[https://nvbugs/5627710][fix] Fix synchronization bugs in KvCacheTransferManager that can cause corrupted blocks (#9056)

Signed-off-by: thorjohnsen <41591019+thorjohnsen@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: Thor Johnsen <41591019+thorjohnsen@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Iman Tabrizian <10105175+tabrizian@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Robin Kobus <19427718+Funatiq@users.noreply.github.com>

cpp/include/tensorrt_llm/batch_manager/kvCacheManager.h

@@ -824,6 +824,9 @@ public:
         return mBufferManager;
     }
 
+    //! \brief Sync internal streams used by transfer manager with buffer manager stream
+    void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager();
+
     //! \brief Perform per-request bookkeeping
     void refreshBlocks();
 
@@ -1313,6 +1316,9 @@ public:
     //! \brief Store newest block for reuse
     void storeNewBlock(GenerationRequest& sequence, OptionalRef<LlmRequest const> llmRequest);
 
+    //! \brief Sync internal streams used by transfer manager with buffer manager stream
+    void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager();
+
     //! \brief Perform per-request bookkeeping
     void refreshBlocks();
 
@@ -1584,6 +1590,7 @@ public:
     [[nodiscard]] virtual runtime::ITensor::SharedPtr getIndexerKCachePool() const = 0;
     [[nodiscard]] virtual SizeType32 getPoolLayerIdx(SizeType32 layer_idx) const = 0;
 
+    virtual void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager() = 0;
     virtual void refreshBlocks() = 0;
     virtual void flushIterationEvents() = 0;
     virtual void resetReuseState() = 0;
@@ -1965,6 +1972,11 @@ public:
         return mBlockManager.getPoolLayerIdx(layer_idx);
     }
 
+    void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager() override
+    {
+        mBlockManager.syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager();
+    }
+
     //! \brief Perform per-iteration bookkeeping
     void refreshBlocks() override
     {

cpp/include/tensorrt_llm/batch_manager/kvCacheTransferManager.h

@@ -46,7 +46,15 @@ public:
         int numTokensToCopy = 0, executor::KvCacheTransferMode mode = executor::KvCacheTransferMode::DRAM,
         std::string const& directory = "");
 
-    //! \brief Synchronize the offload/onboard streams with the bufferManager stream.
+    //! \brief Synchronize internal streams with bufferManager stream.
+    //! \details The buffer manager uses the same stream as the prefill and decode kernels. This method ensures that the
+    //! internal kernels used for offloading and onboarding will wait for prefill and decode kernels before performing
+    //! any block copies. This method must be called before the first call to KVCacheManager::addSequence in every step.
+    void syncWithBufferManager();
+
+    //! \brief Synchronize bufferManager stream with internal streams. This method ensures that prefill and decode
+    //! kernels for next step will wait for offloading and onboarding work that has already been scheduled. This method
+    //! must be called after last call to KVCacheManager::addSequence in every step.
     void syncTransfers();
 
 private:
@@ -75,8 +83,10 @@ private:
     runtime::BufferManager mOnboardManager;
     runtime::BufferManager mOffloadManager;
 
-    // Track the block ids offloaded in this iteration.
+    // Track reads and writes for blocks. Note that it is the memory pool index that
-    std::unordered_map<int32_t, tr::CudaEvent> mPendingOffloads;
+    // identifies the raw memory blocks involved in I/O, not the block Id.
+    std::unordered_map<kernels::KVCacheIndex::UnderlyingType, tr::CudaEvent> mPendingReads;
+    std::unordered_map<kernels::KVCacheIndex::UnderlyingType, tr::CudaEvent> mPendingWrites;
     // Reference to parent loopback agent
     std::shared_ptr<kvc::BaseLoopbackAgent> mLoopbackAgent;
     int mDeviceId;

cpp/tensorrt_llm/batch_manager/allocateKvCache.cpp

@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ void tensorrt_llm::batch_manager::AllocateKvCache::operator()(BaseKVCacheManager
     TLLM_LOG_TRACE("%s start", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__);
     NVTX3_SCOPED_RANGE(allocateKvCache);
 
