Explain how the control dependency and smp_rmb() end up providing ACQUIRE semantics and pair with smp_store_release() in finish_lock_switch(). Cc: Paul E. McKenney Cc: Oleg Nesterov Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) --- kernel/sched/core.c | 8 +++++++- kernel/sched/sched.h | 3 +++ 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) --- a/kernel/sched/core.c +++ b/kernel/sched/core.c @@ -1947,7 +1947,13 @@ try_to_wake_up(struct task_struct *p, un while (p->on_cpu) cpu_relax(); /* - * Pairs with the smp_wmb() in finish_lock_switch(). + * Combined with the control dependency above, we have an effective + * smp_load_acquire() without the need for full barriers. + * + * Pairs with the smp_store_release() in finish_lock_switch(). + * + * This ensures that tasks getting woken will be fully ordered against + * their previous state and preserve Program Order. */ smp_rmb(); --- a/kernel/sched/sched.h +++ b/kernel/sched/sched.h @@ -1073,6 +1073,9 @@ static inline void finish_lock_switch(st * We must ensure this doesn't happen until the switch is completely * finished. * + * In particular, the load of prev->state in finish_task_switch() must + * happen before this. + * * Pairs with the control dependency and rmb in try_to_wake_up(). */ smp_store_release(&prev->on_cpu, 0);