On 2026/10/09 1:40, Pierrick Bouvier wrote:
On 10/7/2026 11:11 PM, Akihiko Odaki wrote:
On 2026/10/08 10:08, Pierrick Bouvier wrote:
On 10/6/2026 11:01 PM, Akihiko Odaki wrote:
A region of interest (ROI) often excludes the program startup and exit.
For example, a benchmark may parse a large input and then run a
computation kernel and the former may take longer than the latter;
basic block vectors generated for the whole execution will not properly
represent the latter.

Add options to specify the beginning and the end of the ROI to bound
basic block vector generation to the ROI.

Signed-off-by: Akihiko Odaki <[email protected]>
---
   docs/about/emulation.rst |  8 +++++
   contrib/plugins/bbv.c    | 80 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++--
   2 files changed, 86 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/about/emulation.rst b/docs/about/emulation.rst
index c58149086cdd..0566171b517b 100644
--- a/docs/about/emulation.rst
+++ b/docs/about/emulation.rst
@@ -284,6 +284,14 @@ The bbv plugin allows you to generate basic
block vectors for use with the
       * - Option
       - Description
+  * - begin=A
+    - The virtual address of the instruction that starts basic block
vector
+      generation. Generation starts from the beginning of the
execution if
+      not specified.
+  * - end=A
+    - The virtual address of the instruction that ends basic block
vector
+      generation. Generation continues until the endo of the
execution if

small typo here: s/endo/end

Thanks for catching the typo.


+      not specified.
     * - interval=N
       - The interval to generate a basic block vector specified by
the number of
         instructions (Default: N = 100000000)
diff --git a/contrib/plugins/bbv.c b/contrib/plugins/bbv.c
index e5caf5d9543b..a2a779f7639e 100644
--- a/contrib/plugins/bbv.c
+++ b/contrib/plugins/bbv.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
    * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
    */
   +#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
   #include <stdio.h>
   #include <glib.h>
   @@ -26,6 +28,10 @@ static GHashTable *bbs;
   static GRWLock bbs_lock;
   static char *filename;
   static struct qemu_plugin_scoreboard *vcpus;
+static bool begin_present;
+static uint64_t begin;
+static bool end_present;
+static uint64_t end;
   static int64_t interval = 100000000;
     static void plugin_exit(void *p)
@@ -66,6 +72,7 @@ static void vcpu_init(unsigned int vcpu_index, void
*userdata)
       Vcpu *vcpu = qemu_plugin_scoreboard_find(vcpus, vcpu_index);
         vcpu_filename = g_strdup_printf("%s.%u.bb", filename,
vcpu_index);
+    vcpu->count = begin_present ? INT64_MIN : -interval;

Not sure which semantic we are trying to achieve with -interval here.

The original logic was to increment this count, until reaching interval,
after what we would reset it by using vcpu_count -= interval, to keep
the extra insn that went in after the threshold.

The counter now starts at -interval and counts up to zero. Subtracting
interval after emitting a vector still preserves the extra instructions.
For example, with interval=100:

     initial count:       -100
     after 130 insns:       30  -> emit a vector
     subtract interval:    -70  -> 70 insns until the next vector


       vcpu->file = fopen(vcpu_filename, "w");
   }
   @@ -102,6 +109,22 @@ static void vcpu_interval_exec(unsigned int
vcpu_index, void *udata)
       fputc('\n', vcpu->file);
   }
   +static void vcpu_begin_insn_exec(unsigned int vcpu_index, void
*userdata)
+{
+    GHashTableIter iter;
+    void *value;
+
+    g_rw_lock_reader_lock(&bbs_lock);
+    g_hash_table_iter_init(&iter, bbs);
+
+    while (g_hash_table_iter_next(&iter, NULL, &value)) {
+        qemu_plugin_u64_set(bb_count_u64(value), vcpu_index, 0);
+    }
+
+    g_rw_lock_reader_unlock(&bbs_lock);
+    qemu_plugin_u64_set(count_u64(), vcpu_index, -interval);
+}
+
   static void vcpu_tb_trans(struct qemu_plugin_tb *tb, void *userdata)
   {
       uint64_t n_insns = qemu_plugin_tb_n_insns(tb);
@@ -119,6 +142,19 @@ static void vcpu_tb_trans(struct qemu_plugin_tb
*tb, void *userdata)
       }
       g_rw_lock_writer_unlock(&bbs_lock);
   +    for (size_t idx = 0; idx < n_insns; idx++) {
+        struct qemu_plugin_insn *insn = qemu_plugin_tb_get_insn(tb,
idx);
+        uint64_t insn_vaddr = qemu_plugin_insn_vaddr(insn);
+
+        if (begin_present && insn_vaddr == begin) {
+            qemu_plugin_register_vcpu_insn_exec_cb(
+                insn, vcpu_begin_insn_exec, QEMU_PLUGIN_CB_NO_REGS,
NULL);
+        } else if (end_present && insn_vaddr == end) {
+            qemu_plugin_register_vcpu_insn_exec_inline_per_vcpu(
+                insn, QEMU_PLUGIN_INLINE_STORE_U64, count_u64(),
INT64_MIN);
+        }
+    }
+
       qemu_plugin_register_vcpu_tb_exec_inline_per_vcpu(
           tb, QEMU_PLUGIN_INLINE_ADD_U64, count_u64(), n_insns);
   @@ -127,7 +163,32 @@ static void vcpu_tb_trans(struct
qemu_plugin_tb *tb, void *userdata)
         qemu_plugin_register_vcpu_tb_exec_cond_cb(
           tb, vcpu_interval_exec, QEMU_PLUGIN_CB_NO_REGS,
-        QEMU_PLUGIN_COND_GE, count_u64(), interval, NULL);
+        QEMU_PLUGIN_COND_LT, count_u64(), INT64_MIN, NULL);
+}

is INT64_MIN used as an arbitrary large value when interpreted as
unsigned immediate? If yes, that's confusing to the reader.

The unsigned comparison count < (uint64_t)INT64_MIN is equivalent with
the signed comparison (int64_t)count >= 0. That is why this particular
value is used.

Setting count to INT64_MIN suppresses output for the next 2^63 counted
instructions, which is effectively disabled for this use. The begin
callback clears the BB counters and sets count to -interval; end sets it
back to INT64_MIN. The requested interval stays unchanged.


Ok I see better.
Even though it works, it's pretty confusing to be honest. Inline
operatons works with unsigned values, so with conversion and wrap
around, it's safe, but really not intuitive.

I would prefer if you could refactor this to keep a zero initialized
count value, and add a specific instrumentation path for begin, end
logic (COND_LT, UINT64_MAX - N) to keep the same behavior of "infinite
interval".

We cannot choose a separate instrumentation path based on whether execution is inside the ROI. Instrumentation is installed when a TB is translated, but the same TB may execute both inside and outside the ROI.

I will preserve this logic and add code comments for clarification.

Regards,
Akihiko Odaki

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