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+this_cpu operations
+-------------------
+
+this_cpu operations are a way of optimizing access to per cpu
+variables associated with the *currently* executing processor. This is
+done through the use of segment registers (or a dedicated register where
+the cpu permanently stored the beginning of the per cpu	area for a
+specific processor).
+
+this_cpu operations add a per cpu variable offset to the processor
+specific per cpu base and encode that operation in the instruction
+operating on the per cpu variable.
+
+This means that there are no atomicity issues between the calculation of
+the offset and the operation on the data. Therefore it is not
+necessary to disable preemption or interrupts to ensure that the
+processor is not changed between the calculation of the address and
+the operation on the data.
+
+Read-modify-write operations are of particular interest. Frequently
+processors have special lower latency instructions that can operate
+without the typical synchronization overhead, but still provide some
+sort of relaxed atomicity guarantees. The x86, for example, can execute
+RMW (Read Modify Write) instructions like inc/dec/cmpxchg without the
+lock prefix and the associated latency penalty.
+
+Access to the variable without the lock prefix is not synchronized but
+synchronization is not necessary since we are dealing with per cpu
+data specific to the currently executing processor. Only the current
+processor should be accessing that variable and therefore there are no
+concurrency issues with other processors in the system.
+
+Please note that accesses by remote processors to a per cpu area are
+exceptional situations and may impact performance and/or correctness
+(remote write operations) of local RMW operations via this_cpu_*.
+
+The main use of the this_cpu operations has been to optimize counter
+operations.
+
+The following this_cpu() operations with implied preemption protection
+are defined. These operations can be used without worrying about
+preemption and interrupts.
+
+	this_cpu_read(pcp)
+	this_cpu_write(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_add(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_and(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_or(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_add_return(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_xchg(pcp, nval)
+	this_cpu_cmpxchg(pcp, oval, nval)
+	this_cpu_cmpxchg_double(pcp1, pcp2, oval1, oval2, nval1, nval2)
+	this_cpu_sub(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_inc(pcp)
+	this_cpu_dec(pcp)
+	this_cpu_sub_return(pcp, val)
+	this_cpu_inc_return(pcp)
+	this_cpu_dec_return(pcp)
+
+
+Inner working of this_cpu operations
+------------------------------------
+
+On x86 the fs: or the gs: segment registers contain the base of the
+per cpu area. It is then possible to simply use the segment override
+to relocate a per cpu relative address to the proper per cpu area for
+the processor. So the relocation to the per cpu base is encoded in the
+instruction via a segment register prefix.
+
+For example:
+
+	DEFINE_PER_CPU(int, x);
+	int z;
+
+	z = this_cpu_read(x);
+
+results in a single instruction
+
+	mov ax, gs:[x]
+
+instead of a sequence of calculation of the address and then a fetch
+from that address which occurs with the per cpu operations. Before
+this_cpu_ops such sequence also required preempt disable/enable to
+prevent the kernel from moving the thread to a different processor
+while the calculation is performed.
+
+Consider the following this_cpu operation:
+
+	this_cpu_inc(x)
+
+The above results in the following single instruction (no lock prefix!)
+
+	inc gs:[x]
+
+instead of the following operations required if there is no segment
+register:
+
+	int *y;
+	int cpu;
+
+	cpu = get_cpu();
+	y = per_cpu_ptr(&x, cpu);
+	(*y)++;
+	put_cpu();
+
+Note that these operations can only be used on per cpu data that is
+reserved for a specific processor. Without disabling preemption in the
+surrounding code this_cpu_inc() will only guarantee that one of the
+per cpu counters is correctly incremented. However, there is no
+guarantee that the OS will not move the process directly before or
+after the this_cpu instruction is executed. In general this means that
+the value of the individual counters for each processor are
+meaningless. The sum of all the per cpu counters is the only value
+that is of interest.
+
+Per cpu variables are used for performance reasons. Bouncing cache
+lines can be avoided if multiple processors concurrently go through
+the same code paths.  Since each processor has its own per cpu
+variables no concurrent cache line updates take place. The price that
+has to be paid for this optimization is the need to add up the per cpu
+counters when the value of a counter is needed.
+
+
+Special operations:
+-------------------
+
+	y = this_cpu_ptr(&x)
+
+Takes the offset of a per cpu variable (&x !) and returns the address
+of the per cpu variable that belongs to the currently executing
+processor.  this_cpu_ptr avoids multiple steps that the common
+get_cpu/put_cpu sequence requires. No processor number is
+available. Instead, the offset of the local per cpu area is simply
+added to the per cpu offset.
+
+Note that this operation is usually used in a code segment when
+preemption has been disabled. The pointer is then used to
+access local per cpu data in a critical section. When preemption
+is re-enabled this pointer is usually no longer useful since it may
+no longer point to per cpu data of the current processor.
+
+
+Per cpu variables and offsets
+-----------------------------
+
+Per cpu variables have *offsets* to the beginning of the per cpu
+area. They do not have addresses although they look like that in the
+code. Offsets cannot be directly dereferenced. The offset must be
+added to a base pointer of a per cpu area of a processor in order to
+form a valid address.
+
+Therefore the use of x or &x outside of the context of per cpu
+operations is invalid and will generally be treated like a NULL
+pointer dereference.
+
+	DEFINE_PER_CPU(int, x);
+
+In the context of per cpu operations the above implies that x is a per
+cpu variable. Most this_cpu operations take a cpu variable.
