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author | Dipankar Sarma <dipankar@in.ibm.com> | 2005-09-09 13:04:09 -0700 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@g5.osdl.org> | 2005-09-09 13:57:54 -0700 |
commit | c0dfb2905126e9e94edebbce8d3e05001301f52d (patch) | |
tree | db31f15f7e5dea0c812992c2ca87a1151507ed9c /Documentation | |
parent | 8b6490e5faafb3a16ea45654fb55f9ff086f1495 (diff) | |
download | kernel_samsung_crespo-c0dfb2905126e9e94edebbce8d3e05001301f52d.zip kernel_samsung_crespo-c0dfb2905126e9e94edebbce8d3e05001301f52d.tar.gz kernel_samsung_crespo-c0dfb2905126e9e94edebbce8d3e05001301f52d.tar.bz2 |
[PATCH] files: rcuref APIs
Adds a set of primitives to do reference counting for objects that are looked
up without locks using RCU.
Signed-off-by: Ravikiran Thirumalai <kiran_th@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Dipankar Sarma <dipankar@in.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt | 74 |
1 files changed, 74 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt b/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a23fee6 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +Refcounter framework for elements of lists/arrays protected by +RCU. + +Refcounting on elements of lists which are protected by traditional +reader/writer spinlocks or semaphores are straight forward as in: + +1. 2. +add() search_and_reference() +{ { + alloc_object read_lock(&list_lock); + ... search_for_element + atomic_set(&el->rc, 1); atomic_inc(&el->rc); + write_lock(&list_lock); ... + add_element read_unlock(&list_lock); + ... ... + write_unlock(&list_lock); } +} + +3. 4. +release_referenced() delete() +{ { + ... write_lock(&list_lock); + atomic_dec(&el->rc, relfunc) ... + ... delete_element +} write_unlock(&list_lock); + ... + if (atomic_dec_and_test(&el->rc)) + kfree(el); + ... + } + +If this list/array is made lock free using rcu as in changing the +write_lock in add() and delete() to spin_lock and changing read_lock +in search_and_reference to rcu_read_lock(), the rcuref_get in +search_and_reference could potentially hold reference to an element which +has already been deleted from the list/array. rcuref_lf_get_rcu takes +care of this scenario. search_and_reference should look as; + +1. 2. +add() search_and_reference() +{ { + alloc_object rcu_read_lock(); + ... search_for_element + atomic_set(&el->rc, 1); if (rcuref_inc_lf(&el->rc)) { + write_lock(&list_lock); rcu_read_unlock(); + return FAIL; + add_element } + ... ... + write_unlock(&list_lock); rcu_read_unlock(); +} } +3. 4. +release_referenced() delete() +{ { + ... write_lock(&list_lock); + rcuref_dec(&el->rc, relfunc) ... + ... delete_element +} write_unlock(&list_lock); + ... + if (rcuref_dec_and_test(&el->rc)) + call_rcu(&el->head, el_free); + ... + } + +Sometimes, reference to the element need to be obtained in the +update (write) stream. In such cases, rcuref_inc_lf might be an overkill +since the spinlock serialising list updates are held. rcuref_inc +is to be used in such cases. +For arches which do not have cmpxchg rcuref_inc_lf +api uses a hashed spinlock implementation and the same hashed spinlock +is acquired in all rcuref_xxx primitives to preserve atomicity. +Note: Use rcuref_inc api only if you need to use rcuref_inc_lf on the +refcounter atleast at one place. Mixing rcuref_inc and atomic_xxx api +might lead to races. rcuref_inc_lf() must be used in lockfree +RCU critical sections only. |