+    kvCacheManager.syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager();
+
     for (auto const& llmReq : contextRequests)
     {
         if (llmReq->isFirstContextChunk())

cpp/tensorrt_llm/batch_manager/kvCacheManager.cpp

@@ -1336,6 +1336,19 @@ SizeType32 WindowBlockManager::loadOrAllocateBlocks(std::vector<BlockKey> const&
     return numMatchedTokens;
 }
 
+void BlockManager::syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager()
+{
+    for (auto& [_, manager] : mWindowBlockManagers)
+    {
+        manager.syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager();
+    }
+}
+
+void WindowBlockManager::syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager()
+{
+    mTransferManager->syncWithBufferManager();
+}
+
 void BlockManager::refreshBlocks()
 {
     for (auto& [_, manager] : mWindowBlockManagers)

cpp/tensorrt_llm/batch_manager/kvCacheTransferManager.cpp

@@ -207,47 +207,140 @@ void KVCacheTransferManager::copyBlock(BlockPtr const& src, BlockPtr const& dst,
     }
 }
 
-void KVCacheTransferManager::onboard(BlockPtr const& offloadBlock, BlockPtr const& block,
+//
+// Note about recording events to wait for cudaMempyAsync calls between blocks:
+// The memory copy involves raw memory blocks, which are pointed to by the
+// memory pool block index. When recording events, you must use getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()
+// as the raw memory block identifier. Using getBlockId() when recording events is wrong.
+// getBlockId() returns the logical block id, which has nothing to do with the raw memory
+// block pointers involved in a cudaMemcpy.
+//
+
+//
+// Notes about need for synchronization:
+//
+// Relying on decoder syncing GPU with CPU to ensure that blocks are ready
+// for offload/onboard/partial copy is dangerous. We have an asynchronous decoder
+// that may not synchronize or synchronize at a later point in the execution stream.
+// To avoid synchronization issues caused by changes to decoder design we rely on
+// KVCacheTransferManager::syncWithBufferManager() that ensures that internal copy streams
+// will wait for prefill and decode kernels that have already been scheduled.
+//
+// Earlier versions of this code did not account for all possible cases where a new block copy
+// needed to wait for a previously scheduled copy to finish. For instance, it is possible
+// that two primary blocks are offloaded to the same secondary block in a single step,
+// scheduling the second offloading without waiting for the first one to finish leads to
+// a corrupted block after offloading. It is possible that partial reuse will copy
+// from a block that is currently being onboarded, scheduling the partial copy without
+// waiting for the onboarding to finish will lead to a corrupted block. To handle all
+// possible cases needing synchronization we record separate events for reads and writes
+// to a block. When a new block copy is scheduled, we wait for all writes to the source
+// block and all reads and writes to a destination block.
+//
+// As before, syncTransfers() must be called after last call to KVCacheManager::addSequence.
+// Failing to do so will lead to corrupted blocks eventually.
+//
+
+void KVCacheTransferManager::onboard(BlockPtr const& offloadedBlock, BlockPtr const& block,
     std::vector<KVCacheBlockPool> const& pools, int numTokensToCopy, executor::KvCacheTransferMode mode,
     std::string const& directory)
 {
-    if (mode != executor::KvCacheTransferMode::DRAM
+    // Wait for any pending writes before reading from offloadedBlock
-        && mPendingOffloads.find(offloadBlock->getBlockId()) == mPendingOffloads.end())
+    auto offloadedBlockPendingWriteItr = mPendingWrites.find(offloadedBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (offloadedBlockPendingWriteItr != mPendingWrites.end())
     {
-        TLLM_LOG_DEBUG("Skipping onboard for block %d because it was never previously offloaded to disk",
+        mOnboardManager.getStream().wait(offloadedBlockPendingWriteItr->second);
-            offloadBlock->getBlockId());
+        // Don't erase, we are not changing state of offloadedBlock
-        return;
+    }
+    // Wait for any pending reads before overwriting block
+    auto blockPendingReadItr = mPendingReads.find(block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (blockPendingReadItr != mPendingReads.end())
+    {
+        mOnboardManager.getStream().wait(blockPendingReadItr->second);
+        mPendingReads.erase(blockPendingReadItr);
+    }
+    // Wait for any pending writes before overwriting block
+    auto blockPendingWriteItr = mPendingWrites.find(block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (blockPendingWriteItr != mPendingWrites.end())
+    {
+        mOnboardManager.getStream().wait(blockPendingWriteItr->second);
+        mPendingWrites.erase(blockPendingWriteItr);
     }
 
