Initial file dump from open source releaseHEADmaster

1 files changed, 123 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt b/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..141d531a
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+++ b/Documentation/RCU/rcuref.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+Reference-count design for elements of lists/arrays protected by RCU.
+
+Reference counting on elements of lists which are protected by traditional
+reader/writer spinlocks or semaphores are straightforward:
+
+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)	    ...
+    ...					    remove_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 atomic_inc() in
+search_and_reference() could potentially hold reference to an element which
+has already been deleted from the list/array.  Use atomic_inc_not_zero()
+in this scenario as follows:
+
+1.					2.
+add()					search_and_reference()
+{					{
+    alloc_object			    rcu_read_lock();
+    ...					    search_for_element
+    atomic_set(&el->rc, 1);		    if (!atomic_inc_not_zero(&el->rc)) {
+    spin_lock(&list_lock);		        rcu_read_unlock();
+					        return FAIL;
+    add_element				    }
+    ...					    ...
+    spin_unlock(&list_lock);		    rcu_read_unlock();
+}					}
+3.					4.
+release_referenced()			delete()
+{					{
+    ...					    spin_lock(&list_lock);
+    if (atomic_dec_and_test(&el->rc))       ...
+        call_rcu(&el->head, el_free);       remove_element
+    ...                                     spin_unlock(&list_lock);
+} 					    ...
+					    if (atomic_dec_and_test(&el->rc))
+					        call_rcu(&el->head, el_free);
+					    ...
+					}
+
+Sometimes, a reference to the element needs to be obtained in the
+update (write) stream.  In such cases, atomic_inc_not_zero() might be
+overkill, since we hold the update-side spinlock.  One might instead
+use atomic_inc() in such cases.
+
+It is not always convenient to deal with "FAIL" in the
+search_and_reference() code path.  In such cases, the
+atomic_dec_and_test() may be moved from delete() to el_free()
+as follows:
+
+1.					2.
+add()					search_and_reference()
+{					{
+    alloc_object			    rcu_read_lock();
+    ...					    search_for_element
+    atomic_set(&el->rc, 1);		    atomic_inc(&el->rc);
+    spin_lock(&list_lock);		    ...
+
+    add_element				    rcu_read_unlock();
+    ...					}
+    spin_unlock(&list_lock);		4.
+}					delete()
+3.					{
+release_referenced()			    spin_lock(&list_lock);
+{					    ...
+    ...					    remove_element
+    if (atomic_dec_and_test(&el->rc))       spin_unlock(&list_lock);
+        kfree(el);			    ...
+    ...                                     call_rcu(&el->head, el_free);
+} 					    ...
+5.					}
+void el_free(struct rcu_head *rhp)
+{
+    release_referenced();
+}
+
+The key point is that the initial reference added by add() is not removed
+until after a grace period has elapsed following removal.  This means that
+search_and_reference() cannot find this element, which means that the value
+of el->rc cannot increase.  Thus, once it reaches zero, there are no
+readers that can or ever will be able to reference the element.  The
+element can therefore safely be freed.  This in turn guarantees that if
+any reader finds the element, that reader may safely acquire a reference
+without checking the value of the reference counter.
+
+In cases where delete() can sleep, synchronize_rcu() can be called from
+delete(), so that el_free() can be subsumed into delete as follows:
+
+4.
+delete()
+{
+    spin_lock(&list_lock);
+    ...
+    remove_element
+    spin_unlock(&list_lock);
+    ...
+    synchronize_rcu();
+    if (atomic_dec_and_test(&el->rc))
+    	kfree(el);
+    ...
+}