Reduced lock contention with parallel HNSW index builds

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## 0.6.2 (unreleased)
+
+- Reduced lock contention with parallel HNSW index builds
+
 ## 0.6.1 (2024-03-04)
 
 - Fixed error with `ANALYZE` and vectors with different dimensions

README.md

@@ -581,6 +581,10 @@ or choose to store vectors inline:
 ALTER TABLE items ALTER COLUMN embedding SET STORAGE PLAIN;
 ```
 
+#### Why are there less results for a query after adding an HNSW index?
+
+Results are limited by the size of the dynamic candidate list (`hnsw.ef_search`). There may be even less results due to dead tuples or filtering conditions in the query. We recommend setting `hnsw.ef_search` to at least twice the `LIMIT` of the query. If you need more than 500 results, use an IVFFlat index instead.
+
 #### Why are there less results for a query after adding an IVFFlat index?
 
 The index was likely created with too little data for the number of lists. Drop the index until the table has more data.
@@ -589,6 +593,8 @@ The index was likely created with too little data for the number of lists. Drop
 DROP INDEX index_name;
 ```
 
+Results can also be limited by the number of probes (`ivfflat.probes`).
+
 ## Reference
 
 ### Vector Type

src/hnsw.h

@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ typedef struct HnswGraph
 
 	/* Entry state */
 	LWLock		entryLock;
+	LWLock		entryWaitLock;
 	HnswElementPtr entryPoint;
 
 	/* Allocations state */

src/hnswbuild.c

@@ -431,10 +431,15 @@ InsertTupleInMemory(HnswBuildState * buildstate, HnswElement element)
 	HnswGraph  *graph = buildstate->graph;
 	HnswElement entryPoint;
 	LWLock	   *entryLock = &graph->entryLock;
+	LWLock	   *entryWaitLock = &graph->entryWaitLock;
 	int			efConstruction = buildstate->efConstruction;
 	int			m = buildstate->m;
 	char	   *base = buildstate->hnswarea;
 
+	/* Wait if another process needs exclusive lock */
+	if (LWLockAcquireOrWait(entryWaitLock, LW_EXCLUSIVE))
+		LWLockRelease(entryWaitLock);
+
 	/* Get entry point */
 	LWLockAcquire(entryLock, LW_SHARED);
 	entryPoint = HnswPtrAccess(base, graph->entryPoint);
@@ -446,7 +451,9 @@ InsertTupleInMemory(HnswBuildState * buildstate, HnswElement element)
 		LWLockRelease(entryLock);
 
 		/* Get exclusive lock */
+		LWLockAcquire(entryWaitLock, LW_EXCLUSIVE);
 		LWLockAcquire(entryLock, LW_EXCLUSIVE);
+		LWLockRelease(entryWaitLock);
 
 		/* Get latest entry point after lock is acquired */
 		entryPoint = HnswPtrAccess(base, graph->entryPoint);
@@ -612,6 +619,7 @@ InitGraph(HnswGraph * graph, char *base, long memoryTotal)
 	graph->indtuples = 0;
 	SpinLockInit(&graph->lock);
 	LWLockInitialize(&graph->entryLock, hnsw_lock_tranche_id);
+	LWLockInitialize(&graph->entryWaitLock, hnsw_lock_tranche_id);
 	LWLockInitialize(&graph->allocatorLock, hnsw_lock_tranche_id);
 	LWLockInitialize(&graph->flushLock, hnsw_lock_tranche_id);
 }