-    if (mPendingOffloads.find(offloadBlock->getBlockId()) != mPendingOffloads.end())
+    copyBlock(offloadedBlock, block, pools, false, numTokensToCopy, mode, directory);
-    {
+
-        mOnboardManager.getStream().wait(mPendingOffloads[offloadBlock->getBlockId()]);
+    // Record new pending read from offloadedBlock
-    }
+    mPendingReads[offloadedBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()] = tr::CudaEvent();
-    copyBlock(offloadBlock, block, pools, false, numTokensToCopy, mode, directory);
+    mOnboardManager.getStream().record(mPendingReads[offloadedBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()]);
+    // Record new pending write to block
+    mPendingWrites[block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()] = tr::CudaEvent();
+    mOnboardManager.getStream().record(mPendingWrites[block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()]);
 }
 
 void KVCacheTransferManager::offload(BlockPtr const& block, BlockPtr const& offloadBlock,
     std::vector<KVCacheBlockPool> const& pools, int numTokensToCopy, executor::KvCacheTransferMode mode,
     std::string const& directory)
 {
-    mPendingOffloads[block->getBlockId()] = tr::CudaEvent();
+    // Wait for any pending writes before reading from block
+    auto blockPendingWriteItr = mPendingWrites.find(block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (blockPendingWriteItr != mPendingWrites.end())
+    {
+        mOffloadManager.getStream().wait(blockPendingWriteItr->second);
+        // Don't erase, we are not changing state of block
+    }
+    // Wait for any pending reads before overwriting offloadBlock
+    auto offloadBlockPendingReadItr = mPendingReads.find(offloadBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (offloadBlockPendingReadItr != mPendingReads.end())
+    {
+        mOffloadManager.getStream().wait(offloadBlockPendingReadItr->second);
+        mPendingReads.erase(offloadBlockPendingReadItr);
+    }
+    // Wait for any pending writes before overwriting offloadBlock
+    auto offloadBlockPendingWriteItr = mPendingWrites.find(offloadBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex());
+    if (offloadBlockPendingWriteItr != mPendingWrites.end())
+    {
+        mOffloadManager.getStream().wait(offloadBlockPendingWriteItr->second);
+        mPendingWrites.erase(offloadBlockPendingWriteItr);
+    }
+
     copyBlock(block, offloadBlock, pools, true, numTokensToCopy, mode, directory);
-    mOffloadManager.getStream().record(mPendingOffloads[block->getBlockId()]);
+
+    // Record new pending read from block
+    mPendingReads[block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()] = tr::CudaEvent();
+    mOffloadManager.getStream().record(mPendingReads[block->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()]);
+    // Record new pending write to offloadBlock
+    mPendingWrites[offloadBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()] = tr::CudaEvent();
+    mOffloadManager.getStream().record(mPendingWrites[offloadBlock->getMemoryPoolBlockIndex()]);
+}
+
+void KVCacheTransferManager::syncWithBufferManager()
+{
+    tr::CudaEvent readyForOffloadEvent;
+    mBufferManager.getStream().record(readyForOffloadEvent);
+    mOffloadManager.getStream().wait(readyForOffloadEvent);
+
+    tr::CudaEvent readyForOnboardEvent;
+    mBufferManager.getStream().record(readyForOnboardEvent);
+    mOnboardManager.getStream().wait(readyForOnboardEvent);
+
+    // Once we synchronize, clear our list of pending thransfers.
+    mPendingReads.clear();
+    mPendingWrites.clear();
 }
 
 void KVCacheTransferManager::syncTransfers()
 {
     tr::CudaEvent offloadEvent;
     mOffloadManager.getStream().record(offloadEvent);
+    mBufferManager.getStream().wait(offloadEvent);
 
     tr::CudaEvent onboardEvent;
     mOnboardManager.getStream().record(onboardEvent);
-
-    mBufferManager.getStream().wait(offloadEvent);
     mBufferManager.getStream().wait(onboardEvent);
 
