Introduce Scheduler#load and Async::Idler for load shedding and saturation. (#309)

Introduce Scheduler#load which is a 1-second load average. This load
average can be used to detect overload conditions in the event loop. In
addition, introduce Async::Idler which will schedule tasks up to a given
maximum_load.

Author: ioquatix

async.gemspec

@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
 
 	spec.add_dependency "console", "~> 1.10"
 	spec.add_dependency "fiber-annotation"
-	spec.add_dependency "io-event", "~> 1.1"
+	spec.add_dependency "io-event", "~> 1.5", ">= 1.5.1"
 	spec.add_dependency "timers", "~> 4.1"
 end

examples/load/test.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+require_relative '../../lib/async'
+require_relative '../../lib/async/idler'
+
+Async do
+	idler = Async::Idler.new(0.8)
+	
+	Async do
+		while true
+			idler.async do
+				$stdout.write '.'
+				while true
+					sleep 0.1
+				end
+			end
+		end
+	end
+	
+	scheduler = Fiber.scheduler
+	while true
+		load = scheduler.load
+
+		$stdout.write "\nLoad: #{load} "
+		sleep 1.0
+	end
+end

lib/async/idler.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Released under the MIT License.
+# Copyright, 2024, by Samuel Williams.
+
+module Async
+	class Idler
+		def initialize(maximum_load = 0.8, backoff: 0.01, parent: nil)
+			@maximum_load = maximum_load
+			@backoff = backoff
+			@parent = parent
+		end
+		
+		def async(*arguments, parent: (@parent or Task.current), **options, &block)
+			wait
+			
+			# It is crucial that we optimistically execute the child task, so that we prevent a tight loop invoking this method from consuming all available resources.
+			parent.async(*arguments, **options, &block)
+		end
+		
+		def wait
+			scheduler = Fiber.scheduler
+			backoff = nil
+			
+			while true
+				load = scheduler.load 
+				break if load < @maximum_load
+				
+				if backoff
+					sleep(backoff)
+					backoff *= 2.0
+				else
+					scheduler.yield
+					backoff = @backoff
+				end
+			end
+		end
+	end
+end

lib/async/scheduler.rb

@@ -37,9 +37,33 @@ def initialize(parent = nil, selector: nil)
 
 			@blocked = 0
 
+			@busy_time = 0.0
+			@idle_time = 0.0
+			
 			@timers = ::Timers::Group.new
 		end
 
+		# Compute the scheduler load according to the busy and idle times that are updated by the run loop.
+		# @returns [Float] The load of the scheduler. 0.0 means no load, 1.0 means fully loaded or over-loaded.
+		def load
+			total_time = @busy_time + @idle_time
+			
+			# If the total time is zero, then the load is zero:
+			return 0.0 if total_time.zero?
+			
+			# We normalize to a 1 second window:
+			if total_time > 1.0
+				ratio = 1.0 / total_time
+				@busy_time *= ratio
+				@idle_time *= ratio
+				
+				# We don't need to divide here as we've already normalised it to a 1s window:
+				return @busy_time
+			else
+				return @busy_time / total_time
+			end
+		end
+		
 		def scheduler_close
 			# If the execution context (thread) was handling an exception, we want to exit as quickly as possible:
 			unless $!
@@ -267,6 +291,8 @@ def run_once(timeout = nil)
 		# @parameter timeout [Float | Nil] The maximum timeout, or if nil, indefinite.
 		# @returns [Boolean] Whether there is more work to do.
 		private def run_once!(timeout = 0)
+			start_time = Async::Clock.now
+			
 			interval = @timers.wait_interval
 
 			# If there is no interval to wait (thus no timers), and no tasks, we could be done:
@@ -288,6 +314,15 @@ def run_once(timeout = nil)
 
 			@timers.fire
 
+			# Compute load:
+			end_time = Async::Clock.now
+			total_duration = end_time - start_time
+			idle_duration = @selector.idle_duration
+			busy_duration = total_duration - idle_duration
+			
+			@busy_time += busy_duration
+			@idle_time += idle_duration
+			
 			# The reactor still has work to do:
 			return true
 		end

test/async/idler.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Released under the MIT License.
+# Copyright, 2018-2023, by Samuel Williams.
+
+require 'async/idler'
+require 'sus/fixtures/async'
+
+require 'chainable_async'
+
+describe Async::Idler do
+	include Sus::Fixtures::Async::ReactorContext
+	let(:idler) {subject.new(0.5)}
+	
+	it 'can schedule tasks up to the desired load' do
+		# Generate the load:
+		Async do
+			while true
+				idler.async do
+					while true
+						sleep 0.1
+					end
+				end
+			end
+		end
+		
+		# This test must be longer than the test window...
+		sleep 1.1
+		
+		# Verify that the load is within the desired range:
+		expect(Fiber.scheduler.load).to be_within(0.1).of(0.5)
+	end
+	
+	it_behaves_like ChainableAsync
+end