diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt | 29 |
1 files changed, 17 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt index 15da16861fa3..5ed85af88789 100644 --- a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt +++ b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt | |||
| @@ -200,10 +200,11 @@ rcu_assign_pointer() | |||
| 200 | the new value, and also executes any memory-barrier instructions | 200 | the new value, and also executes any memory-barrier instructions |
| 201 | required for a given CPU architecture. | 201 | required for a given CPU architecture. |
| 202 | 202 | ||
| 203 | Perhaps more important, it serves to document which pointers | 203 | Perhaps just as important, it serves to document (1) which |
| 204 | are protected by RCU. That said, rcu_assign_pointer() is most | 204 | pointers are protected by RCU and (2) the point at which a |
| 205 | frequently used indirectly, via the _rcu list-manipulation | 205 | given structure becomes accessible to other CPUs. That said, |
| 206 | primitives such as list_add_rcu(). | 206 | rcu_assign_pointer() is most frequently used indirectly, via |
| 207 | the _rcu list-manipulation primitives such as list_add_rcu(). | ||
| 207 | 208 | ||
| 208 | rcu_dereference() | 209 | rcu_dereference() |
| 209 | 210 | ||
| @@ -258,9 +259,11 @@ rcu_dereference() | |||
| 258 | locking. | 259 | locking. |
| 259 | 260 | ||
| 260 | As with rcu_assign_pointer(), an important function of | 261 | As with rcu_assign_pointer(), an important function of |
| 261 | rcu_dereference() is to document which pointers are protected | 262 | rcu_dereference() is to document which pointers are protected by |
| 262 | by RCU. And, again like rcu_assign_pointer(), rcu_dereference() | 263 | RCU, in particular, flagging a pointer that is subject to changing |
| 263 | is typically used indirectly, via the _rcu list-manipulation | 264 | at any time, including immediately after the rcu_dereference(). |
| 265 | And, again like rcu_assign_pointer(), rcu_dereference() is | ||
| 266 | typically used indirectly, via the _rcu list-manipulation | ||
| 264 | primitives, such as list_for_each_entry_rcu(). | 267 | primitives, such as list_for_each_entry_rcu(). |
| 265 | 268 | ||
| 266 | The following diagram shows how each API communicates among the | 269 | The following diagram shows how each API communicates among the |
| @@ -327,7 +330,7 @@ for specialized uses, but are relatively uncommon. | |||
| 327 | 3. WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLE USES OF CORE RCU API? | 330 | 3. WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLE USES OF CORE RCU API? |
| 328 | 331 | ||
| 329 | This section shows a simple use of the core RCU API to protect a | 332 | This section shows a simple use of the core RCU API to protect a |
| 330 | global pointer to a dynamically allocated structure. More typical | 333 | global pointer to a dynamically allocated structure. More-typical |
| 331 | uses of RCU may be found in listRCU.txt, arrayRCU.txt, and NMI-RCU.txt. | 334 | uses of RCU may be found in listRCU.txt, arrayRCU.txt, and NMI-RCU.txt. |
| 332 | 335 | ||
| 333 | struct foo { | 336 | struct foo { |
| @@ -410,6 +413,8 @@ o Use synchronize_rcu() -after- removing a data element from an | |||
| 410 | data item. | 413 | data item. |
| 411 | 414 | ||
| 412 | See checklist.txt for additional rules to follow when using RCU. | 415 | See checklist.txt for additional rules to follow when using RCU. |
| 416 | And again, more-typical uses of RCU may be found in listRCU.txt, | ||
| 417 | arrayRCU.txt, and NMI-RCU.txt. | ||
| 413 | 418 | ||
| 414 | 419 | ||
| 415 | 4. WHAT IF MY UPDATING THREAD CANNOT BLOCK? | 420 | 4. WHAT IF MY UPDATING THREAD CANNOT BLOCK? |
| @@ -513,7 +518,7 @@ production-quality implementation, and see: | |||
| 513 | 518 | ||
| 514 | for papers describing the Linux kernel RCU implementation. The OLS'01 | 519 | for papers describing the Linux kernel RCU implementation. The OLS'01 |
| 515 | and OLS'02 papers are a good introduction, and the dissertation provides | 520 | and OLS'02 papers are a good introduction, and the dissertation provides |
| 516 | more details on the current implementation. | 521 | more details on the current implementation as of early 2004. |
| 517 | 522 | ||
| 518 | 523 | ||
| 519 | 5A. "TOY" IMPLEMENTATION #1: LOCKING | 524 | 5A. "TOY" IMPLEMENTATION #1: LOCKING |
| @@ -768,7 +773,6 @@ RCU pointer/list traversal: | |||
| 768 | rcu_dereference | 773 | rcu_dereference |
| 769 | list_for_each_rcu (to be deprecated in favor of | 774 | list_for_each_rcu (to be deprecated in favor of |
| 770 | list_for_each_entry_rcu) | 775 | list_for_each_entry_rcu) |
| 771 | list_for_each_safe_rcu (deprecated, not used) | ||
| 772 | list_for_each_entry_rcu | 776 | list_for_each_entry_rcu |
| 773 | list_for_each_continue_rcu (to be deprecated in favor of new | 777 | list_for_each_continue_rcu (to be deprecated in favor of new |
| 774 | list_for_each_entry_continue_rcu) | 778 | list_for_each_entry_continue_rcu) |
| @@ -807,7 +811,8 @@ Quick Quiz #1: Why is this argument naive? How could a deadlock | |||
| 807 | Answer: Consider the following sequence of events: | 811 | Answer: Consider the following sequence of events: |
| 808 | 812 | ||
| 809 | 1. CPU 0 acquires some unrelated lock, call it | 813 | 1. CPU 0 acquires some unrelated lock, call it |
| 810 | "problematic_lock". | 814 | "problematic_lock", disabling irq via |
| 815 | spin_lock_irqsave(). | ||
| 811 | 816 | ||
| 812 | 2. CPU 1 enters synchronize_rcu(), write-acquiring | 817 | 2. CPU 1 enters synchronize_rcu(), write-acquiring |
| 813 | rcu_gp_mutex. | 818 | rcu_gp_mutex. |
| @@ -894,7 +899,7 @@ Answer: Just as PREEMPT_RT permits preemption of spinlock | |||
| 894 | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 899 | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
| 895 | 900 | ||
| 896 | My thanks to the people who helped make this human-readable, including | 901 | My thanks to the people who helped make this human-readable, including |
| 897 | Jon Walpole, Josh Triplett, Serge Hallyn, and Suzanne Wood. | 902 | Jon Walpole, Josh Triplett, Serge Hallyn, Suzanne Wood, and Alan Stern. |
| 898 | 903 | ||
| 899 | 904 | ||
| 900 | For more information, see http://www.rdrop.com/users/paulmck/RCU. | 905 | For more information, see http://www.rdrop.com/users/paulmck/RCU. |
