[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH 3/3] vc-1: Optimise parser (with special attention to ARM)

Michael Niedermayer michaelni at gmx.at
Sun Apr 20 05:22:25 CEST 2014


Hi

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 08:38:14PM +0100, Ben Avison wrote:
> The previous implementation of the parser made four passes over each input
> buffer (reduced to two if the container format already guaranteed the input
> buffer corresponded to frames, such as with MKV). But these buffers are
> often 200K in size, certainly enough to flush the data out of L1 cache, and
> for many CPUs, all the way out to main memory. The passes were:
> 
> 1) locate frame boundaries (not needed for MKV etc)
> 2) copy the data into a contiguous block (not needed for MKV etc)
> 3) locate the start codes within each frame
> 4) unescape the data between start codes
> 
> After this, the unescaped data was parsed to extract certain header fields,
> but because the unescape operation was so large, this was usually also
> effectively operating on uncached memory. Most of the unescaped data was
> simply thrown away and never processed further. Only step 2 - because it
> used memcpy - was using prefetch, making things even worse.
> 
> This patch reorganises these steps so that, aside from the copying, the
> operations are performed in parallel, maximising cache utilisation. No more
> than the worst-case number of bytes needed for header parsing is unescaped.
> Most of the data is, in practice, only read in order to search for a start
> code, for which optimised implementations already existed in the H264 codec
> (notably the ARM version uses prefetch, so we end up doing both remaining
> passes at maximum speed). For MKV files, we know when we've found the last
> start code of interest in a given frame, so we are able to avoid doing even
> that one remaining pass for most of the buffer.
> 
> In some use-cases (such as the Raspberry Pi) video decode is handled by the
> GPU, but the entire elementary stream is still fed through the parser to
> pick out certain elements of the header which are necessary to manage the
> decode process. As you might expect, in these cases, the performance of the
> parser is significant.
> 
> To measure parser performance, I used the same VC-1 elementary stream in
> either an MPEG-2 transport stream or a MKV file, and fed it through ffmpeg
> with -c:v copy -c:a copy -f null. These are the gperftools counts for
> those streams, both filtered to only include vc1_parse() and its callees,
> and unfiltered (to include the whole binary). Lower numbers are better:
> 
>                 Before          After
> File  Filtered  Mean   StdDev   Mean   StdDev  Confidence  Change
> M2TS  No        861.7  8.2      650.5  8.1     100.0%      +32.5%
> MKV   No        868.9  7.4      731.7  9.0     100.0%      +18.8%
> M2TS  Yes       250.0  11.2     27.2   3.4     100.0%      +817.9%
> MKV   Yes       149.0  12.8     1.7    0.8     100.0%      +8526.3%
> 
> Yes, that last case shows vc1_parse() running 86 times faster! The M2TS
> case does show a larger absolute improvement though, since it was worse
> to begin with.
> 
> This patch has been tested with the FATE suite (albeit on x86 for speed).
> ---
>  libavcodec/vc1_parser.c |  270 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
>  1 files changed, 166 insertions(+), 104 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/libavcodec/vc1_parser.c b/libavcodec/vc1_parser.c
> index cc29ce1..b18f6dc 100644
> --- a/libavcodec/vc1_parser.c
> +++ b/libavcodec/vc1_parser.c
> @@ -30,122 +30,87 @@
>  #include "vc1.h"
>  #include "get_bits.h"
>  
> +/** The maximum number of bytes of a sequence, entry point or
> + *  frame header whose values we pay any attention to */
> +#define UNESCAPED_THRESHOLD 37
> +
> +/** The maximum number of bytes of a sequence, entry point or
> + *  frame header which must be valid memory (because they are
> + *  used to update the bitstream cache in skip_bits() calls)
> + */
> +#define UNESCAPED_LIMIT 144
> +
> +typedef enum {
> +    NO_MATCH,
> +    ONE_ZERO,
> +    TWO_ZEROS,
> +    ONE
> +} VC1ParseSearchState;
> +
>  typedef struct {
>      ParseContext pc;
>      VC1Context v;
> +    uint8_t prev_start_code;
> +    uint8_t unesc_buffer[UNESCAPED_LIMIT];
> +    size_t unesc_index;
> +    VC1ParseSearchState search_state;
>  } VC1ParseContext;
>  
> -static void vc1_extract_headers(AVCodecParserContext *s, AVCodecContext *avctx,
> -                                const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size)
