[urcu.git] / doc / rcu-api.txt

Userspace RCU API
by Mathieu Desnoyers and Paul E. McKenney


void rcu_init(void);

	This must be called before any of the following functions
	are invoked.

void rcu_read_lock(void);

	Begin an RCU read-side critical section.  These critical
	sections may be nested.

void rcu_read_unlock(void);

	End an RCU read-side critical section.

void rcu_register_thread(void);

	Each thread must invoke this function before its first call to
	rcu_read_lock().  Threads that never call rcu_read_lock() need
	not invoke this function.  In addition, rcu-bp ("bullet proof"
	RCU) does not require any thread to invoke rcu_register_thread().

void rcu_unregister_thread(void);

	Each thread that invokes rcu_register_thread() must invoke
	rcu_unregister_thread() before invoking pthread_exit()
	or before returning from its top-level function.

void synchronize_rcu(void);

	Wait until every pre-existing RCU read-side critical section
	has completed.  Note that this primitive will not necessarily
	wait for RCU read-side critical sections that have not yet
	started: this is not a reader-writer lock.  The duration
	actually waited is called an RCU grace period.

void call_rcu(struct rcu_head *head,
	      void (*func)(struct rcu_head *head));

	Registers the callback indicated by "head".  This means
	that "func" will be invoked after the end of a future
	RCU grace period.  The rcu_head structure referenced
	by "head" will normally be a field in a larger RCU-protected
	structure.  A typical implementation of "func" is as
	follows:

		void func(struct rcu_head *head)
		{
			struct foo *p = container_of(head, struct foo, rcu);

			free(p);
		}

	This RCU callback function can be registered as follows
	given a pointer "p" to the enclosing structure:

		call_rcu(&p->rcu, func);

	call_rcu should be called from registered RCU read-side threads.
	For the QSBR flavor, the caller should be online.

struct call_rcu_data *create_call_rcu_data(unsigned long flags,
					   int cpu_affinity);

	Returns a handle that can be passed to the following
	primitives.  The "flags" argument can be zero, or can be
	URCU_CALL_RCU_RT if the worker threads associated with the
	new helper thread are to get real-time response. The argument
	"cpu_affinity" specifies a cpu on which the call_rcu thread should
	be affined to. It is ignored if negative.

struct call_rcu_data *get_default_call_rcu_data(void);

	Returns the handle of the default call_rcu() helper thread.

struct call_rcu_data *get_call_rcu_data(void);

	Returns the handle of the current thread's call_rcu() helper
	thread, which might well be the default helper thread.
	get_call_rcu_data should be called from registered RCU read-side
	threads.  For the QSBR flavor, the caller should be online.

void call_rcu_data_free(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);

	Terminates a call_rcu() helper thread and frees its associated
	data.  The caller must have ensured that this thread is no longer
	in use, for example, by passing NULL to set_thread_call_rcu_data()
	and set_cpu_call_rcu_data() as required.

struct call_rcu_data *get_default_call_rcu_data(void);

	Returns the handle for the default call_rcu() helper thread.
	Creates it if necessary.

struct call_rcu_data *get_cpu_call_rcu_data(int cpu);

	Returns the handle for the current cpu's call_rcu() helper
	thread, or NULL if the current CPU has no helper thread
	currently assigned. The call to this function and use of the
	returned call_rcu_data should be protected by RCU read-side
	lock.

struct call_rcu_data *get_thread_call_rcu_data(void);

	Returns the handle for the current thread's hard-assigned
	call_rcu() helper thread, or NULL if the current thread is
	instead using a per-CPU or the default helper thread.

struct call_rcu_data *get_call_rcu_data(void);

	Returns the handle for the current thread's call_rcu() helper
	thread, which is either, in increasing order of preference:
	per-thread hard-assigned helper thread, per-cpu helper thread,
	or default helper thread.

pthread_t get_call_rcu_thread(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);

	Returns the helper thread's pthread identifier linked to a call
	rcu helper thread data.

void set_thread_call_rcu_data(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);

	Sets the current thread's hard-assigned call_rcu() helper to the
	handle specified by "crdp".  Note that "crdp" can be NULL to
	disassociate this thread from its helper.  Once a thread is
	disassociated from its helper, further call_rcu() invocations
	use the current CPU's helper if there is one and the default
	helper otherwise.

