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Russell Kingtorvalds
Russell King
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Documentation/volatile-considered-harmful.txt: correct cpu_relax() documentation
cpu_relax() is documented in volatile-considered-harmful.txt to be a memory barrier. However, everyone with the exception of Blackfin and possibly ia64 defines cpu_relax() to be a compiler barrier. Make the documentation reflect the general concensus. Linus sayeth: : I don't think it was ever the intention that it would be seen as anything : but a compiler barrier, although it is obviously implied that it might : well perform some per-architecture actions that have "memory barrier-like" : semantics. : : After all, the whole and only point of the "cpu_relax()" thing is to tell : the CPU that we're busy-looping on some event. : : And that "event" might be (and often is) about reading the same memory : location over and over until it changes to what we want it to be. So it's : quite possible that on various architectures the "cpu_relax()" could be : about making sure that such a tight loop on loads doesn't starve cache : transactions, for example - and as such look a bit like a memory barrier : from a CPU standpoint. : : But it's not meant to have any kind of architectural memory ordering : semantics as far as the kernel is concerned - those must come from other : sources. Signed-off-by: Russell King <rmk+kernel@arm.linux.org.uk> Cc: <linux-arch@vger.kernel.org> Acked-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org> Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
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Documentation/volatile-considered-harmful.txt

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@@ -63,9 +63,9 @@ way to perform a busy wait is:
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cpu_relax();
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The cpu_relax() call can lower CPU power consumption or yield to a
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hyperthreaded twin processor; it also happens to serve as a memory barrier,
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so, once again, volatile is unnecessary. Of course, busy-waiting is
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generally an anti-social act to begin with.
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hyperthreaded twin processor; it also happens to serve as a compiler
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barrier, so, once again, volatile is unnecessary. Of course, busy-
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waiting is generally an anti-social act to begin with.
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There are still a few rare situations where volatile makes sense in the
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kernel:

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