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NAME

       membarrier - issue memory barriers on a set of threads

LIBRARY

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <linux/membarrier.h> /* Definition of MEMBARRIER_* constants */
       #include <sys/syscall.h>      /* Definition of SYS_* constants */
       #include <unistd.h>

       int syscall(SYS_membarrier, int cmd, unsigned int flags, int cpu_id);

       Note: glibc provides no wrapper for membarrier(), necessitating the use of syscall(2).

DESCRIPTION

       The   membarrier()  system  call  helps  reducing  the  overhead  of  the  memory  barrier
       instructions required to order memory  accesses  on  multi-core  systems.   However,  this
       system  call is heavier than a memory barrier, so using it effectively is not as simple as
       replacing memory barriers with this system call, but requires understanding of the details
       below.

       Use  of  memory barriers needs to be done taking into account that a memory barrier always
       needs  to  be  either  matched  with  its  memory  barrier  counterparts,  or   that   the
       architecture's memory model doesn't require the matching barriers.

       There  are  cases where one side of the matching barriers (which we will refer to as "fast
       side") is executed much more often than the other (which we will refer to as "slow side").
       This is a prime target for the use of membarrier().  The key idea is to replace, for these
       matching barriers, the fast-side memory barriers by simple compiler barriers, for example:

           asm volatile ("" : : : "memory")

       and replace the slow-side memory barriers by calls to membarrier().

       This will add overhead to the slow side, and remove overhead  from  the  fast  side,  thus
       resulting in an overall performance increase as long as the slow side is infrequent enough
       that the overhead of the membarrier() calls does not outweigh the performance gain on  the
       fast side.

       The cmd argument is one of the following:

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY (since Linux 4.3)
              Query the set of supported commands.  The return value of the call is a bit mask of
              supported commands.  MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY, which has the value  0,  is  not  itself
              included  in  this  bit  mask.   This command is always supported (on kernels where
              membarrier() is provided).

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL (since Linux 4.16)
              Ensure that all threads from all processes on the system pass through a state where
              all  memory  accesses  to user-space addresses match program order between entry to
              and return from the membarrier() system  call.   All  threads  on  the  system  are
              targeted by this command.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED (since Linux 4.16)
              Execute  a  memory  barrier on all running threads of all processes that previously
              registered with MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED.

              Upon return from the system call, the calling  thread  has  a  guarantee  that  all
              running threads have passed through a state where all memory accesses to user-space
              addresses match program order between entry to and  return  from  the  system  call
              (non-running  threads  are  de  facto in such a state).  This guarantee is provided
              only   for   the   threads   of   processes   that   previously   registered   with
              MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED.

              Given that registration is about the intent to receive the barriers, it is valid to
              invoke  MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED  from  a  process  that  has  not  employed
              MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED.

              The  "expedited"  commands  complete faster than the non-expedited ones; they never
              block, but have the downside of causing extra overhead.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED (since Linux 4.16)
              Register the process's intent  to  receive  MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED  memory
              barriers.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED (since Linux 4.14)
              Execute  a  memory  barrier on each running thread belonging to the same process as
              the calling thread.

              Upon return from the system call, the calling thread has a guarantee that  all  its
              running  thread  siblings  have passed through a state where all memory accesses to
              user-space addresses match program order between  entry  to  and  return  from  the
              system  call (non-running threads are de facto in such a state).  This guarantee is
              provided only for threads in the same process as the calling thread.

              The "expedited" commands complete faster than the non-expedited  ones;  they  never
              block, but have the downside of causing extra overhead.

              A  process  must  register its intent to use the private expedited command prior to
              using it.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED (since Linux 4.14)
              Register the process's intent to use MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE (since Linux 4.16)
              In  addition  to  providing   the   memory   ordering   guarantees   described   in
              MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED,  upon  return from system call the calling thread
              has a guarantee  that  all  its  running  thread  siblings  have  executed  a  core
              serializing  instruction.   This guarantee is provided only for threads in the same
              process as the calling thread.

              The "expedited" commands complete faster than the non-expedited  ones,  they  never
              block, but have the downside of causing extra overhead.

              A  process  must register its intent to use the private expedited sync core command
              prior to using it.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE (since Linux 4.16)
              Register the process's intent to use MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_RSEQ (since Linux 5.10)
              Ensure the caller thread, upon return from system call, that all its running thread
              siblings  have  any  currently  running  rseq  critical sections restarted if flags
              parameter is 0; if flags parameter is MEMBARRIER_CMD_FLAG_CPU, then this  operation
              is  performed only on CPU indicated by cpu_id.  This guarantee is provided only for
              threads in the same process as the calling thread.

              RSEQ membarrier is only available in the "private expedited" form.

              A process must register its intent to use the private expedited rseq command  prior
              to using it.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_RSEQ (since Linux 5.10)
              Register the process's intent to use MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_RSEQ.

       MEMBARRIER_CMD_SHARED (since Linux 4.3)
              This  is  an  alias  for  MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL  that  exists  for  header backward
              compatibility.

       The   flags   argument   must   be   specified   as    0    unless    the    command    is
       MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_RSEQ,   in   which   case   flags  can  be  either  0  or
       MEMBARRIER_CMD_FLAG_CPU.

