diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/atomic_ops.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/atomic_ops.txt | 31 |
1 files changed, 12 insertions, 19 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt index d9ca5be9b47..68542fe13b8 100644 --- a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt +++ b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt @@ -285,15 +285,13 @@ If a caller requires memory barrier semantics around an atomic_t operation which does not return a value, a set of interfaces are defined which accomplish this: - void smp_mb__before_atomic_dec(void); - void smp_mb__after_atomic_dec(void); - void smp_mb__before_atomic_inc(void); - void smp_mb__after_atomic_inc(void); + void smp_mb__before_atomic(void); + void smp_mb__after_atomic(void); -For example, smp_mb__before_atomic_dec() can be used like so: +For example, smp_mb__before_atomic() can be used like so: obj->dead = 1; - smp_mb__before_atomic_dec(); + smp_mb__before_atomic(); atomic_dec(&obj->ref_count); It makes sure that all memory operations preceding the atomic_dec() @@ -302,15 +300,10 @@ operation. In the above example, it guarantees that the assignment of "1" to obj->dead will be globally visible to other cpus before the atomic counter decrement. -Without the explicit smp_mb__before_atomic_dec() call, the +Without the explicit smp_mb__before_atomic() call, the implementation could legally allow the atomic counter update visible to other cpus before the "obj->dead = 1;" assignment. -The other three interfaces listed are used to provide explicit -ordering with respect to memory operations after an atomic_dec() call -(smp_mb__after_atomic_dec()) and around atomic_inc() calls -(smp_mb__{before,after}_atomic_inc()). - A missing memory barrier in the cases where they are required by the atomic_t implementation above can have disastrous results. Here is an example, which follows a pattern occurring frequently in the Linux @@ -487,12 +480,12 @@ Finally there is the basic operation: Which returns a boolean indicating if bit "nr" is set in the bitmask pointed to by "addr". -If explicit memory barriers are required around clear_bit() (which -does not return a value, and thus does not need to provide memory -barrier semantics), two interfaces are provided: +If explicit memory barriers are required around {set,clear}_bit() (which do +not return a value, and thus does not need to provide memory barrier +semantics), two interfaces are provided: - void smp_mb__before_clear_bit(void); - void smp_mb__after_clear_bit(void); + void smp_mb__before_atomic(void); + void smp_mb__after_atomic(void); They are used as follows, and are akin to their atomic_t operation brothers: @@ -500,13 +493,13 @@ brothers: /* All memory operations before this call will * be globally visible before the clear_bit(). */ - smp_mb__before_clear_bit(); + smp_mb__before_atomic(); clear_bit( ... ); /* The clear_bit() will be visible before all * subsequent memory operations. */ - smp_mb__after_clear_bit(); + smp_mb__after_atomic(); There are two special bitops with lock barrier semantics (acquire/release, same as spinlocks). These operate in the same way as their non-_lock/unlock |