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tools/memory-model: Add example for heuristic lockless reads
This commit adds example code for heuristic lockless reads, based loosely on the sem_lock() and sem_unlock() functions. [ paulmck: Apply Alan Stern and Manfred Spraul feedback. ] Reported-by: Manfred Spraul <manfred@colorfullife.com> [ paulmck: Update per Manfred Spraul and Hillf Danton feedback. ] Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
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tools/memory-model/Documentation/access-marking.txt

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@@ -319,6 +319,99 @@ of the ASSERT_EXCLUSIVE_WRITER() is to allow KCSAN to check for a buggy
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concurrent lockless write.
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Lock-Protected Writes With Heuristic Lockless Reads
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---------------------------------------------------
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For another example, suppose that the code can normally make use of
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a per-data-structure lock, but there are times when a global lock
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is required. These times are indicated via a global flag. The code
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might look as follows, and is based loosely on nf_conntrack_lock(),
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nf_conntrack_all_lock(), and nf_conntrack_all_unlock():
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bool global_flag;
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DEFINE_SPINLOCK(global_lock);
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struct foo {
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spinlock_t f_lock;
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int f_data;
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};
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/* All foo structures are in the following array. */
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int nfoo;
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struct foo *foo_array;
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void do_something_locked(struct foo *fp)
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{
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/* This works even if data_race() returns nonsense. */
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if (!data_race(global_flag)) {
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spin_lock(&fp->f_lock);
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if (!smp_load_acquire(&global_flag)) {
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do_something(fp);
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spin_unlock(&fp->f_lock);
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return;
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}
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spin_unlock(&fp->f_lock);
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}
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spin_lock(&global_lock);
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/* global_lock held, thus global flag cannot be set. */
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spin_lock(&fp->f_lock);
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spin_unlock(&global_lock);
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/*
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* global_flag might be set here, but begin_global()
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* will wait for ->f_lock to be released.
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*/
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do_something(fp);
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spin_unlock(&fp->f_lock);
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}
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void begin_global(void)
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{
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int i;
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spin_lock(&global_lock);
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WRITE_ONCE(global_flag, true);
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for (i = 0; i < nfoo; i++) {
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/*
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* Wait for pre-existing local locks. One at
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* a time to avoid lockdep limitations.
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*/
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spin_lock(&fp->f_lock);
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spin_unlock(&fp->f_lock);
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}
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}
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void end_global(void)
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{
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smp_store_release(&global_flag, false);
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spin_unlock(&global_lock);
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}
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All code paths leading from the do_something_locked() function's first
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read from global_flag acquire a lock, so endless load fusing cannot
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happen.
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If the value read from global_flag is true, then global_flag is
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rechecked while holding ->f_lock, which, if global_flag is now false,
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prevents begin_global() from completing. It is therefore safe to invoke
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do_something().
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Otherwise, if either value read from global_flag is true, then after
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global_lock is acquired global_flag must be false. The acquisition of
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->f_lock will prevent any call to begin_global() from returning, which
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means that it is safe to release global_lock and invoke do_something().
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For this to work, only those foo structures in foo_array[] may be passed
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to do_something_locked(). The reason for this is that the synchronization
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with begin_global() relies on momentarily holding the lock of each and
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every foo structure.
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The smp_load_acquire() and smp_store_release() are required because
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changes to a foo structure between calls to begin_global() and
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end_global() are carried out without holding that structure's ->f_lock.
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The smp_load_acquire() and smp_store_release() ensure that the next
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invocation of do_something() from do_something_locked() will see those
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changes.
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Lockless Reads and Writes
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-------------------------
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