To Thumb or Not to Thumb
Contents
Project Name
To Thumb? or Not to Thumb?
Project Description
Fedora-ARM does not use thumb. The purpose of this project is to discover whether thumb provides any significant savings in terms of code size, whether programs compiled to thumb execute more quickly or more slowly than non-thumb programs on common ARM processors, whether a thumb compilation takes more or less time than non-thumb, and whether there are any other factors that would influence the decision to support thumb. Ultimately, this project should make a recommendation on the use of the thumb instruction set for the Fedora-ARM secondary architecture.
Project Leader(s)
I will be working alone for this project.
My name is Tae Hee (Tyler) Lee and I'm taking SBR600 course in 2010 Winter Semester.
Blog @ [[1]]
thlee3 @ FAS2
thlee3 @ irc://irc.mozilla.org/seneca
Tyler.lee @ Open Source Seneca Wiki
thlee3@learn.senecac.on.ca
What I need to learn
- rpmbuild - /usr/lib/rpm/redhat/rpmrc - /usr/lib/rpm/redhat/macros - time - screen - yumdownloader - rpm2cpio
Project Plan
Goals for each release:
- 0.1 Determine whether THUMB gives advantage in file size compared to NON-THUMB.
- 0.2 Compare and contrast file sizes between NON-THUMB, THUMB and THUMB2.
- 0.3 Compare the performance of software compiled with THUMB and NON-THUMB
Test results
Following are the table of file sizes that are produced by rpmbuild in bytes.
nled-2.52
Produced RPM: nled-2.52-6.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 2 directories, 1 file
Binary File: usr/bin/nled
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 20776 | 20204 | 20328 | 0.9724 | 0.9939 |
| Directory | 50892 | 43084 | 42684 | 0.8465 | 1.0093 |
| Binary | 38604 | 30796 | 30396 | 0.7977 | 1.0131 |
wget-1.11.4
Produced RPM: wget-1.11.4-5.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 86 directories, 48 files
Binary File: usr/bin/wget
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 422360 | 420788 | 419852 | 0.9962 | 1.0022 |
| Directory | 1863679 | 1811467 | 1810431 | 0.9719 | 1.0006 |
| Binary | 226464 | 174252 | 173216 | 0.7694 | 1.0060 |
httpd-2.2.13
Produced RPM: httpd-2.2.13-4.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 37 directories, 334 files
Binary File: usr/sbin/httpd
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 748180 | 738632 | 736500 | 0.9872 | 1.0029 |
| Directory | 2752985 | 2425373 | 2408025 | 0.8810 | 1.0072 |
| Binary | 287988 | 233660 | 229712 | 0.8113 | 1.0172 |
gimp-2.6.7
Produced RPM: gimp-2.6.7-2.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 206 directories, 1204 files
Binary File 1: usr/bin/gimp-2.6
Binary File 2: usr/bin/gimp-console-2.6
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 12423104 | 12431184 | 12350600 | 1.0006 | 1.0065 |
| Directory | 45780103 | 43891439 | 43730427 | 0.9587 | 1.0037 |
| Binary 1 | 4284848 | 3450936 | 3371440 | 0.8054 | 1.0236 |
| Binary 2 | 2131228 | 1688860 | 1656092 | 0.7924 | 1.0198 |
abiword-2.8.1
Produced RPM: libabiword-2.8.1-1.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 39 directories, 617 files
Binary File: usr/lib/libabiword-2.8
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 5561088 | 4779800 | 4742828 | 0.8595 | 1.0078 |
| Directory | 21295155 | 17055836 | 16987340 | 0.8009 | 1.0040 |
| Binary | 5806908 | 3450936 | 3371440 | 0.5943 | 1.0236 |
tar-1.22
Produced RPM: tar-1.22-8.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 79 directories, 49 files
Binary File: bin/tar
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB2 | THUMB / NON-THUMB | THUMB / THUMB2 | |
| RPM | 744340 | 742784 | 742180 | 0.9979 | 1.0008 |
| Directory | 2737195 | 2681159 | 2675975 | 0.9795 | 1.0019 |
| Binary | 251844 | 195808 | 190624 | 0.7775 | 1.0272 |
cpio-2.10
Produced RPM: cpio-2.10-5.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 49 directories, 30 files
Binary File: bin/cpio
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB / NON-THUMB | |
| RPM | 189908 | 189276 | 0.9967 |
| Directory | 842194 | 816194 | 0.9691 |
| Binary | 117064 | 91064 | 0.7779 |
gzip-1.3.12
Produced RPM: gzip-1.3.12-15.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 9 directories, 33 files
Binary File: bin/gzip
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB / NON-THUMB | |
| RPM | 116560 | 115736 | 0.9929 |
| Directory | 263922 | 252086 | 0.9551 |
| Binary | 61708 | 49872 | 0.8082 |
bzip2-1.0.5
Produced RPM: bzip2-1.0.5-6.fc12.armv5tel.rpm
Directories and files: 7 directories, 21 files
Binary File: /usr/bin/bzip2
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | THUMB / NON-THUMB | |
| RPM | 49476 | 49232 | 0.9951 |
| Directory | 109233 | 103449 | 0.9470 |
| Binary | 33024 | 28076 | 0.8502 |
The following are product of time command followed by software that are recompiled using rpmbuild with/without THUMB.
