Subject: [PATCH RFC net-next v4 04/14] xsk: cache data buffers to avoid frequently calling kmalloc_reserve

From: Jason Xing <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:26:44 +0800

From: Jason Xing <[email-masked]>

It's beneficial for small data transmission.

Replace per-SKB kmalloc_reserve() with on-demand bulk allocation from
skb_small_head_cache for small packets.

Add a persistent per-socket data buffer cache (batch.data_cache /
batch.data_count) that survives across batch cycles, similar to how
batch.send_queue caches built SKBs.

Inside the Phase-1 per-descriptor loop, when a small packet needs a
data buffer and the cache is empty, a single kmem_cache_alloc_bulk()
refills it with generic_xmit_batch objects. Subsequent small packets
pop directly from the cache. Large packets bypass the cache entirely
and fall back to kmalloc_reserve(). Unused buffers remain in the
cache for the next batch.

I observed that kmalloc_reserve() consumes nearly 40% which seems
unavoidable at the first glance, thinking adding the bulk mechanism
should contribute to the performance. That's the motivation of this
patch. Now, the feature gives us around 10% improvement.

Signed-off-by: Jason Xing <[email-masked]>
---
 include/net/xdp_sock.h |  2 ++
 net/core/skbuff.c      | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 net/xdp/xsk.c          | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++----
 3 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/net/xdp_sock.h b/include/net/xdp_sock.h
index 84f0aee3fb10..2151aab8f0a1 100644
--- a/include/net/xdp_sock.h
+++ b/include/net/xdp_sock.h
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ struct xsk_batch {
 	struct sk_buff **skb_cache;
 	struct xdp_desc *desc_cache;
 	struct sk_buff_head send_queue;
+	unsigned int data_count;
+	void **data_cache;
 };
 
 struct xdp_sock {
diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
index f29cecacd8bb..5726b1566b2b 100644
--- a/net/core/skbuff.c
+++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
@@ -661,9 +661,11 @@ int xsk_alloc_batch_skb(struct xdp_sock *xs, u32 nb_pkts, u32 nb_descs, int *err
 	unsigned int total_truesize = 0;
 	struct sk_buff *skb = NULL;
 	int node = NUMA_NO_NODE;
+	void **dc = batch->data_cache;
+	unsigned int dc_count = batch->data_count;
 	u32 i = 0, j, k = 0;
 	bool need_alloc;
-	u8 *data;
+	void *data;
 
 	base_len = max(NET_SKB_PAD, L1_CACHE_ALIGN(dev->needed_headroom));
 	if (!(dev->priv_flags & IFF_TX_SKB_NO_LINEAR))
@@ -683,6 +685,13 @@ int xsk_alloc_batch_skb(struct xdp_sock *xs, u32 nb_pkts, u32 nb_descs, int *err
 		nb_pkts = skb_count;
 
 alloc_data:
+	if (dc_count < nb_pkts && !(gfp_mask & KMALLOC_NOT_NORMAL_BITS))
+		dc_count += kmem_cache_alloc_bulk(
+				net_hotdata.skb_small_head_cache,
+				gfp_mask | __GFP_NOMEMALLOC | __GFP_NOWARN,
+				batch->generic_xmit_batch - dc_count,
+				&dc[dc_count]);
+
 	/*
 	 * Phase 1: Allocate data buffers and initialize SKBs.
 	 * Pre-scan descriptors to determine packet boundaries, so we can
@@ -710,10 +719,17 @@ int xsk_alloc_batch_skb(struct xdp_sock *xs, u32 nb_pkts, u32 nb_descs, int *err
 
 			skb = skbs[skb_count - 1 - i];
 			skbuff_clear(skb);
-			data = kmalloc_reserve(&size, gfp_mask, node, skb);
-			if (unlikely(!data)) {
-				*err = -ENOBUFS;
-				break;
+			if (dc_count &&
+			    SKB_HEAD_ALIGN(size) <= SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE) {
+				data = dc[--dc_count];
+				size = SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE;
+			} else {
+				data = kmalloc_reserve(&size, gfp_mask,
+						       node, skb);
+				if (unlikely(!data)) {
+					*err = -ENOBUFS;
+					break;
+				}
 			}
 			__finalize_skb_around(skb, data, size);
 			/* Replace skb_set_owner_w() with the following */
@@ -762,6 +778,7 @@ int xsk_alloc_batch_skb(struct xdp_sock *xs, u32 nb_pkts, u32 nb_descs, int *err
 	while (k < i)
 		kfree_skb(skbs[skb_count - 1 - k++]);
 
+	batch->data_count = dc_count;
 	batch->skb_count = skb_count - i;
 
 	return j;
diff --git a/net/xdp/xsk.c b/net/xdp/xsk.c
index f97bc9cf9b9a..7a6991bc19a8 100644
--- a/net/xdp/xsk.c
+++ b/net/xdp/xsk.c
@@ -1229,14 +1229,22 @@ static void xsk_delete_from_maps(struct xdp_sock *xs)
 }
 
 static void xsk_batch_reset(struct xsk_batch *batch, struct sk_buff **skbs,
-			    struct xdp_desc *descs, unsigned int size)
-{
+			    struct xdp_desc *descs, void **data,
+			    unsigned int size)
+{
+	if (batch->data_count)
+		kmem_cache_free_bulk(net_hotdata.skb_small_head_cache,
+				     batch->data_count,
+				     batch->data_cache);
+	kfree(batch->data_cache);
 	if (batch->skb_count)
 		kmem_cache_free_bulk(net_hotdata.skbuff_cache,
 				     batch->skb_count,
 				     (void **)batch->skb_cache);
 	kfree(batch->skb_cache);
 	kvfree(batch->desc_cache);
+	batch->data_cache = data;
+	batch->data_count = 0;
 	batch->skb_cache = skbs;
 	batch->desc_cache = descs;
 	batch->skb_count = 0;
@@ -1272,7 +1280,7 @@ static int xsk_release(struct socket *sock)
 	xskq_destroy(xs->tx);
 	xskq_destroy(xs->fq_tmp);
 	xskq_destroy(xs->cq_tmp);
-	xsk_batch_reset(&xs->batch, NULL, NULL, 0);
+	xsk_batch_reset(&xs->batch, NULL, NULL, NULL, 0);
 
 	sock_orphan(sk);
 	sock->sk = NULL;
@@ -1620,6 +1628,7 @@ static int xsk_setsockopt(struct socket *sock, int level, int optname,
 		struct xsk_batch *batch = &xs->batch;
 		struct xdp_desc *descs;
 		struct sk_buff **skbs;
+		void **data;
 		unsigned int size;
 		int ret = 0;
 
@@ -1638,14 +1647,21 @@ static int xsk_setsockopt(struct socket *sock, int level, int optname,
 			ret = -ENOMEM;
 			goto out;
 		}
+		data = kmalloc_array(size, sizeof(void *), GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (!data) {
+			kfree(skbs);
+			ret = -ENOMEM;
+			goto out;
+		}
 		descs = kvcalloc(size, sizeof(struct xdp_desc), GFP_KERNEL);
 		if (!descs) {
+			kfree(data);
 			kfree(skbs);
 			ret = -ENOMEM;
 			goto out;
 		}
 
-		xsk_batch_reset(batch, skbs, descs, size);
+		xsk_batch_reset(batch, skbs, descs, data, size);
 out:
 		mutex_unlock(&xs->mutex);
 		return ret;
-- 
2.41.3