rcu: Clarify memory-ordering properties of grace-period primitives

This commit explicitly states the memory-ordering properties of the
RCU grace-period primitives.  Although these properties were in some
sense implied by the fundmental property of RCU ("a grace period must
wait for all pre-existing RCU read-side critical sections to complete"),
stating it explicitly will be a great labor-saving device.

Reported-by: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Reviewed-by: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@redhat.com>

1 files changed, 25 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/include/linux/rcupdate.h b/include/linux/rcupdate.h
index 7c968e4f929e..6256759fb81e 100644
--- a/include/linux/rcupdate.h
+++ b/include/linux/rcupdate.h
@@ -90,6 +90,25 @@ extern void do_trace_rcu_torture_read(char *rcutorturename,
  * that started after call_rcu() was invoked.  RCU read-side critical
  * sections are delimited by rcu_read_lock() and rcu_read_unlock(),
  * and may be nested.
+ *
+ * Note that all CPUs must agree that the grace period extended beyond
+ * all pre-existing RCU read-side critical section.  On systems with more
+ * than one CPU, this means that when "func()" is invoked, each CPU is
+ * guaranteed to have executed a full memory barrier since the end of its
+ * last RCU read-side critical section whose beginning preceded the call
+ * to call_rcu().  It also means that each CPU executing an RCU read-side
+ * critical section that continues beyond the start of "func()" must have
+ * executed a memory barrier after the call_rcu() but before the beginning
+ * of that RCU read-side critical section.  Note that these guarantees
+ * include CPUs that are offline, idle, or executing in user mode, as
+ * well as CPUs that are executing in the kernel.
+ *
+ * Furthermore, if CPU A invoked call_rcu() and CPU B invoked the
+ * resulting RCU callback function "func()", then both CPU A and CPU B are
+ * guaranteed to execute a full memory barrier during the time interval
+ * between the call to call_rcu() and the invocation of "func()" -- even
+ * if CPU A and CPU B are the same CPU (but again only if the system has
+ * more than one CPU).
  */
 extern void call_rcu(struct rcu_head *head,
                               void (*func)(struct rcu_head *head));
@@ -118,6 +137,9 @@ extern void call_rcu(struct rcu_head *head,
  *  OR
  *  - rcu_read_lock_bh() and rcu_read_unlock_bh(), if in process context.
  *  These may be nested.
+ *
+ * See the description of call_rcu() for more detailed information on
+ * memory ordering guarantees.
  */
 extern void call_rcu_bh(struct rcu_head *head,
                         void (*func)(struct rcu_head *head));
@@ -137,6 +159,9 @@ extern void call_rcu_bh(struct rcu_head *head,
  *  OR
  *  anything that disables preemption.
  *  These may be nested.
+ *
+ * See the description of call_rcu() for more detailed information on
+ * memory ordering guarantees.
  */
 extern void call_rcu_sched(struct rcu_head *head,
                            void (*func)(struct rcu_head *rcu));