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: Extracted openoffice.org-3.1.1-19.34.fc12.src.rpm
Command Used: time ./tar -cvf nothumb.tar ~/temp
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m33.013s user 0m0.090s sys 0m3.800s |
real 0m45.746s user 0m0.170s sys 0m3.710s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m38.410s user 0m0.150s sys 0m3.860s |
real 0m40.039s user 0m0.130s sys 0m3.760s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m37.572s user 0m0.110s sys 0m3.820s |
real 0m42.034s user 0m0.140s sys 0m3.820s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m36.934s user 0m0.150s sys 0m3.670s |
real 0m43.051s user 0m0.100s sys 0m3.830s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: nothumb.tar
Command Used: time ~/tar.mthumb-interwork/bin/tar -xvf nothumb.tar
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m48.399s user 0m0.170s sys 0m3.560s |
real 0m54.197s user 0m0.160s sys 0m3.480s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m46.306s user 0m0.170s sys 0m3.280s |
real 0m48.234s user 0m0.160s sys 0m3.680s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m45.602s user 0m0.130s sys 0m3.800s |
real 0m49.501s user 0m0.150s sys 0m3.490s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m46.546s user 0m0.110s sys 0m3.420s |
real 0m52.897s user 0m0.120s sys 0m3.460s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: gimp.tar (44MB)
Command Used: time ./bzip2 ~/gimp.tar
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 1m4.616s user 0m59.250s sys 0m0.650s |
real 1m1.379s user 0m57.240s sys 0m0.720s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 1m4.985s user 1m0.530s sys 0m0.790s |
real 0m59.899s user 0m57.190s sys 0m0.600s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 1m5.214s user 0m58.050s sys 0m0.620s |
real 1m7.306s user 1m0.100s sys 0m0.530s |
| 4th Attempt | real 1m4.292s user 0m56.880s sys 0m0.700s |
real 1m4.859s user 0m57.690s sys 0m0.770s |
| 5th Attempt | real 0m59.811s user 0m57.520s sys 0m0.470s |
real 1m1.930s user 0m57.210s sys 0m0.540s |
| 6th Attempt | real 1m3.452s user 0m57.040s sys 0m0.590s |
real 1m1.532s user 0m57.930s sys 0m0.790s |
| 7th Attempt | real 1m0.604s user 0m57.710s sys 0m0.650s |
real 1m2.430s user 0m57.420s sys 0m0.730s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: gimp.tar.bz2
Command Used: time ./bzip2 -d ~/gimp.tar.bz2
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m18.828s user 0m17.430s sys 0m0.820s |
real 0m19.662s user 0m17.850s sys 0m0.990s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m19.549s user 0m17.610s sys 0m1.160s |
real 0m19.647s user 0m17.940s sys 0m0.850s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m19.462s user 0m17.600s sys 0m0.950s |
real 0m19.271s user 0m17.620s sys 0m0.870s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m23.303s user 0m17.800s sys 0m0.850s |
real 0m22.863s user 0m17.290s sys 0m1.120s |
| 5th Attempt | real 0m24.544s user 0m18.120s sys 0m1.060s |
real 0m19.155s user 0m17.560s sys 0m1.030s |
| 6th Attempt | real 0m19.397s user 0m17.540s sys 0m0.800s |
real 0m22.998s user 0m17.400s sys 0m0.970s |
| 7th Attempt | real 0m19.462s user 0m17.460s sys 0m1.090s |
real 0m19.688s user 0m17.910s sys 0m0.870s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: gimp.tar
Command Used: time ./gzip ~/gimp.tar
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m32.809s user 0m30.620s sys 0m0.780s |
real 0m35.226s user 0m33.390s sys 0m0.770s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m43.640s user 0m38.300s sys 0m0.790s |
real 0m38.300s user 0m34.380s sys 0m0.650s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m45.471s user 0m33.280s sys 0m0.670s |
