On Tue, Aug 27, 2002 at 09:58:45PM +0200, Andi Kleen wrote:
> Is it supposed to only work on 64bit or do you plan to supply it for 32
> bit too? If no, I don't see how drivers etc. should ever use it. linux
> is supposed to have a common kernel api.
> If yes, the implementation on 32bit could be a problem. e.g. some
> archs need space in there for spinlocks, so it would be needed to limit
> the usable range.
There are a couple of options for implementations to use that don't
require space for a spinlock: a hash table of spinlocks can be used
to protect the data (parisc uses this technique). Andrea's lockless
reader locks could be useful in this case. Most x86es can use cmpxchg8,
and the 64 bit machines are already set. I suspect it would be a useful
addition to the kernel APIs.
-ben
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Aug 31 2002 - 22:00:20 EST