> +static void vc1_extract_header(AVCodecParserContext *s, AVCodecContext *avctx,
> +                               const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size)
>  {
> +    /* Parse the header we just finished unescaping */
>      VC1ParseContext *vpc = s->priv_data;
>      GetBitContext gb;
> -    const uint8_t *start, *end, *next;
> -    uint8_t *buf2 = av_mallocz(buf_size + FF_INPUT_BUFFER_PADDING_SIZE);
> -
> +    int ret;
>      vpc->v.s.avctx = avctx;
>      vpc->v.parse_only = 1;
> -    vpc->v.first_pic_header_flag = 1;
> -    next = buf;
> -    s->repeat_pict = 0;
> -
> -    for(start = buf, end = buf + buf_size; next < end; start = next){
> -        int buf2_size, size;
> -        int ret;
> -
> -        next = find_next_marker(start + 4, end);
> -        size = next - start - 4;
> -        buf2_size = vc1_unescape_buffer(start + 4, size, buf2);
> -        init_get_bits(&gb, buf2, buf2_size * 8);
> -        if(size <= 0) continue;
> -        switch(AV_RB32(start)){
> -        case VC1_CODE_SEQHDR:
> -            ff_vc1_decode_sequence_header(avctx, &vpc->v, &gb);
> -            break;
> -        case VC1_CODE_ENTRYPOINT:
> -            ff_vc1_decode_entry_point(avctx, &vpc->v, &gb);
> -            break;
> -        case VC1_CODE_FRAME:
> -            if(vpc->v.profile < PROFILE_ADVANCED)
> -                ret = ff_vc1_parse_frame_header    (&vpc->v, &gb);
> -            else
> -                ret = ff_vc1_parse_frame_header_adv(&vpc->v, &gb);
> -
> -            if (ret < 0)
> -                break;
> -
> -            /* keep AV_PICTURE_TYPE_BI internal to VC1 */
> -            if (vpc->v.s.pict_type == AV_PICTURE_TYPE_BI)
> -                s->pict_type = AV_PICTURE_TYPE_B;
> -            else
> -                s->pict_type = vpc->v.s.pict_type;
> -
> -            if (avctx->ticks_per_frame > 1){
> -                // process pulldown flags
> -                s->repeat_pict = 1;
> -                // Pulldown flags are only valid when 'broadcast' has been set.
> -                // So ticks_per_frame will be 2
> -                if (vpc->v.rff){
> -                    // repeat field
> -                    s->repeat_pict = 2;
> -                }else if (vpc->v.rptfrm){
> -                    // repeat frames
> -                    s->repeat_pict = vpc->v.rptfrm * 2 + 1;
> -                }
> -            }
> -
> -            if (vpc->v.broadcast && vpc->v.interlace && !vpc->v.psf)
> -                s->field_order = vpc->v.tff ? AV_FIELD_TT : AV_FIELD_BB;
> -            else
> -                s->field_order = AV_FIELD_PROGRESSIVE;
> +    init_get_bits(&gb, buf, buf_size * 8);
> +    switch (vpc->prev_start_code) {
> +    case VC1_CODE_SEQHDR & 0xFF:
> +        ff_vc1_decode_sequence_header(avctx, &vpc->v, &gb);
> +        break;
> +    case VC1_CODE_ENTRYPOINT & 0xFF:
> +        ff_vc1_decode_entry_point(avctx, &vpc->v, &gb);
> +        break;
> +    case VC1_CODE_FRAME & 0xFF:
> +        if(vpc->v.profile < PROFILE_ADVANCED)
> +            ret = ff_vc1_parse_frame_header    (&vpc->v, &gb);
> +        else
> +            ret = ff_vc1_parse_frame_header_adv(&vpc->v, &gb);
>  
> +        if (ret < 0)
>              break;
> -        }
> -    }
>  
> -    av_free(buf2);
> -}
> +        /* keep AV_PICTURE_TYPE_BI internal to VC1 */
> +        if (vpc->v.s.pict_type == AV_PICTURE_TYPE_BI)
> +            s->pict_type = AV_PICTURE_TYPE_B;
> +        else
> +            s->pict_type = vpc->v.s.pict_type;
>  
> -/**
> - * Find the end of the current frame in the bitstream.
> - * @return the position of the first byte of the next frame, or -1
> - */
> -static int vc1_find_frame_end(ParseContext *pc, const uint8_t *buf,
> -                               int buf_size) {
> -    int pic_found, i;
> -    uint32_t state;
> -
> -    pic_found= pc->frame_start_found;
> -    state= pc->state;
> -
> -    i=0;
> -    if(!pic_found){
> -        for(i=0; i<buf_size; i++){
> -            state= (state<<8) | buf[i];
> -            if(state == VC1_CODE_FRAME || state == VC1_CODE_FIELD){
> -                i++;
> -                pic_found=1;
> -                break;
> +        if (avctx->ticks_per_frame > 1){
> +            // process pulldown flags
> +            s->repeat_pict = 1;
> +            // Pulldown flags are only valid when 'broadcast' has been set.
> +            // So ticks_per_frame will be 2
> +            if (vpc->v.rff){
> +                // repeat field
> +                s->repeat_pict = 2;
