Based on kernel version 3.9. Page generated on 2013-05-02 22:55 EST.
1 Semantics and Behavior of Atomic and 2 Bitmask Operations 3 4 David S. Miller 5 6 This document is intended to serve as a guide to Linux port 7 maintainers on how to implement atomic counter, bitops, and spinlock 8 interfaces properly. 9 10 The atomic_t type should be defined as a signed integer. 11 Also, it should be made opaque such that any kind of cast to a normal 12 C integer type will fail. Something like the following should 13 suffice: 14 15 typedef struct { int counter; } atomic_t; 16 17 Historically, counter has been declared volatile. This is now discouraged. 18 See Documentation/volatile-considered-harmful.txt for the complete rationale. 19 20 local_t is very similar to atomic_t. If the counter is per CPU and only 21 updated by one CPU, local_t is probably more appropriate. Please see 22 Documentation/local_ops.txt for the semantics of local_t. 23 24 The first operations to implement for atomic_t's are the initializers and 25 plain reads. 26 27 #define ATOMIC_INIT(i) { (i) } 28 #define atomic_set(v, i) ((v)->counter = (i)) 29 30 The first macro is used in definitions, such as: 31 32 static atomic_t my_counter = ATOMIC_INIT(1); 33 34 The initializer is atomic in that the return values of the atomic operations 35 are guaranteed to be correct reflecting the initialized value if the 36 initializer is used before runtime. If the initializer is used at runtime, a 37 proper implicit or explicit read memory barrier is needed before reading the 38 value with atomic_read from another thread. 39 40 The second interface can be used at runtime, as in: 41 42 struct foo { atomic_t counter; }; 43 ... 44 45 struct foo *k; 46 47 k = kmalloc(sizeof(*k), GFP_KERNEL); 48 if (!k) 49 return -ENOMEM; 50 atomic_set(&k->counter, 0); 51 52 The setting is atomic in that the return values of the atomic operations by 53 all threads are guaranteed to be correct reflecting either the value that has 54 been set with this operation or set with another operation. A proper implicit 55 or explicit memory barrier is needed before the value set with the operation 56 is guaranteed to be readable with atomic_read from another thread. 57 58 Next, we have: 59 60 #define atomic_read(v) ((v)->counter) 61 62 which simply reads the counter value currently visible to the calling thread. 63 The read is atomic in that the return value is guaranteed to be one of the 64 values initialized or modified with the interface operations if a proper 65 implicit or explicit memory barrier is used after possible runtime 66 initialization by any other thread and the value is modified only with the 67 interface operations. atomic_read does not guarantee that the runtime 68 initialization by any other thread is visible yet, so the user of the 69 interface must take care of that with a proper implicit or explicit memory 70 barrier. 71 72 *** WARNING: atomic_read() and atomic_set() DO NOT IMPLY BARRIERS! *** 73 74 Some architectures may choose to use the volatile keyword, barriers, or inline 75 assembly to guarantee some degree of immediacy for atomic_read() and 76 atomic_set(). This is not uniformly guaranteed, and may change in the future, 77 so all users of atomic_t should treat atomic_read() and atomic_set() as simple 78 C statements that may be reordered or optimized away entirely by the compiler 79 or processor, and explicitly invoke the appropriate compiler and/or memory 80 barrier for each use case. Failure to do so will result in code that may 81 suddenly break when used with different architectures or compiler 82 optimizations, or even changes in unrelated code which changes how the 83 compiler optimizes the section accessing atomic_t variables. 84 85 *** YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! *** 86 87 Properly aligned pointers, longs, ints, and chars (and unsigned 88 equivalents) may be atomically loaded from and stored to in the same 89 sense as described for atomic_read() and atomic_set(). The ACCESS_ONCE() 90 macro should be used to prevent the compiler from using optimizations 91 that might otherwise optimize accesses out of existence on the one hand, 92 or that might create unsolicited accesses on the other. 93 94 For example consider the following code: 95 96 while (a > 0) 97 do_something(); 98 99 If the compiler can prove that do_something() does not store to the 100 variable a, then the compiler is within its rights transforming this to 101 the following: 102 103 tmp = a; 104 if (a > 0) 105 for (;;) 106 do_something(); 107 108 If you don't want the compiler to do this (and you probably don't), then 109 you should use something like the following: 110 111 while (ACCESS_ONCE(a) < 0) 112 do_something(); 113 114 Alternatively, you could place a barrier() call in the loop. 115 116 For another example, consider the following code: 117 118 tmp_a = a; 119 do_something_with(tmp_a); 120 do_something_else_with(tmp_a); 121 122 If the compiler can prove that do_something_with() does not store to the 123 variable a, then the compiler is within its rights to manufacture an 124 additional load as follows: 125 126 tmp_a = a; 127 do_something_with(tmp_a); 128 tmp_a = a; 129 do_something_else_with(tmp_a); 130 131 This could fatally confuse your code if it expected the same value 132 to be passed to do_something_with() and do_something_else_with(). 