -- deliberately the speed being measured.
pkts, seq, t = [], 1, 1000.0
for i in range(1000):
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, seq, b"\0" * 1460)))
seq += 1460
t += 0.002
pA = os.path.join(tmp, "a.pcap")
write_pcap(pA, pkts)
out = run(pA)
if "1000 frames" not in out:
fails.append("A: frame count")
if "mean frame 1514" not in out:
fails.append(f"A: mean frame size not 1514\n{out}")
if "retransmissions 0" not in out:
fails.append("A: should report no retransmissions")
# 1514*1000/1.998s = 757 KB/s, ~22% of the EXI ceiling
if "% of the 27 Mbit/s EXI ceiling" not in out:
fails.append("A: no EXI ceiling comparison")
pct = float(out.split("% of the 27 Mbit/s")[0].split(",")[-1].strip())
if not (20 <= pct <= 25):
fails.append(f"A: EXI percentage {pct}, expected ~22")
else:
print(f"A 1000x1514B/2s -> reported {pct}% of the EXI ceiling")
# Scenario B: small frames -- must trigger the per-frame-overhead warning.
pkts, seq, t = [], 1, 2000.0
for i in range(1000):
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, seq, b"\0" * 200)))
seq += 200
t += 0.002
pB = os.path.join(tmp, "b.pcap")
write_pcap(pB, pkts)
out = run(pB)
if "PER-FRAME overhead" not in out:
fails.append(f"B: small frames did not trigger the overhead warning\n{out}")
else:
print("B 200B payloads -> per-frame-overhead warning raised")
# Scenario C: retransmissions (same seq+len twice) must be counted.
pkts, t = [], 3000.0
for i in range(10):
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, 1, b"\0" * 1460)))
t += 0.002
pC = os.path.join(tmp, "c.pcap")
write_pcap(pC, pkts)
out = run(pC)
if "retransmissions 9" not in out:
fails.append(f"C: expected 9 retransmissions\n{out}")
else:
print("C same seq x10 -> 9 retransmissions counted")
# Scenario D: a long stall must be found and attributed.
pkts, seq, t = [], 1, 4000.0
for i in range(100):
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, seq, b"\0" * 1460)))
seq += 1460
t += 0.3 if i == 50 else 0.001 # one 300 ms hole
pD = os.path.join(tmp, "d.pcap")
write_pcap(pD, pkts)
out = run(pD)
if "300.00 ms" not in out:
fails.append(f"D: the 300 ms gap was not reported\n{out}")
elif "NOT sending" not in out:
fails.append(f"D: dominant stall not attributed\n{out}")
else:
print("D one 300ms hole in 100 frames -> found and attributed")
# Scenario E: zero-window from the GC means the GC cannot drain.
pkts, t = [], 5000.0
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(PC, GC, MAC_PC, MAC_GC, 1, b"\0" * 100, win=0)))
pkts.append((t + 0.05, tcp_frame(PC, GC, MAC_PC, MAC_GC, 2, b"\0" * 100, win=4096)))
pE = os.path.join(tmp, "e.pcap")
write_pcap(pE, pkts)
out = run(pE)
if "zero-window" not in out or "CPU/stack bound" not in out:
fails.append(f"E: zero-window not reported\n{out}")
else:
print("E zero-window span -> reported as CPU/stack bound")
# Scenario F: pcapng must be refused with a useful message, not misparsed.
pF = os.path.join(tmp, "f.pcapng")
with open(pF, "wb") as f:
f.write(struct.pack(">I", 0x0A0D0D0A) + b"\0" * 64)
r = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-I", "scripts/analyse-pcap.py", pF],
capture_output=True, text=True)
if "pcapng" not in (r.stdout + r.stderr):
fails.append("F: pcapng not detected")
else:
print("F pcapng refused with a conversion hint")
# Scenario G: window x RTT bound -- 2 undersized segments per ACK, which is
# the real shape measured on hardware (1024 B segments, 2920 B window).
# The tool must call it window-bound, and must warn that RX interrupt
# COALESCING would make it worse rather than better.
pkts, seq, t = [], 1, 6000.0
for i in range(200):
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, seq, b"\0" * 1024, win=2920)))
seq += 1024
t += 0.0002
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(GC, PC, MAC_GC, MAC_PC, seq, b"\0" * 1024, win=2920)))
seq += 1024
t += 0.0002
pkts.append((t, tcp_frame(PC, GC, MAC_PC, MAC_GC, 1 + i, b"", win=65535)))
t += 0.0024 # ~2.5 ms per round trip
pG = os.path.join(tmp, "g.pcap")
write_pcap(pG, pkts)
out = run(pG, "--gc-ip", "10.0.0.64")
if "2.0 data frames per ACK" not in out:
fails.append(f"G: frames-per-ACK not derived\n{out}")
elif "WINDOW x RTT BOUND" not in out:
fails.append(f"G: window-bound flow not identified\n{out}")
elif "COALESCING would make this WORSE" not in out:
fails.append(f"G: missing the coalescing counter-warning\n{out}")
elif "full-MSS segments" not in out:
fails.append(f"G: did not suggest full-MSS segments\n{out}")
else:
print("G 1024B segments + 2920B window -> window x RTT bound,")
print(" full-MSS suggested, coalescing warned against")
print("\nFAILURES:\n " + "\n ".join(fails) if fails else
"\nAll analyse-pcap self-tests passed.")
sys.exit(1 if fails else 0)