> +            }else if (vpc->v.rptfrm){
> +                // repeat frames
> +                s->repeat_pict = vpc->v.rptfrm * 2 + 1;
>              }
> +        }else{
> +            s->repeat_pict = 0;
>          }
> -    }
>  
> -    if(pic_found){
> -        /* EOF considered as end of frame */
> -        if (buf_size == 0)
> -            return 0;
> -        for(; i<buf_size; i++){
> -            state= (state<<8) | buf[i];
> -            if(IS_MARKER(state) && state != VC1_CODE_FIELD && state != VC1_CODE_SLICE){
> -                pc->frame_start_found=0;
> -                pc->state=-1;
> -                return i-3;
> -            }
> -        }
> +        if (vpc->v.broadcast && vpc->v.interlace && !vpc->v.psf)
> +            s->field_order = vpc->v.tff ? AV_FIELD_TT : AV_FIELD_BB;
> +        else
> +            s->field_order = AV_FIELD_PROGRESSIVE;
> +
> +        break;
>      }
> -    pc->frame_start_found= pic_found;
> -    pc->state= state;
> -    return END_NOT_FOUND;
>  }
>  
>  static int vc1_parse(AVCodecParserContext *s,
> @@ -153,14 +118,106 @@ static int vc1_parse(AVCodecParserContext *s,
>                             const uint8_t **poutbuf, int *poutbuf_size,
>                             const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size)
>  {
> +    /* Here we do the searching for frame boundaries and headers at
> +     * the same time. Only a minimal amount at the start of each
> +     * header is unescaped. */
>      VC1ParseContext *vpc = s->priv_data;
> -    int next;
> +    int pic_found = vpc->pc.frame_start_found;
> +    uint8_t *unesc_buffer = vpc->unesc_buffer;
> +    size_t unesc_index = vpc->unesc_index;
> +    VC1ParseSearchState search_state = vpc->search_state;
> +    int next = END_NOT_FOUND;
> +    int i = 0;
> +
> +    if (pic_found && buf_size == 0) {
> +        /* EOF considered as end of frame */
> +        memset(unesc_buffer + unesc_index, 0, UNESCAPED_THRESHOLD - unesc_index);
> +        vc1_extract_header(s, avctx, unesc_buffer, unesc_index);
> +        next = 0;
> +    }
> +    while (i < buf_size) {
> +        int start_code_found = 0;
> +        uint8_t b;
> +        while (i < buf_size && unesc_index < UNESCAPED_THRESHOLD) {
> +            b = buf[i++];
> +            unesc_buffer[unesc_index++] = b;
> +            if (search_state <= ONE_ZERO)
> +                search_state = b ? NO_MATCH : search_state + 1;
> +            else if (search_state == TWO_ZEROS) {
> +                if (b == 1)
> +                    search_state = ONE;
> +                else if (b > 1) {
> +                    if (b == 3)
> +                        unesc_index--; // swallow emulation prevention byte
> +                    search_state = NO_MATCH;
> +                }
> +            }
> +            else { // search_state == ONE
> +                // Header unescaping terminates early due to detection of next start code
> +                search_state = NO_MATCH;
> +                start_code_found = 1;
> +                break;
> +            }
> +        }
> +        if ((s->flags & PARSER_FLAG_COMPLETE_FRAMES) &&
> +                unesc_index >= UNESCAPED_THRESHOLD &&
> +                vpc->prev_start_code == (VC1_CODE_FRAME & 0xFF))
> +        {
> +            // No need to keep scanning the rest of the buffer for
> +            // start codes if we know it contains a complete frame and
> +            // we've already unescaped all we need of the frame header
> +            vc1_extract_header(s, avctx, unesc_buffer, unesc_index);
> +            break;
> +        }
> +        if (unesc_index >= UNESCAPED_THRESHOLD && !start_code_found) {
> +            while (i < buf_size) {
> +                if (search_state == NO_MATCH) {
> +                    i += vpc->v.vc1dsp.vc1_find_start_code_candidate(buf + i, buf_size - i) + 1;

this doesnt look correct
A parser can be fed with arbitrary pieces of data, for example
a parser could receive only 1 byte at a time and never more
above code looks like it needs more than 1 byte

also the unesc_buffer logic looks like it would fail if theres
random data before a frame

and make sure that cases where the start code is split over
several calls to the parser work correctly

[...]
-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

Rewriting code that is poorly written but fully understood is good.
Rewriting code that one doesnt understand is a sign that one is less smart
then the original author, trying to rewrite it will not make it better.
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