133 134 The compiler would be likely to manufacture this additional load if 135 do_something_with() was an inline function that made very heavy use 136 of registers: reloading from variable a could save a flush to the 137 stack and later reload. To prevent the compiler from attacking your 138 code in this manner, write the following: 139 140 tmp_a = ACCESS_ONCE(a); 141 do_something_with(tmp_a); 142 do_something_else_with(tmp_a); 143 144 For a final example, consider the following code, assuming that the 145 variable a is set at boot time before the second CPU is brought online 146 and never changed later, so that memory barriers are not needed: 147 148 if (a) 149 b = 9; 150 else 151 b = 42; 152 153 The compiler is within its rights to manufacture an additional store 154 by transforming the above code into the following: 155 156 b = 42; 157 if (a) 158 b = 9; 159 160 This could come as a fatal surprise to other code running concurrently 161 that expected b to never have the value 42 if a was zero. To prevent 162 the compiler from doing this, write something like: 163 164 if (a) 165 ACCESS_ONCE(b) = 9; 166 else 167 ACCESS_ONCE(b) = 42; 168 169 Don't even -think- about doing this without proper use of memory barriers, 170 locks, or atomic operations if variable a can change at runtime! 171 172 *** WARNING: ACCESS_ONCE() DOES NOT IMPLY A BARRIER! *** 173 174 Now, we move onto the atomic operation interfaces typically implemented with 175 the help of assembly code. 176 177 void atomic_add(int i, atomic_t *v); 178 void atomic_sub(int i, atomic_t *v); 179 void atomic_inc(atomic_t *v); 180 void atomic_dec(atomic_t *v); 181 182 These four routines add and subtract integral values to/from the given 183 atomic_t value. The first two routines pass explicit integers by 184 which to make the adjustment, whereas the latter two use an implicit 185 adjustment value of "1". 186 187 One very important aspect of these two routines is that they DO NOT 188 require any explicit memory barriers. They need only perform the 189 atomic_t counter update in an SMP safe manner. 190 191 Next, we have: 192 193 int atomic_inc_return(atomic_t *v); 194 int atomic_dec_return(atomic_t *v); 195 196 These routines add 1 and subtract 1, respectively, from the given 197 atomic_t and return the new counter value after the operation is 198 performed. 199 200 Unlike the above routines, it is required that explicit memory 201 barriers are performed before and after the operation. It must be 202 done such that all memory operations before and after the atomic 203 operation calls are strongly ordered with respect to the atomic 204 operation itself. 205 206 For example, it should behave as if a smp_mb() call existed both 207 before and after the atomic operation. 208 209 If the atomic instructions used in an implementation provide explicit 210 memory barrier semantics which satisfy the above requirements, that is 211 fine as well. 212 213 Let's move on: 214 215 int atomic_add_return(int i, atomic_t *v); 216 int atomic_sub_return(int i, atomic_t *v); 217 218 These behave just like atomic_{inc,dec}_return() except that an 219 explicit counter adjustment is given instead of the implicit "1". 220 This means that like atomic_{inc,dec}_return(), the memory barrier 221 semantics are required. 222 223 Next: 224 225 int atomic_inc_and_test(atomic_t *v); 226 int atomic_dec_and_test(atomic_t *v); 227 228 These two routines increment and decrement by 1, respectively, the 229 given atomic counter. They return a boolean indicating whether the 230 resulting counter value was zero or not. 231 232 It requires explicit memory barrier semantics around the operation as 233 above. 234 235 int atomic_sub_and_test(int i, atomic_t *v); 236 237 This is identical to atomic_dec_and_test() except that an explicit 238 decrement is given instead of the implicit "1". It requires explicit 239 memory barrier semantics around the operation. 240 241 int atomic_add_negative(int i, atomic_t *v); 242 243 The given increment is added to the given atomic counter value. A 244 boolean is return which indicates whether the resulting counter value 245 is negative. It requires explicit memory barrier semantics around the 246 operation. 