     // Once we synchronize, clear our list of pending thransfers.
-    mPendingOffloads.clear();
+    mPendingReads.clear();
+    mPendingWrites.clear();
 }
 
 } // namespace tensorrt_llm::batch_manager::kv_cache_manager

cpp/tensorrt_llm/nanobind/batch_manager/kvCacheManager.cpp

@@ -235,6 +235,11 @@ public:
         NB_OVERRIDE_PURE(getPoolLayerIdx, layer_idx);
     }
 
+    void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager() override
+    {
+        NB_OVERRIDE_PURE(syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager);
+    }
+
     void refreshBlocks() override
     {
         NB_OVERRIDE_PURE(refreshBlocks);
@@ -481,6 +486,9 @@ void tb::kv_cache_manager::KVCacheManagerBindings::initBindings(nb::module_& m)
             nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("flush_iteration_events", &BaseKVCacheManager::flushIterationEvents,
             nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
+        .def("sync_transfer_manager_with_buffer_manager", &BaseKVCacheManager::syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager,
+            nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
+        .def("refresh_blocks", &BaseKVCacheManager::refreshBlocks, nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("get_last_block_id", &BaseKVCacheManager::getLastBlockId, nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("unpin_blocks_by_id", &BaseKVCacheManager::unpinBlocksById, nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("reset_reuse_state", &BaseKVCacheManager::resetReuseState, nb::call_guard<nb::gil_scoped_release>());

cpp/tensorrt_llm/pybind/batch_manager/kvCacheManager.cpp

@@ -240,6 +240,11 @@ public:
         PYBIND11_OVERLOAD_PURE(SizeType32, tbk::BaseKVCacheManager, getPoolLayerIdx, layer_idx);
     }
 
+    void syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager() override
+    {
+        PYBIND11_OVERLOAD_PURE(void, tbk::BaseKVCacheManager, syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager);
+    }
+
     void refreshBlocks() override
     {
         PYBIND11_OVERLOAD_PURE(void, tbk::BaseKVCacheManager, refreshBlocks);
@@ -485,6 +490,9 @@ void tb::kv_cache_manager::KVCacheManagerBindings::initBindings(py::module_& m)
             py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("flush_iteration_events", &BaseKVCacheManager::flushIterationEvents,
             py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
+        .def("sync_transfer_manager_with_buffer_manager", &BaseKVCacheManager::syncTransferManagerWithBufferManager,
+            py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
+        .def("refresh_blocks", &BaseKVCacheManager::refreshBlocks, py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("get_last_block_id", &BaseKVCacheManager::getLastBlockId, py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("unpin_blocks_by_id", &BaseKVCacheManager::unpinBlocksById, py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>())
         .def("reset_reuse_state", &BaseKVCacheManager::resetReuseState, py::call_guard<py::gil_scoped_release>());

tensorrt_llm/_torch/pyexecutor/resource_manager.py

@@ -434,6 +434,10 @@ class KVCacheManager(BaseResourceManager):
         with request_context(self.is_draft, scheduled_batch):
             context_batch = scheduled_batch.context_requests
             generation_batch = scheduled_batch.generation_requests
+
+            # wait for all pending work to finish before launching offload/onboarding/partial copy
+            self.impl.sync_transfer_manager_with_buffer_manager()
+
             # allocate KV Cache
             for req in context_batch:
                 req_beam_width = req.sampling_config.beam_width
@@ -475,6 +479,9 @@ class KVCacheManager(BaseResourceManager):
                 for _ in range(get_draft_token_length(req)):
                     self.impl.add_token(req.py_request_id)
 
+            # prefill and generation kernels wait for scheduled offload/onboard/partial copy work before launching
+            self.impl.refresh_blocks()
+
         if self.kv_connector_manager is not None:
             self.kv_connector_manager.build_scheduler_output(
                 scheduled_batch, self)