[PATCH] Add SRCU-based notifier chains

This patch (as751) adds a new type of notifier chain, based on the SRCU
(Sleepable Read-Copy Update) primitives recently added to the kernel.  An
SRCU notifier chain is much like a blocking notifier chain, in that it must
be called in process context and its callout routines are allowed to sleep.
 The difference is that the chain's links are protected by the SRCU
mechanism rather than by an rw-semaphore, so calling the chain has
extremely low overhead: no memory barriers and no cache-line bouncing.  On
the other hand, unregistering from the chain is expensive and the chain
head requires special runtime initialization (plus cleanup if it is to be
deallocated).

SRCU notifiers are appropriate for notifiers that will be called very
frequently and for which unregistration occurs very seldom.  The proposed
"task notifier" scheme qualifies, as may some of the network notifiers.

Signed-off-by: Alan Stern <stern@rowland.harvard.edu>
Acked-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@us.ibm.com>
Acked-by: Chandra Seetharaman <sekharan@us.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>

1 files changed, 123 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/kernel/sys.c b/kernel/sys.c
index 2314867ae34..fd5c7100677 100644
--- a/kernel/sys.c
+++ b/kernel/sys.c
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ static int __kprobes notifier_call_chain(struct notifier_block **nl,
 
 /*
  *	Atomic notifier chain routines.  Registration and unregistration
- *	use a mutex, and call_chain is synchronized by RCU (no locks).
+ *	use a spinlock, and call_chain is synchronized by RCU (no locks).
  */
 
 /**
@@ -401,6 +401,128 @@ int raw_notifier_call_chain(struct raw_notifier_head *nh,
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(raw_notifier_call_chain);
 
+/*
+ *	SRCU notifier chain routines.    Registration and unregistration
+ *	use a mutex, and call_chain is synchronized by SRCU (no locks).
+ */
+
+/**
+ *	srcu_notifier_chain_register - Add notifier to an SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@n: New entry in notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Adds a notifier to an SRCU notifier chain.
+ *	Must be called in process context.
+ *
+ *	Currently always returns zero.
+ */
+
+int srcu_notifier_chain_register(struct srcu_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * This code gets used during boot-up, when task switching is
+	 * not yet working and interrupts must remain disabled.  At
+	 * such times we must not call mutex_lock().
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(system_state == SYSTEM_BOOTING))
+		return notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+
+	mutex_lock(&nh->mutex);
+	ret = notifier_chain_register(&nh->head, n);
+	mutex_unlock(&nh->mutex);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(srcu_notifier_chain_register);
+
+/**
+ *	srcu_notifier_chain_unregister - Remove notifier from an SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@n: Entry to remove from notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Removes a notifier from an SRCU notifier chain.
+ *	Must be called from process context.
+ *
+ *	Returns zero on success or %-ENOENT on failure.
+ */
+int srcu_notifier_chain_unregister(struct srcu_notifier_head *nh,
+		struct notifier_block *n)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * This code gets used during boot-up, when task switching is
+	 * not yet working and interrupts must remain disabled.  At
+	 * such times we must not call mutex_lock().
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(system_state == SYSTEM_BOOTING))
+		return notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+
+	mutex_lock(&nh->mutex);
+	ret = notifier_chain_unregister(&nh->head, n);
+	mutex_unlock(&nh->mutex);
+	synchronize_srcu(&nh->srcu);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(srcu_notifier_chain_unregister);
+
+/**
+ *	srcu_notifier_call_chain - Call functions in an SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the SRCU notifier chain
+ *	@val: Value passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *	@v: Pointer passed unmodified to notifier function
+ *
+ *	Calls each function in a notifier chain in turn.  The functions
+ *	run in a process context, so they are allowed to block.
+ *
+ *	If the return value of the notifier can be and'ed
+ *	with %NOTIFY_STOP_MASK then srcu_notifier_call_chain
+ *	will return immediately, with the return value of
+ *	the notifier function which halted execution.
+ *	Otherwise the return value is the return value
+ *	of the last notifier function called.
+ */
+
+int srcu_notifier_call_chain(struct srcu_notifier_head *nh,
+		unsigned long val, void *v)
+{
+	int ret;
+	int idx;
+
+	idx = srcu_read_lock(&nh->srcu);
+	ret = notifier_call_chain(&nh->head, val, v);
+	srcu_read_unlock(&nh->srcu, idx);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(srcu_notifier_call_chain);
+
+/**
+ *	srcu_init_notifier_head - Initialize an SRCU notifier head
+ *	@nh: Pointer to head of the srcu notifier chain
+ *
+ *	Unlike other sorts of notifier heads, SRCU notifier heads require
+ *	dynamic initialization.  Be sure to call this routine before
+ *	calling any of the other SRCU notifier routines for this head.
+ *
+ *	If an SRCU notifier head is deallocated, it must first be cleaned
+ *	up by calling srcu_cleanup_notifier_head().  Otherwise the head's
+ *	per-cpu data (used by the SRCU mechanism) will leak.
+ */
+
+void srcu_init_notifier_head(struct srcu_notifier_head *nh)
+{
+	mutex_init(&nh->mutex);
+	init_srcu_struct(&nh->srcu);
+	nh->head = NULL;
+}
+
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(srcu_init_notifier_head);
+
 /**
  *	register_reboot_notifier - Register function to be called at reboot time
  *	@nb: Info about notifier function to be called