@@ -7,29 +7,31 @@
* we provide a synchronization point, that is a noop on 64bit or UP kernels.
*
* Key points :
- * 1) Use a seqcount on SMP 32bits, with low overhead.
- * 2) Whole thing is a noop on 64bit arches or UP kernels.
- * 3) Write side must ensure mutual exclusion or one seqcount update could
+ *
+ * 1) Use a seqcount on 32-bit SMP, only disable preemption for 32-bit UP.
+ *
+ * 2) The whole thing is a no-op on 64-bit architectures.
+ *
+ * 3) Write side must ensure mutual exclusion, or one seqcount update could
* be lost, thus blocking readers forever.
- * If this synchronization point is not a mutex, but a spinlock or
- * spinlock_bh() or disable_bh() :
- * 3.1) Write side should not sleep.
- * 3.2) Write side should not allow preemption.
- * 3.3) If applicable, interrupts should be disabled.
*
- * 4) If reader fetches several counters, there is no guarantee the whole values
- * are consistent (remember point 1) : this is a noop on 64bit arches anyway)
+ * 4) Write side must disable preemption, or a seqcount reader can preempt the
+ * writer and also spin forever.
*
- * 5) readers are allowed to sleep or be preempted/interrupted : They perform
- * pure reads. But if they have to fetch many values, it's better to not allow
- * preemptions/interruptions to avoid many retries.
+ * 5) Write side must use the _irqsave() variant if other writers, or a reader,
+ * can be invoked from an IRQ context.
*
- * 6) If counter might be written by an interrupt, readers should block interrupts.
- * (On UP, there is no seqcount_t protection, a reader allowing interrupts could
- * read partial values)
+ * 6) If reader fetches several counters, there is no guarantee the whole values
+ * are consistent w.r.t. each other (remember point #2: seqcounts are not
+ * used for 64bit architectures).
*
- * 7) For irq and softirq uses, readers can use u64_stats_fetch_begin_irq() and
- * u64_stats_fetch_retry_irq() helpers
+ * 7) Readers are allowed to sleep or be preempted/interrupted: they perform
+ * pure reads.
+ *
+ * 8) Readers must use both u64_stats_fetch_{begin,retry}_irq() if the stats
+ * might be updated from a hardirq or softirq context (remember point #1:
+ * seqcounts are not used for UP kernels). 32-bit UP stat readers could read
+ * corrupted 64-bit values otherwise.
*
* Usage :
*