int set_cpu_call_rcu_data(int cpu, struct call_rcu_data *crdp);

	Sets the specified CPU's call_rcu() helper to the handle
	specified by "crdp".  Again, "crdp" can be NULL to disassociate
	this CPU from its helper thread.  Once a CPU has been
	disassociated from its helper, further call_rcu() invocations
	that would otherwise have used this CPU's helper will instead
	use the default helper.  The caller must wait for a grace-period
	to pass between return from set_cpu_call_rcu_data() and call to
	call_rcu_data_free() passing the previous call rcu data as
	argument.

int create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data(unsigned long flags)

	Creates a separate call_rcu() helper thread for each CPU.
	After this primitive is invoked, the global default call_rcu()
	helper thread will not be called.

	The set_thread_call_rcu_data(), set_cpu_call_rcu_data(), and
	create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data() functions may be combined to set up
	pretty much any desired association between worker and call_rcu()
	helper threads.  If a given executable calls only call_rcu(),
	then that executable will have only the single global default
	call_rcu() helper thread.  This will suffice in most cases.

void free_all_cpu_call_rcu_data(void);

	Clean up all the per-CPU call_rcu threads. Should be paired with
	create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data() to perform teardown. Note that
	this function invokes synchronize_rcu() internally, so the
	caller should be careful not to hold mutexes (or mutexes within a
	dependency chain) that are also taken within a RCU read-side
	critical section, or in a section where QSBR threads are online.

void call_rcu_after_fork_child(void);

