On Fri, Jan 15, 2016 at 10:13:48AM +0100, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 15, 2016 at 09:55:54AM +0100, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> > On Thu, Jan 14, 2016 at 01:29:13PM -0800, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> > > So smp_mb() provides transitivity, as do pairs of smp_store_release()
> > > and smp_read_acquire(),
> >
> > But they provide different grades of transitivity, which is where all
> > the confusion lays.
> >
> > smp_mb() is strongly/globally transitive, all CPUs will agree on the order.
> >
> > Whereas the RCpc release+acquire is weakly so, only the two cpus
> > involved in the handover will agree on the order.
>
> And the stuff we're confused about is how best to express the difference
> and guarantees of these two forms of transitivity and how exactly they
> interact.
Hoping my memory-barrier.txt patch helps here...
> And smp_load_acquire()/smp_store_release() are RCpc because TSO archs
> and PPC. the atomic*_{acquire,release}() are RCpc because PPC and
> LOCK,UNLOCK are similarly RCpc because of PPC.
>
> Now we'd like PPC to stick a SYNC in either LOCK or UNLOCK so at least
> the locks are RCsc again, but they resist for performance reasons but
> waver because they don't want to be the ones finding all the nasty bugs
> because they're the only one.
I believe that the relevant proverb said something about starving to
death between two bales of hay... ;-)
> Now the thing I worry about, and still have not had an answer to is if
> weakly ordered MIPS will end up being RCsc or RCpc for their locks if
> they get implemented with SYNC_ACQUIRE and SYNC_RELEASE instead of the
> current SYNC.
It would be good to have better clarity on this, no two ways about it.
Thanx, Paul
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