+
+	int __percpu *p = &x;
+
+&x and hence p is the *offset* of a per cpu variable. this_cpu_ptr()
+takes the offset of a per cpu variable which makes this look a bit
+strange.
+
+
+Operations on a field of a per cpu structure
+--------------------------------------------
+
+Let's say we have a percpu structure
+
+	struct s {
+		int n,m;
+	};
+
+	DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct s, p);
+
+
+Operations on these fields are straightforward
+
+	this_cpu_inc(p.m)
+
+	z = this_cpu_cmpxchg(p.m, 0, 1);
+
+
+If we have an offset to struct s:
+
+	struct s __percpu *ps = &p;
+
+	this_cpu_dec(ps->m);
+
+	z = this_cpu_inc_return(ps->n);
+
+
+The calculation of the pointer may require the use of this_cpu_ptr()
+if we do not make use of this_cpu ops later to manipulate fields:
+
+	struct s *pp;
+
+	pp = this_cpu_ptr(&p);
+
+	pp->m--;
+
+	z = pp->n++;
+
+
+Variants of this_cpu ops
+-------------------------
+
+this_cpu ops are interrupt safe. Some architectures do not support
+these per cpu local operations. In that case the operation must be
+replaced by code that disables interrupts, then does the operations
+that are guaranteed to be atomic and then re-enable interrupts. Doing
+so is expensive. If there are other reasons why the scheduler cannot
+change the processor we are executing on then there is no reason to
+disable interrupts. For that purpose the following __this_cpu operations
+are provided.
+
+These operations have no guarantee against concurrent interrupts or
+preemption. If a per cpu variable is not used in an interrupt context
+and the scheduler cannot preempt, then they are safe. If any interrupts
+still occur while an operation is in progress and if the interrupt too
+modifies the variable, then RMW actions can not be guaranteed to be
+safe.
+
+	__this_cpu_read(pcp)
+	__this_cpu_write(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_add(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_and(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_or(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_add_return(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_xchg(pcp, nval)
+	__this_cpu_cmpxchg(pcp, oval, nval)
+	__this_cpu_cmpxchg_double(pcp1, pcp2, oval1, oval2, nval1, nval2)
+	__this_cpu_sub(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_inc(pcp)
+	__this_cpu_dec(pcp)
+	__this_cpu_sub_return(pcp, val)
+	__this_cpu_inc_return(pcp)
+	__this_cpu_dec_return(pcp)
+
+
+Will increment x and will not fall-back to code that disables
+interrupts on platforms that cannot accomplish atomicity through
+address relocation and a Read-Modify-Write operation in the same
+instruction.
+
+
+&this_cpu_ptr(pp)->n vs this_cpu_ptr(&pp->n)
+--------------------------------------------
+
+The first operation takes the offset and forms an address and then
+adds the offset of the n field. This may result in two add
+instructions emitted by the compiler.
+
+The second one first adds the two offsets and then does the
+relocation.  IMHO the second form looks cleaner and has an easier time
+with (). The second form also is consistent with the way
+this_cpu_read() and friends are used.
+
+
+Remote access to per cpu data
+------------------------------
+
+Per cpu data structures are designed to be used by one cpu exclusively.
+If you use the variables as intended, this_cpu_ops() are guaranteed to
+be "atomic" as no other CPU has access to these data structures.
+
+There are special cases where you might need to access per cpu data
+structures remotely. It is usually safe to do a remote read access
+and that is frequently done to summarize counters. Remote write access
+something which could be problematic because this_cpu ops do not
+have lock semantics. A remote write may interfere with a this_cpu
+RMW operation.
+
+Remote write accesses to percpu data structures are highly discouraged
+unless absolutely necessary. Please consider using an IPI to wake up
+the remote CPU and perform the update to its per cpu area.
+
+To access per-cpu data structure remotely, typically the per_cpu_ptr()
+function is used:
+
+
+	DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct data, datap);
+
+	struct data *p = per_cpu_ptr(&datap, cpu);
+
+This makes it explicit that we are getting ready to access a percpu
+area remotely.
+
+You can also do the following to convert the datap offset to an address
+
+	struct data *p = this_cpu_ptr(&datap);
+
+but, passing of pointers calculated via this_cpu_ptr to other cpus is
+unusual and should be avoided.
+
+Remote access are typically only for reading the status of another cpus
+per cpu data. Write accesses can cause unique problems due to the
+relaxed synchronization requirements for this_cpu operations.
+
+One example that illustrates some concerns with write operations is
+the following scenario that occurs because two per cpu variables
+share a cache-line but the relaxed synchronization is applied to
+only one process updating the cache-line.
+
+Consider the following example
+
+
+	struct test {
+		atomic_t a;
+		int b;
+	};
+
+	DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct test, onecacheline);
+
+There is some concern about what would happen if the field 'a' is updated
+remotely from one processor and the local processor would use this_cpu ops
+to update field b. Care should be taken that such simultaneous accesses to
+data within the same cache line are avoided. Also costly synchronization
+may be necessary. IPIs are generally recommended in such scenarios instead
+of a remote write to the per cpu area of another processor.
+
+Even in cases where the remote writes are rare, please bear in
+mind that a remote write will evict the cache line from the processor
+that most likely will access it. If the processor wakes up and finds a
+missing local cache line of a per cpu area, its performance and hence
+the wake up times will be affected.
+
+Christoph Lameter, August 4th, 2014
+Pranith Kumar, Aug 2nd, 2014