real 0m42.994s user 0m36.880s sys 0m0.710s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m42.212s user 0m32.690s sys 0m0.510s |
real 0m41.896s user 0m34.540s sys 0m0.740s |
| 5th Attempt | real 0m43.309s user 0m31.400s sys 0m0.740s |
real 0m39.998s user 0m35.240s sys 0m0.840s |
| 6th Attempt | real 0m45.217s user 0m31.850s sys 0m0.550s |
real 0m39.942s user 0m34.540s sys 0m0.670s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: gimp.tar.gz
Command Used: time ./gzip -d ~/gimp.tar.gz
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m3.341s user 0m2.520s sys 0m0.750s |
real 0m3.688s user 0m3.040s sys 0m0.530s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m3.702s user 0m2.740s sys 0m0.630s |
real 0m4.876s user 0m2.950s sys 0m0.650s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m3.372s user 0m2.680s sys 0m0.600s |
real 0m4.889s user 0m2.970s sys 0m0.580s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m3.512s user 0m2.760s sys 0m0.470s |
real 0m4.800s user 0m2.890s sys 0m0.650s |
| 5th Attempt | real 0m4.413s user 0m2.800s sys 0m0.470s |
real 0m4.016s user 0m2.930s sys 0m0.620s |
| 6th Attempt | real 0m3.316s user 0m2.430s sys 0m0.800s |
real 0m4.033s user 0m2.960s sys 0m0.640s |
System: cdot-guru-4-1
File: ~/gimp/ (206 directories, 1204 files)
Command Used: time find ~/gimp/ -depth -print | ./cpio -ov -O ~/gimp.cpio
| w/o Thumb | THUMB | |
| 1st Attempt | real 0m7.311s user 0m0.330s sys 0m2.300s |
real 0m7.432s user 0m0.290s sys 0m2.480s |
| 2nd Attempt | real 0m8.064s user 0m0.300s sys 0m2.460s |
real 0m7.574s user 0m0.230s sys 0m2.510s |
| 3rd Attempt | real 0m6.415s user 0m0.280s sys 0m2.430s |
real 0m6.954s user 0m0.300s sys 0m2.510s |
| 4th Attempt | real 0m7.167s user 0m0.250s sys 0m2.500s |
real 0m7.129s user 0m0.240s sys 0m2.520s |
| 5th Attempt | real 0m8.562s user 0m0.220s sys 0m2.540s |
real 0m6.228s user 0m0.290s sys 0m2.500s |
| 6th Attempt | real 0m6.851s user 0m0.210s sys 0m2.580s |
real 0m7.883s user 0m0.240s sys 0m2.610s |
| 7th Attempt | real 0m7.382s user 0m0.290s sys 0m2.420s |
real 0m7.855s user 0m0.320s sys 0m2.430s |
From a test performed on 2011-11-12 by CTyler:
........ -O2.. -g... -g stripped nonthumb 48576 98132 37900 thumb... 40563 93107 29932
Project Details
In average, THUMB reduced the sizes about2.24% for *.rpm files,
7.67% for extracted directories, and
22.16% for executables, compared to NON-THUMB.
While it might save some disk space for executable files, it doesn't make a big different for rpm packages since rpm has it's own compressing mechanism.
In average, THUMB produced files that are about
0.24% for *.rpm files,
0.45% for extracted directories, and
1.86% for executables, greater than THUMB2.
I noticed that THUMB produces files that are almost as small as THUMB2's products.
Project News
October 8th, 2010 - Project started
October 14th, 2010 - Major project page update with more information.
November 5th, 2010 - To Thumb? or Not to Thumb? (v0.1)
November 12th, 2010 - Noticed v0.1 was incorrect. Tried a different approach compiling with make file.
November 15th, 2010 - Figured out %optflags is located in /usr/lib/rpm/redhat/rpmrc
November 20th, 2010 - Figured out that I was comparing the wrong *.rpm files. Started all over again.
November 27th, 2010 - Correct file size comparison and performance benchmarks updated.
December 7th, 2010 - Presentation regarding v0.3 to Chris Tyler and SBR600 class.
December 14th, 2010 - Project (v0.3) completed.
Resources
ARM Architecture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture#Thumb
Introduction to ARM thumb - http://www.eetimes.com/discussion/other/4024632/Introduction-to-ARM-thumb