247 248 Then: 249 250 int atomic_xchg(atomic_t *v, int new); 251 252 This performs an atomic exchange operation on the atomic variable v, setting 253 the given new value. It returns the old value that the atomic variable v had 254 just before the operation. 255 256 atomic_xchg requires explicit memory barriers around the operation. 257 258 int atomic_cmpxchg(atomic_t *v, int old, int new); 259 260 This performs an atomic compare exchange operation on the atomic value v, 261 with the given old and new values. Like all atomic_xxx operations, 262 atomic_cmpxchg will only satisfy its atomicity semantics as long as all 263 other accesses of *v are performed through atomic_xxx operations. 264 265 atomic_cmpxchg requires explicit memory barriers around the operation. 266 267 The semantics for atomic_cmpxchg are the same as those defined for 'cas' 268 below. 269 270 Finally: 271 272 int atomic_add_unless(atomic_t *v, int a, int u); 273 274 If the atomic value v is not equal to u, this function adds a to v, and 275 returns non zero. If v is equal to u then it returns zero. This is done as 276 an atomic operation. 277 278 atomic_add_unless requires explicit memory barriers around the operation 279 unless it fails (returns 0). 280 281 atomic_inc_not_zero, equivalent to atomic_add_unless(v, 1, 0) 282 283 284 If a caller requires memory barrier semantics around an atomic_t 285 operation which does not return a value, a set of interfaces are 286 defined which accomplish this: 287 288 void smp_mb__before_atomic_dec(void); 289 void smp_mb__after_atomic_dec(void); 290 void smp_mb__before_atomic_inc(void); 291 void smp_mb__after_atomic_inc(void); 292 293 For example, smp_mb__before_atomic_dec() can be used like so: 294 295 obj->dead = 1; 296 smp_mb__before_atomic_dec(); 297 atomic_dec(&obj->ref_count); 298 299 It makes sure that all memory operations preceding the atomic_dec() 300 call are strongly ordered with respect to the atomic counter 301 operation. In the above example, it guarantees that the assignment of 302 "1" to obj->dead will be globally visible to other cpus before the 303 atomic counter decrement. 304 305 Without the explicit smp_mb__before_atomic_dec() call, the 306 implementation could legally allow the atomic counter update visible 307 to other cpus before the "obj->dead = 1;" assignment. 308 309 The other three interfaces listed are used to provide explicit 310 ordering with respect to memory operations after an atomic_dec() call 311 (smp_mb__after_atomic_dec()) and around atomic_inc() calls 312 (smp_mb__{before,after}_atomic_inc()). 313 314 A missing memory barrier in the cases where they are required by the 315 atomic_t implementation above can have disastrous results. Here is 316 an example, which follows a pattern occurring frequently in the Linux 317 kernel. It is the use of atomic counters to implement reference 318 counting, and it works such that once the counter falls to zero it can 319 be guaranteed that no other entity can be accessing the object: 320 321 static void obj_list_add(struct obj *obj, struct list_head *head) 322 { 323 obj->active = 1; 324 list_add(&obj->list, head); 325 } 326 327 static void obj_list_del(struct obj *obj) 328 { 329 list_del(&obj->list); 330 obj->active = 0; 331 } 332 333 static void obj_destroy(struct obj *obj) 334 { 335 BUG_ON(obj->active); 336 kfree(obj); 337 } 338 339 struct obj *obj_list_peek(struct list_head *head) 340 { 341 if (!list_empty(head)) { 342 struct obj *obj; 343 344 obj = list_entry(head->next, struct obj, list); 345 atomic_inc(&obj->refcnt); 346 return obj; 347 } 348 return NULL; 349 } 350 351 void obj_poke(void) 352 { 353 struct obj *obj; 354 355 spin_lock(&global_list_lock); 356 obj = obj_list_peek(&global_list); 357 spin_unlock(&global_list_lock); 358 359 if (obj) { 360 obj->ops->poke(obj); 361 if (atomic_dec_and_test(&obj->refcnt)) 362 obj_destroy(obj); 363 } 364 } 365 366 void obj_timeout(struct obj *obj) 367 { 368 spin_lock(&global_list_lock); 369 obj_list_del(obj); 370 spin_unlock(&global_list_lock); 371 372 if (atomic_dec_and_test(&obj->refcnt)) 373 obj_destroy(obj); 374 } 375 376 (This is a simplification of the ARP queue management in the 377 generic neighbour discover code of the networking. Olaf Kirch 378 found a bug wrt. memory barriers in kfree_skb() that exposed 379 the atomic_t memory barrier requirements quite clearly.) 380 381 Given the above scheme, it must be the case that the obj->active 382 update done by the obj list deletion be visible to other processors 383 before the atomic counter decrement is performed. 384 385 Otherwise, the counter could fall to zero, yet obj->active would still 386 be set, thus triggering the assertion in obj_destroy(). The error 387 sequence looks like this: 388 389 cpu 0 cpu 1 390 obj_poke() obj_timeout() 391 obj = obj_list_peek(); 392 ... gains ref to obj, refcnt=2 393 obj_list_del(obj); 394 obj->active = 0 ... 395 ... visibility delayed ... 396 atomic_dec_and_test() 397 ... refcnt drops to 1 ... 