membarrier(2) — Linux manual page

NAME | LIBRARY | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ERRORS | STANDARDS | HISTORY | NOTES | EXAMPLES | COLOPHON

membarrier(2)              System Calls Manual             membarrier(2)

NAME         top

       membarrier - issue memory barriers on a set of threads

LIBRARY         top

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS         top

       #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         top

       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         top

       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         top

       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         top

       Linux.

HISTORY         top

       Linux 4.3.

       Before Linux 5.10, the prototype was:

           int membarrier(int cmd, int flags);

NOTES         top

       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         top

       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);
           }

COLOPHON         top

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Linux man-pages 6.9.1          2024-06-15                  membarrier(2)

Pages that refer to this page: syscalls(2)