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+RCU Concepts
+
+
+The basic idea behind RCU (read-copy update) is to split destructive
+operations into two parts, one that prevents anyone from seeing the data
+item being destroyed, and one that actually carries out the destruction.
+A "grace period" must elapse between the two parts, and this grace period
+must be long enough that any readers accessing the item being deleted have
+since dropped their references. For example, an RCU-protected deletion
+from a linked list would first remove the item from the list, wait for
+a grace period to elapse, then free the element. See the listRCU.txt
+file for more information on using RCU with linked lists.
+
+
+Frequently Asked Questions
+
+o Why would anyone want to use RCU?
+
+ The advantage of RCU's two-part approach is that RCU readers need
+ not acquire any locks, perform any atomic instructions, write to
+ shared memory, or (on CPUs other than Alpha) execute any memory
+ barriers. The fact that these operations are quite expensive
+ on modern CPUs is what gives RCU its performance advantages
+ in read-mostly situations. The fact that RCU readers need not
+ acquire locks can also greatly simplify deadlock-avoidance code.
+
+o How can the updater tell when a grace period has completed
+ if the RCU readers give no indication when they are done?
+
+ Just as with spinlocks, RCU readers are not permitted to
+ block, switch to user-mode execution, or enter the idle loop.
+ Therefore, as soon as a CPU is seen passing through any of these
+ three states, we know that that CPU has exited any previous RCU
+ read-side critical sections. So, if we remove an item from a
+ linked list, and then wait until all CPUs have switched context,
+ executed in user mode, or executed in the idle loop, we can
+ safely free up that item.
+
+ Preemptible variants of RCU (CONFIG_PREEMPT_RCU) get the
+ same effect, but require that the readers manipulate CPU-local
+ counters. These counters allow limited types of blocking within
+ RCU read-side critical sections. SRCU also uses CPU-local
+ counters, and permits general blocking within RCU read-side
+ critical sections. These variants of RCU detect grace periods
+ by sampling these counters.
+
+o If I am running on a uniprocessor kernel, which can only do one
+ thing at a time, why should I wait for a grace period?
+
+ See the UP.txt file in this directory.
+
+o How can I see where RCU is currently used in the Linux kernel?
+
+ Search for "rcu_read_lock", "rcu_read_unlock", "call_rcu",
+ "rcu_read_lock_bh", "rcu_read_unlock_bh", "call_rcu_bh",
+ "srcu_read_lock", "srcu_read_unlock", "synchronize_rcu",
+ "synchronize_net", "synchronize_srcu", and the other RCU
+ primitives. Or grab one of the cscope databases from:
+
+ http://www.rdrop.com/users/paulmck/RCU/linuxusage/rculocktab.html
+
+o What guidelines should I follow when writing code that uses RCU?
+
+ See the checklist.txt file in this directory.
+
+o Why the name "RCU"?
+
+ "RCU" stands for "read-copy update". The file listRCU.txt has
+ more information on where this name came from, search for
+ "read-copy update" to find it.
+
+o I hear that RCU is patented? What is with that?
+
+ Yes, it is. There are several known patents related to RCU,
+ search for the string "Patent" in RTFP.txt to find them.
+ Of these, one was allowed to lapse by the assignee, and the
+ others have been contributed to the Linux kernel under GPL.
+ There are now also LGPL implementations of user-level RCU
+ available (http://lttng.org/?q=node/18).
+
+o I hear that RCU needs work in order to support realtime kernels?
+
+ This work is largely completed. Realtime-friendly RCU can be
+ enabled via the CONFIG_PREEMPT_RCU kernel configuration
+ parameter. However, work is in progress for enabling priority
+ boosting of preempted RCU read-side critical sections. This is
+ needed if you have CPU-bound realtime threads.
+
+o Where can I find more information on RCU?
+
+ See the RTFP.txt file in this directory.
+ Or point your browser at http://www.rdrop.com/users/paulmck/RCU/.
+
+o What are all these files in this directory?
+
+ See 00-INDEX for the list.