398 atomic_dec_and_test() 399 ... refcount drops to 0 ... 400 obj_destroy() 401 BUG() triggers since obj->active 402 still seen as one 403 obj->active update visibility occurs 404 405 With the memory barrier semantics required of the atomic_t operations 406 which return values, the above sequence of memory visibility can never 407 happen. Specifically, in the above case the atomic_dec_and_test() 408 counter decrement would not become globally visible until the 409 obj->active update does. 410 411 As a historical note, 32-bit Sparc used to only allow usage of 412 24-bits of its atomic_t type. This was because it used 8 bits 413 as a spinlock for SMP safety. Sparc32 lacked a "compare and swap" 414 type instruction. However, 32-bit Sparc has since been moved over 415 to a "hash table of spinlocks" scheme, that allows the full 32-bit 416 counter to be realized. Essentially, an array of spinlocks are 417 indexed into based upon the address of the atomic_t being operated 418 on, and that lock protects the atomic operation. Parisc uses the 419 same scheme. 420 421 Another note is that the atomic_t operations returning values are 422 extremely slow on an old 386. 423 424 We will now cover the atomic bitmask operations. You will find that 425 their SMP and memory barrier semantics are similar in shape and scope 426 to the atomic_t ops above. 427 428 Native atomic bit operations are defined to operate on objects aligned 429 to the size of an "unsigned long" C data type, and are least of that 430 size. The endianness of the bits within each "unsigned long" are the 431 native endianness of the cpu. 432 433 void set_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 434 void clear_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 435 void change_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 436 437 These routines set, clear, and change, respectively, the bit number 438 indicated by "nr" on the bit mask pointed to by "ADDR". 439 440 They must execute atomically, yet there are no implicit memory barrier 441 semantics required of these interfaces. 442 443 int test_and_set_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 444 int test_and_clear_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 445 int test_and_change_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 446 447 Like the above, except that these routines return a boolean which 448 indicates whether the changed bit was set _BEFORE_ the atomic bit 449 operation. 450 451 WARNING! It is incredibly important that the value be a boolean, 452 ie. "0" or "1". Do not try to be fancy and save a few instructions by 453 declaring the above to return "long" and just returning something like 454 "old_val & mask" because that will not work. 455 456 For one thing, this return value gets truncated to int in many code 457 paths using these interfaces, so on 64-bit if the bit is set in the 458 upper 32-bits then testers will never see that. 459 460 One great example of where this problem crops up are the thread_info 461 flag operations. Routines such as test_and_set_ti_thread_flag() chop 462 the return value into an int. There are other places where things 463 like this occur as well. 464 465 These routines, like the atomic_t counter operations returning values, 466 require explicit memory barrier semantics around their execution. All 467 memory operations before the atomic bit operation call must be made 468 visible globally before the atomic bit operation is made visible. 469 Likewise, the atomic bit operation must be visible globally before any 470 subsequent memory operation is made visible. For example: 471 472 obj->dead = 1; 473 if (test_and_set_bit(0, &obj->flags)) 474 /* ... */; 475 obj->killed = 1; 476 477 The implementation of test_and_set_bit() must guarantee that 478 "obj->dead = 1;" is visible to cpus before the atomic memory operation 479 done by test_and_set_bit() becomes visible. Likewise, the atomic 480 memory operation done by test_and_set_bit() must become visible before 481 "obj->killed = 1;" is visible. 482 483 Finally there is the basic operation: 484 485 int test_bit(unsigned long nr, __const__ volatile unsigned long *addr); 486 487 Which returns a boolean indicating if bit "nr" is set in the bitmask 488 pointed to by "addr". 489 490 If explicit memory barriers are required around clear_bit() (which 491 does not return a value, and thus does not need to provide memory 492 barrier semantics), two interfaces are provided: 493 494 void smp_mb__before_clear_bit(void); 495 void smp_mb__after_clear_bit(void); 496 497 They are used as follows, and are akin to their atomic_t operation 498 brothers: 499 500 /* All memory operations before this call will 501 * be globally visible before the clear_bit(). 502 */ 503 smp_mb__before_clear_bit(); 504 clear_bit( ... ); 505 506 /* The clear_bit() will be visible before all 507 * subsequent memory operations. 