PSERIALIZE(9)						   BSD Kernel Developer's Manual					     PSERIALIZE(9)

NAME

     pserialize -- passive serialization mechanism

SYNOPSIS

     #include <sys/pserialize.h>

     pserialize_t
     pserialize_create(void);

     void
     pserialize_destroy(pserialize_t psz);

     int
     pserialize_read_enter(void);

     void
     pserialize_read_exit(int s);

     void
     pserialize_perform(pserialize_t psz);

DESCRIPTION

     Passive serialization is a reader / writer synchronisation mechanism designed for lock-less read operations.  The read operations may happen
     from software interrupt at IPL_SOFTCLOCK.

FUNCTIONS

     pserialize_create()
	      Allocate a new synchronisation object.

     pserialize_destroy()
	      Destroy the synchronisation object.  No synchronisation activity should happen at this point.

     pserialize_read_enter()
	      Enter the critical path of the reader side.  Returns an IPL value, which must be passed to pserialize_read_exit(9).  Protected code
	      path is not allowed to block.

     pserialize_read_exit()
	      Exit the critical path of the reader side.  Takes the IPL value returned by pserialize_read_enter(9).

     pserialize_perform()
	      Perform the passive serialization on the writer side.  Passing of this function ensures that no readers are in action.  Writers must
	      be additionally serialized with a separate mechanism, e.g.  mutex(9).  Operation blocks and it may only be performed from thread
	      context.

EXAMPLES

     Typical code fragment in the writer side:

	     mutex_enter(&writer_psz_lock);
	     /*
	      * Perform the updates (e.g. remove data items from a list).
	      */
	     ...
	     pserialize_perform(object->psz);
	     /*
	      * At this point it is safe to destroy old data items.
	      */
	     mutex_exit(&writer_psz_lock);

CODE REFERENCES

     The pserialize is implemented within the file sys/kern/subr_pserialize.c.

SEE ALSO

     membar_ops(3), condvar(9), mutex(9), rwlock(9)

     Hennessy, et al., Passive serialization in a multitasking environment, US Patent and Trademark Office, US Patent 4809168, February 28, 1989.

HISTORY

     Passive serialization mechanism first appeared in NetBSD 6.0.

BSD
								   July 30, 2011							       BSD