       The cpu_id argument is ignored unless flags is MEMBARRIER_CMD_FLAG_CPU, in which  case  it
       must specify the CPU targeted by this membarrier command.

       All memory accesses performed in program order from each targeted thread are guaranteed to
       be ordered with respect to membarrier().

       If we use the semantic barrier() to represent a compiler barrier forcing  memory  accesses
       to  be  performed  in program order across the barrier, and smp_mb() to represent explicit
       memory barriers forcing full memory ordering across the barrier,  we  have  the  following
       ordering  table  for  each  pairing  of  barrier(),  membarrier(), and smp_mb().  The pair
       ordering is detailed as (O: ordered, X: not ordered):

                             barrier()   smp_mb()   membarrier()
              barrier()          X          X            O
              smp_mb()           X          O            O
              membarrier()       O          O            O

RETURN VALUE

       On success, the MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY operation returns a bit mask of  supported  commands,
       and          the          MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL,          MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED,
       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_GLOBAL_EXPEDITED,                MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED,
       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED, MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE, and
       MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE operations return zero.  On error,  -1
       is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.

       For  a given command, with flags set to 0, this system call is guaranteed to always return
       the same value until reboot.  Further calls with the same arguments will lead to the  same
       result.   Therefore,  with  flags  set to 0, error handling is required only for the first
       call to membarrier().

ERRORS

       EINVAL cmd is invalid, or flags  is  nonzero,  or  the  MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL  command  is
              disabled   because   the   nohz_full   CPU   parameter   has   been   set,  or  the
              MEMBARRIER_CMD_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE                                      and
              MEMBARRIER_CMD_REGISTER_PRIVATE_EXPEDITED_SYNC_CORE commands are not implemented by
              the architecture.

       ENOSYS The membarrier() system call is not implemented by this kernel.

       EPERM  The current process was not registered prior to using private expedited commands.

STANDARDS

       Linux.

HISTORY

       Linux 4.3.

       Before Linux 5.10, the prototype was:

           int membarrier(int cmd, int flags);

NOTES

       A memory barrier instruction is part of the instruction set of architectures  with  weakly
       ordered  memory  models.   It  orders  memory  accesses prior to the barrier and after the
       barrier with respect to matching barriers on other cores.  For instance, a load fence  can
       order  loads  prior  to  and  following that fence with respect to stores ordered by store
       fences.

       Program order is the order in which instructions are ordered in the program assembly code.

       Examples where membarrier() can be  useful  include  implementations  of  Read-Copy-Update
       libraries and garbage collectors.

EXAMPLES

       Assuming  a multithreaded application where "fast_path()" is executed very frequently, and
       where "slow_path()" is executed infrequently, the following code (x86) can be  transformed
       using membarrier():

           #include <stdlib.h>

           static volatile int a, b;

           static void
           fast_path(int *read_b)
           {
               a = 1;
               asm volatile ("mfence" : : : "memory");
               *read_b = b;
           }

           static void
           slow_path(int *read_a)
           {
               b = 1;
               asm volatile ("mfence" : : : "memory");
               *read_a = a;
           }

           int
           main(void)
           {
               int read_a, read_b;

               /*
                * Real applications would call fast_path() and slow_path()
                * from different threads. Call those from main() to keep
                * this example short.
                */

               slow_path(&read_a);
               fast_path(&read_b);

               /*
                * read_b == 0 implies read_a == 1 and
                * read_a == 0 implies read_b == 1.
                */

               if (read_b == 0 && read_a == 0)
                   abort();

               exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
           }

       The code above transformed to use membarrier() becomes:

           #define _GNU_SOURCE
           #include <stdlib.h>
           #include <stdio.h>
           #include <unistd.h>
           #include <sys/syscall.h>
           #include <linux/membarrier.h>

           static volatile int a, b;

           static int
           membarrier(int cmd, unsigned int flags, int cpu_id)
           {
               return syscall(__NR_membarrier, cmd, flags, cpu_id);
           }

           static int
           init_membarrier(void)
           {
               int ret;

               /* Check that membarrier() is supported. */

               ret = membarrier(MEMBARRIER_CMD_QUERY, 0, 0);
               if (ret < 0) {
                   perror("membarrier");
                   return -1;
               }

               if (!(ret & MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL)) {
                   fprintf(stderr,
                       "membarrier does not support MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL\n");
                   return -1;
               }

               return 0;
           }

           static void
           fast_path(int *read_b)
           {
               a = 1;
               asm volatile ("" : : : "memory");
               *read_b = b;
           }

           static void
           slow_path(int *read_a)
           {
               b = 1;
               membarrier(MEMBARRIER_CMD_GLOBAL, 0, 0);
               *read_a = a;
           }

           int
           main(int argc, char *argv[])
           {
               int read_a, read_b;

               if (init_membarrier())
                   exit(EXIT_FAILURE);

               /*
                * Real applications would call fast_path() and slow_path()
                * from different threads. Call those from main() to keep
                * this example short.
                */

               slow_path(&read_a);
               fast_path(&read_b);

               /*
                * read_b == 0 implies read_a == 1 and
                * read_a == 0 implies read_b == 1.
                */

               if (read_b == 0 && read_a == 0)
                   abort();

               exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
           }