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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl | 22 |
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl index 90dc2de8e0af..158ffe9bfade 100644 --- a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl +++ b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-locking.tmpl | |||
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ | |||
222 | <title>Two Main Types of Kernel Locks: Spinlocks and Semaphores</title> | 222 | <title>Two Main Types of Kernel Locks: Spinlocks and Semaphores</title> |
223 | 223 | ||
224 | <para> | 224 | <para> |
225 | There are two main types of kernel locks. The fundamental type | 225 | There are three main types of kernel locks. The fundamental type |
226 | is the spinlock | 226 | is the spinlock |
227 | (<filename class="headerfile">include/asm/spinlock.h</filename>), | 227 | (<filename class="headerfile">include/asm/spinlock.h</filename>), |
228 | which is a very simple single-holder lock: if you can't get the | 228 | which is a very simple single-holder lock: if you can't get the |
@@ -230,16 +230,22 @@ | |||
230 | very small and fast, and can be used anywhere. | 230 | very small and fast, and can be used anywhere. |
231 | </para> | 231 | </para> |
232 | <para> | 232 | <para> |
233 | The second type is a semaphore | 233 | The second type is a mutex |
234 | (<filename class="headerfile">include/linux/mutex.h</filename>): it | ||
235 | is like a spinlock, but you may block holding a mutex. | ||
236 | If you can't lock a mutex, your task will suspend itself, and be woken | ||
237 | up when the mutex is released. This means the CPU can do something | ||
238 | else while you are waiting. There are many cases when you simply | ||
239 | can't sleep (see <xref linkend="sleeping-things"/>), and so have to | ||
240 | use a spinlock instead. | ||
241 | </para> | ||
242 | <para> | ||
243 | The third type is a semaphore | ||
234 | (<filename class="headerfile">include/asm/semaphore.h</filename>): it | 244 | (<filename class="headerfile">include/asm/semaphore.h</filename>): it |
235 | can have more than one holder at any time (the number decided at | 245 | can have more than one holder at any time (the number decided at |
236 | initialization time), although it is most commonly used as a | 246 | initialization time), although it is most commonly used as a |
237 | single-holder lock (a mutex). If you can't get a semaphore, | 247 | single-holder lock (a mutex). If you can't get a semaphore, your |
238 | your task will put itself on the queue, and be woken up when the | 248 | task will be suspended and later on woken up - just like for mutexes. |
239 | semaphore is released. This means the CPU will do something | ||
240 | else while you are waiting, but there are many cases when you | ||
241 | simply can't sleep (see <xref linkend="sleeping-things"/>), and so | ||
242 | have to use a spinlock instead. | ||
243 | </para> | 249 | </para> |
244 | <para> | 250 | <para> |
245 | Neither type of lock is recursive: see | 251 | Neither type of lock is recursive: see |