Goal
Resource profiling on mainnet nodes for optimizing BLS signature aggregation (determining if CPU bound on 1 thread, or parallelizable to 4 cores)
Breakdown
Resource profiling
This is a technique used to observe and analyze how computational resources, such as CPU time, memory, disk I/O, and network I/O, are being used by a software program or a system. The goal is usually to identify any bottlenecks or inefficient.
Optimizing BLS signature aggregation
BLS refers to Boneh-Lynn-Shacham, a cryptographic method for constructing short signatures. Aggregating these signatures is a key part of many decentralized networks as it allows multiple signatures to be compressed into a single one, saving space and making the network more efficient. Optimization of this process might involve finding ways to make it run faster or use fewer resources.
Determining if CPU bound on 1 thread, or parallelizable to 4 cores
This refers to an analysis to see if the signature aggregation process is limited by the CPU power of a single thread ("CPU bound") or if the task can be divided into smaller parts and executed in parallel on multiple cores (4 in this case) to speed up the process. If a process is CPU-bound, it means that increasing the CPU resources (for example, by using more cores or a faster processor) could speed up the process.
Go Profiling
Cores vs Threads
Cores:
- A core is a physical component of the CPU. Each core can execute one task at a time.
- Multi-core processors are now the norm in computer architecture. These have multiple cores (like dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, octa-core, etc.), which means that they can execute multiple instructions at the same time, effectively working like several CPUs.
- The more cores a CPU has, the more efficient it can be at multitasking, because each core can be working on a different task simultaneously.
Threads:
- A thread, in contrast, is a component of a process or program. Multiple threads can exist within the same process and share resources such as memory, while different processes do not share these resources.
- In a single-core CPU, the core must switch between different threads in order to execute multiple tasks at once, giving the illusion of parallel processing. This is known as context switching.
- Most modern CPUs feature simultaneous multithreading (SMT), like Intel's Hyper-Threading or AMD's SMT technology. This allows each core to execute more than one thread at a time, which can lead to better utilization of the CPU's resources and improved performance on multi-threaded tasks.
- For example, a 4-core CPU with Hyper-Threading can handle 8 threads simultaneously (2 threads per core). So, it's like having 8 "virtual" CPUs.
In summary, a core is a physical part of a CPU that can execute tasks, while a thread is a component of a process that the CPU handles. The relationship between cores and threads can significantly influence a computer's performance depending on the type of tasks being executed. Multicore CPUs that can handle multiple threads per core are capable of handling a larger number of tasks simultaneously and efficiently.