	Should be used as pthread_atfork() handler for programs using
	call_rcu and performing fork() or clone() without a following
	exec().
Commit	Line	Data
	1	Userspace RCU API
	2	by Mathieu Desnoyers and Paul E. McKenney
	3
	4
	5	void rcu_init(void);
	6
	7	This must be called before any of the following functions
	8	are invoked.
	9
	10	void rcu_read_lock(void);
	11
	12	Begin an RCU read-side critical section. These critical
	13	sections may be nested.
	14
	15	void rcu_read_unlock(void);
	16
	17	End an RCU read-side critical section.
	18
	19	void rcu_register_thread(void);
	20
	21	Each thread must invoke this function before its first call to
	22	rcu_read_lock(). Threads that never call rcu_read_lock() need
	23	not invoke this function. In addition, rcu-bp ("bullet proof"
	24	RCU) does not require any thread to invoke rcu_register_thread().
	25
	26	void rcu_unregister_thread(void);
	27
	28	Each thread that invokes rcu_register_thread() must invoke
	29	rcu_unregister_thread() before invoking pthread_exit()
	30	or before returning from its top-level function.
	31
	32	void synchronize_rcu(void);
	33
	34	Wait until every pre-existing RCU read-side critical section
	35	has completed. Note that this primitive will not necessarily
	36	wait for RCU read-side critical sections that have not yet
	37	started: this is not a reader-writer lock. The duration
	38	actually waited is called an RCU grace period.
	39
	40	void call_rcu(struct rcu_head *head,
	41	void (func)(struct rcu_head head));
	42
	43	Registers the callback indicated by "head". This means
	44	that "func" will be invoked after the end of a future
	45	RCU grace period. The rcu_head structure referenced
	46	by "head" will normally be a field in a larger RCU-protected
	47	structure. A typical implementation of "func" is as
	48	follows:
	49
	50	void func(struct rcu_head *head)
	51	{
	52	struct foo *p = container_of(head, struct foo, rcu);
	53
	54	free(p);
	55	}
	56
	57	This RCU callback function can be registered as follows
	58	given a pointer "p" to the enclosing structure:
	59
	60	call_rcu(&p->rcu, func);
	61
	62	call_rcu should be called from registered RCU read-side threads.
	63	For the QSBR flavor, the caller should be online.
	64
	65	struct call_rcu_data *create_call_rcu_data(unsigned long flags,
	66	int cpu_affinity);
	67
	68	Returns a handle that can be passed to the following
	69	primitives. The "flags" argument can be zero, or can be
	70	URCU_CALL_RCU_RT if the worker threads associated with the
	71	new helper thread are to get real-time response. The argument
	72	"cpu_affinity" specifies a cpu on which the call_rcu thread should
	73	be affined to. It is ignored if negative.
	74
	75	struct call_rcu_data *get_default_call_rcu_data(void);
	76
	77	Returns the handle of the default call_rcu() helper thread.
	78
	79	struct call_rcu_data *get_call_rcu_data(void);
	80
	81	Returns the handle of the current thread's call_rcu() helper
	82	thread, which might well be the default helper thread.
	83	get_call_rcu_data should be called from registered RCU read-side
	84	threads. For the QSBR flavor, the caller should be online.
	85
	86	void call_rcu_data_free(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);
	87
	88	Terminates a call_rcu() helper thread and frees its associated
	89	data. The caller must have ensured that this thread is no longer
	90	in use, for example, by passing NULL to set_thread_call_rcu_data()
	91	and set_cpu_call_rcu_data() as required.
	92
	93	struct call_rcu_data *get_default_call_rcu_data(void);
	94
	95	Returns the handle for the default call_rcu() helper thread.
	96	Creates it if necessary.
	97
	98	struct call_rcu_data *get_cpu_call_rcu_data(int cpu);
	99
	100	Returns the handle for the current cpu's call_rcu() helper
	101	thread, or NULL if the current CPU has no helper thread
	102	currently assigned. The call to this function and use of the
	103	returned call_rcu_data should be protected by RCU read-side
	104	lock.
	105
	106	struct call_rcu_data *get_thread_call_rcu_data(void);
	107
	108	Returns the handle for the current thread's hard-assigned
	109	call_rcu() helper thread, or NULL if the current thread is
	110	instead using a per-CPU or the default helper thread.
	111
	112	struct call_rcu_data *get_call_rcu_data(void);
	113
	114	Returns the handle for the current thread's call_rcu() helper
	115	thread, which is either, in increasing order of preference:
	116	per-thread hard-assigned helper thread, per-cpu helper thread,
	117	or default helper thread.
	118
	119	pthread_t get_call_rcu_thread(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);
	120
	121	Returns the helper thread's pthread identifier linked to a call
	122	rcu helper thread data.
	123
	124	void set_thread_call_rcu_data(struct call_rcu_data *crdp);
	125
	126	Sets the current thread's hard-assigned call_rcu() helper to the
	127	handle specified by "crdp". Note that "crdp" can be NULL to
	128	disassociate this thread from its helper. Once a thread is
	129	disassociated from its helper, further call_rcu() invocations
	130	use the current CPU's helper if there is one and the default
	131	helper otherwise.
	132
	133	int set_cpu_call_rcu_data(int cpu, struct call_rcu_data *crdp);
	134
	135	Sets the specified CPU's call_rcu() helper to the handle
	136	specified by "crdp". Again, "crdp" can be NULL to disassociate
	137	this CPU from its helper thread. Once a CPU has been
	138	disassociated from its helper, further call_rcu() invocations
	139	that would otherwise have used this CPU's helper will instead
	140	use the default helper. The caller must wait for a grace-period
	141	to pass between return from set_cpu_call_rcu_data() and call to
	142	call_rcu_data_free() passing the previous call rcu data as
	143	argument.
	144
	145	int create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data(unsigned long flags)
	146
	147	Creates a separate call_rcu() helper thread for each CPU.
	148	After this primitive is invoked, the global default call_rcu()
	149	helper thread will not be called.
	150
	151	The set_thread_call_rcu_data(), set_cpu_call_rcu_data(), and
	152	create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data() functions may be combined to set up
	153	pretty much any desired association between worker and call_rcu()
	154	helper threads. If a given executable calls only call_rcu(),
	155	then that executable will have only the single global default
	156	call_rcu() helper thread. This will suffice in most cases.
	157
	158	void free_all_cpu_call_rcu_data(void);
	159
	160	Clean up all the per-CPU call_rcu threads. Should be paired with
	161	create_all_cpu_call_rcu_data() to perform teardown. Note that
	162	this function invokes synchronize_rcu() internally, so the
	163	caller should be careful not to hold mutexes (or mutexes within a
	164	dependency chain) that are also taken within a RCU read-side
	165	critical section, or in a section where QSBR threads are online.
	166
	167	void call_rcu_after_fork_child(void);
	168
	169	Should be used as pthread_atfork() handler for programs using
	170	call_rcu and performing fork() or clone() without a following
	171	exec().