508 */ 509 smp_mb__after_clear_bit(); 510 511 There are two special bitops with lock barrier semantics (acquire/release, 512 same as spinlocks). These operate in the same way as their non-_lock/unlock 513 postfixed variants, except that they are to provide acquire/release semantics, 514 respectively. This means they can be used for bit_spin_trylock and 515 bit_spin_unlock type operations without specifying any more barriers. 516 517 int test_and_set_bit_lock(unsigned long nr, unsigned long *addr); 518 void clear_bit_unlock(unsigned long nr, unsigned long *addr); 519 void __clear_bit_unlock(unsigned long nr, unsigned long *addr); 520 521 The __clear_bit_unlock version is non-atomic, however it still implements 522 unlock barrier semantics. This can be useful if the lock itself is protecting 523 the other bits in the word. 524 525 Finally, there are non-atomic versions of the bitmask operations 526 provided. They are used in contexts where some other higher-level SMP 527 locking scheme is being used to protect the bitmask, and thus less 528 expensive non-atomic operations may be used in the implementation. 529 They have names similar to the above bitmask operation interfaces, 530 except that two underscores are prefixed to the interface name. 531 532 void __set_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 533 void __clear_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 534 void __change_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 535 int __test_and_set_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 536 int __test_and_clear_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 537 int __test_and_change_bit(unsigned long nr, volatile unsigned long *addr); 538 539 These non-atomic variants also do not require any special memory 540 barrier semantics. 541 542 The routines xchg() and cmpxchg() need the same exact memory barriers 543 as the atomic and bit operations returning values. 544 545 Spinlocks and rwlocks have memory barrier expectations as well. 546 The rule to follow is simple: 547 548 1) When acquiring a lock, the implementation must make it globally 549 visible before any subsequent memory operation. 550 551 2) When releasing a lock, the implementation must make it such that 552 all previous memory operations are globally visible before the 553 lock release. 554 555 Which finally brings us to _atomic_dec_and_lock(). There is an 556 architecture-neutral version implemented in lib/dec_and_lock.c, 557 but most platforms will wish to optimize this in assembler. 558 559 int _atomic_dec_and_lock(atomic_t *atomic, spinlock_t *lock); 560 561 Atomically decrement the given counter, and if will drop to zero 562 atomically acquire the given spinlock and perform the decrement 563 of the counter to zero. If it does not drop to zero, do nothing 564 with the spinlock. 565 566 It is actually pretty simple to get the memory barrier correct. 567 Simply satisfy the spinlock grab requirements, which is make 568 sure the spinlock operation is globally visible before any 569 subsequent memory operation. 570 571 We can demonstrate this operation more clearly if we define 572 an abstract atomic operation: 573 574 long cas(long *mem, long old, long new); 575 576 "cas" stands for "compare and swap". It atomically: 577 578 1) Compares "old" with the value currently at "mem". 579 2) If they are equal, "new" is written to "mem". 580 3) Regardless, the current value at "mem" is returned. 581 582 As an example usage, here is what an atomic counter update 583 might look like: 584 585 void example_atomic_inc(long *counter) 586 { 587 long old, new, ret; 588 589 while (1) { 590 old = *counter; 591 new = old + 1; 592 593 ret = cas(counter, old, new); 594 if (ret == old) 595 break; 596 } 597 } 598 599 Let's use cas() in order to build a pseudo-C atomic_dec_and_lock(): 600 601 int _atomic_dec_and_lock(atomic_t *atomic, spinlock_t *lock) 602 { 603 long old, new, ret; 604 int went_to_zero; 605 606 went_to_zero = 0; 607 while (1) { 608 old = atomic_read(atomic); 609 new = old - 1; 610 if (new == 0) { 611 went_to_zero = 1; 612 spin_lock(lock); 613 } 614 ret = cas(atomic, old, new); 615 if (ret == old) 616 break; 617 if (went_to_zero) { 618 spin_unlock(lock); 619 went_to_zero = 0; 620 } 621 } 622 623 return went_to_zero; 624 } 625 626 Now, as far as memory barriers go, as long as spin_lock() 627 strictly orders all subsequent memory operations (including 628 the cas()) with respect to itself, things will be fine. 629 630 Said another way, _atomic_dec_and_lock() must guarantee that 631 a counter dropping to zero is never made visible before the 632 spinlock being acquired. 633 634 Note that this also means that for the case where the counter 635 is not dropping to zero, there are no memory ordering 636 requirements.