xref: /dragonfly/share/man/man9/spinlock.9 (revision 33311965)
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31.Dd January 15, 2014
32.Dt SPINLOCK 9
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm spin_init ,
36.Nm spin_lock ,
37.Nm spin_lock_quick ,
38.Nm spin_trylock ,
39.Nm spin_uninit ,
40.Nm spin_unlock ,
41.Nm spin_unlock_quick ,
42.Nm spin_pool_lock ,
43.Nm spin_pool_unlock
44.Nd core spinlocks
45.Sh SYNOPSIS
46.In sys/spinlock.h
47.In sys/spinlock2.h
48.Ft void
49.Fn spin_init "struct spinlock *mtx"
50.Ft void
51.Fn spin_uninit "struct spinlock *mtx"
52.Ft void
53.Fn spin_lock "struct spinlock *mtx"
54.Ft void
55.Fn spin_lock_quick "globaldata_t gd" "struct spinlock *mtx"
56.Ft boolean_t
57.Fn spin_trylock "struct spinlock *mtx"
58.Ft void
59.Fn spin_unlock "struct spinlock *mtx"
60.Ft void
61.Fn spin_unlock_quick "globaldata_t gd" "struct spinlock *mtx"
62.Sh DESCRIPTION
63The
64.Fa spinlock
65structure and call API are defined in the
66.In sys/spinlock.h
67and
68.In sys/spinlock2.h
69header files, respectively.
70.Pp
71The
72.Fn spin_init
73function initializes a new
74.Fa spinlock
75structure for use.
76The structure is cleaned up with
77.Fn spin_uninit
78when it is no longer needed.
79.Pp
80The
81.Fn spin_lock
82function obtains an exclusive
83.Em read-write
84spinlock.
85A thread may hold any number of exclusive spinlocks but should always
86be mindful of ordering deadlocks.
87The
88.Fn spin_trylock
89function will return
90.Dv TRUE
91if the spinlock was successfully obtained and
92.Dv FALSE
93if it wasn't.
94If you have the current CPU's
95.Fa globaldata
96pointer in hand you can call
97.Fn spin_lock_quick ,
98but most code will just call the normal version.
99A spinlock used only for exclusive access has about the same overhead
100as a mutex based on a locked bus cycle.
101.Pp
102A previously obtained exclusive spinlock is released by calling either
103.Fn spin_unlock
104or
105.Fn spin_unlock_quick .
106.Pp
107The
108.Fn spin_pool_lock
109function locks a pool spinlock associated with a given address.
110The spinlock's lifetime is not tied to any objects at the address.
111The function returns the locked spinlock.
112The
113.Fn spin_pool_unlock
114function unlocks a pool spinlock associated with an address.
115Pool spinlocks need not be initialized.
116.Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
117A thread may not hold any spinlock across a blocking condition or
118thread switch.
119LWKT tokens should be used for situations where you want an exclusive
120run-time lock that will survive a blocking condition or thread switch.
121Tokens will be automatically unlocked when a thread switches away and
122relocked when the thread is switched back in.
123If you want a lock that survives a blocking condition or thread switch
124without being released, use
125.Xr lockmgr 9
126locks or LWKT reader/writer locks.
127.Pp
128.Dx Ap s
129core spinlocks should only be used around small contained sections of
130code.
131For example, to manage a reference count or to implement higher level
132locking mechanisms.
133Both the token code and the
134.Xr lockmgr 9
135code use exclusive spinlocks internally.
136Core spinlocks should not be used around large chunks of code.
137.Pp
138Holding one or more spinlocks will disable thread preemption by
139another thread (e.g. preemption by an interrupt thread),
140and will prevent FAST interrupts or IPIs from running.
141This means that a FAST interrupt, IPI and any threaded interrupt
142(which is basically all interrupts except the clock interrupt)
143will still be scheduled for later execution,
144but will not be able to preempt the current thread.
145.Pp
146A thread may hold any number of exclusive
147.Em read-write
148spinlocks.
149.Pp
150Spinlocks spin.
151A thread will not block, switch away, or lose its critical section
152while obtaining or releasing a spinlock.
153Spinlocks do not use IPIs or other mechanisms.
154They are considered to be a very low level mechanism.
155.Pp
156If a spinlock can not be obtained after one second a warning will be
157printed on the console.
158If a system panic occurs, spinlocks will succeed after one second in
159order to allow the panic operation to proceed.
160.Pp
161If you have a complex structure such as a
162.Xr vnode 9
163which contains a token or
164.Xr lockmgr 9
165lock, it is legal to directly access the internal spinlock embedded
166in those structures for other purposes as long as the spinlock is not
167held when you issue the token or
168.Xr lockmgr 9
169operation.
170.Sh FILES
171The uncontended path of the spinlock implementation is in
172.Pa /sys/sys/spinlock2.h .
173The core of the spinlock implementation is in
174.Pa /sys/kern/kern_spinlock.c .
175.Sh SEE ALSO
176.Xr crit_enter 9 ,
177.Xr lockmgr 9 ,
178.Xr serializer 9
179.Sh HISTORY
180A
181.Nm spinlock
182implementation first appeared in
183.Dx 1.3 .
184.Sh AUTHORS
185.An -nosplit
186The original
187.Nm spinlock
188implementation was written by
189.An Jeffrey M. Hsu
190and was later extended by
191.An Matthew Dillon .
192This manual page was written by
193.An Matthew Dillon
194and
195.An Sascha Wildner .
196