path: root/static/netbsd/man9/condvar.9

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.Dd September 7, 2023
.Dt CONDVAR 9
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm cv ,
.Nm condvar ,
.Nm cv_init ,
.Nm cv_destroy ,
.Nm cv_wait ,
.Nm cv_wait_sig ,
.Nm cv_timedwait ,
.Nm cv_timedwait_sig ,
.Nm cv_timedwaitbt ,
.Nm cv_timedwaitbt_sig ,
.Nm cv_signal ,
.Nm cv_broadcast ,
.Nm cv_has_waiters
.Nd condition variables
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In sys/condvar.h
.Ft void
.Fn cv_init "kcondvar_t *cv" "const char *wmesg"
.Ft void
.Fn cv_destroy "kcondvar_t *cv"
.Ft void
.Fn cv_wait "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx"
.Ft int
.Fn cv_wait_sig "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx"
.Ft int
.Fn cv_timedwait "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "int ticks"
.Ft int
.Fn cv_timedwait_sig "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "int ticks"
.Ft int
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "struct bintime *bt" \
"const struct bintime *epsilon"
.Ft int
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt_sig "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "struct bintime *bt" \
"const struct bintime *epsilon"
.Ft void
.Fn cv_signal "kcondvar_t *cv"
.Ft void
.Fn cv_broadcast "kcondvar_t *cv"
.Ft bool
.Fn cv_has_waiters "kcondvar_t *cv"
.Pp
.Cd "options DIAGNOSTIC"
.Cd "options LOCKDEBUG"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
Condition variables (CVs) are used in the kernel to synchronize access
to resources that are limited (for example, memory) and to wait for
pending I/O operations to complete.
.Pp
The
.Vt kcondvar_t
type provides storage for the CV object.
This should be treated as an opaque object and not examined directly by
consumers.
.Sh OPTIONS
.Bl -tag -width abcd
.It Cd "options DIAGNOSTIC"
.Pp
Kernels compiled with the
.Dv DIAGNOSTIC
option perform basic sanity checks on CV operations.
.It Cd "options LOCKDEBUG"
.Pp
Kernels compiled with the
.Dv LOCKDEBUG
option perform potentially CPU intensive sanity checks
on CV operations.
.El
.Sh FUNCTIONS
.Bl -tag -width abcd
.It Fn cv_init "cv" "wmesg"
.Pp
Initialize a CV for use.
No other operations can be performed on the CV until it has been initialized.
.Pp
The
.Fa wmesg
argument specifies a string of no more than 8 characters that describes
the resource or condition associated with the CV.
The kernel does not use this argument directly but makes it available for
utilities such as
.Xr ps 1
to display.
.It Fn cv_destroy "cv"
.Pp
Release resources used by a CV.
If there could be waiters, they should be awoken first with
.Fn cv_broadcast .
The CV must not be used afterwards.
.It Fn cv_wait "cv" "mtx"
.Pp
Cause the current LWP to wait non-interruptably for access to a resource,
or for an I/O operation to complete.
The LWP will resume execution when awoken by another thread using
.Fn cv_signal
or
.Fn cv_broadcast .
.Pp
.Fa mtx
specifies a kernel mutex to be used as an interlock, and must be held by the
calling LWP on entry to
.Fn cv_wait .
It will be released once the LWP has prepared to sleep, and will be reacquired
before
.Fn cv_wait
returns.
.Pp
A small window exists between testing for availability of a resource and
waiting for the resource with
.Fn cv_wait ,
in which the resource may become available again.
The interlock is used to guarantee that the resource will not be signalled
as available until the calling LWP has begun to wait for it.
.Pp
Non-interruptable waits have the potential to deadlock the system, and so must
be kept short (typically, under one second).
.Pp
.Fn cv_wait
is typically used within a loop or restartable code sequence, because it
may awaken spuriously.
The calling LWP should re-check the condition that caused the wait.
If necessary, the calling LWP may call
.Fn cv_wait
again to continue waiting.
.It Fn cv_wait_sig "cv" "mtx"
.Pp
As per
.Fn cv_wait ,
but causes the current LWP to wait interruptably.
If the LWP receives a signal, or is interrupted by another condition such
as its containing process exiting, the wait is ended early and an error
code returned.
.Pp
If
.Fn cv_wait_sig
returns as a result of a signal, the return value is
.Er ERESTART
if the signal
has the
.Dv SA_RESTART
property.
If awoken normally, the value is zero, and
.Er EINTR
under all other conditions.
.It Fn cv_timedwait "cv" "mtx" "ticks"
.Pp
As per
.Fn cv_wait ,
but will return early if a timeout specified by the
.Fa ticks
argument expires.
.Pp
.Fa ticks
is an architecture and system dependent value related to the number of
clock interrupts per second.
See
.Xr hz 9
for details.
The
.Xr mstohz 9
macro can be used to convert a timeout expressed in milliseconds to
one suitable for
.Fn cv_timedwait .
If the
.Fa ticks
argument is zero,
.Fn cv_timedwait
behaves exactly like
.Fn cv_wait .
.Pp
If the timeout expires before the LWP is awoken, the return value is
.Er EWOULDBLOCK .
If awoken normally, the return value is zero.
.It Fn cv_timedwait_sig "cv" "mtx" "ticks"
.Pp
As per
.Fn cv_wait_sig ,
but also accepts a timeout value and will return
.Er EWOULDBLOCK
if the timeout expires.
.It Fn cv_timedwaitbt "cv" "mtx" "bt" "epsilon"
.It Fn cv_timedwaitbt_sig "cv" "mtx" "bt" "epsilon"
.Pp
As per
.Fn cv_wait
and
.Fn cv_wait_sig ,
but will return early if the duration
.Fa bt
has elapsed, immediately if
.Fa bt
is zero.
On return,
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt
and
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt_sig
subtract the time elapsed from
.Fa bt
in place, or set it to zero if there is no time remaining.
.Pp
Note that
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt
and
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt_sig
may return zero indicating success, rather than
.Er EWOULDBLOCK ,
even if they set the timeout to zero; this means that the caller must
re-check the condition in order to avoid potentially losing a
.Fn cv_signal ,
but the
.Em next
wait will time out immediately.
.Pp
The hint
.Fa epsilon ,
which can be
.Dv DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_EPSILON
if in doubt, requests that the wakeup not be delayed more than
.Fa bt Li "+" Fa epsilon ,
so that the system can coalesce multiple wakeups within their
respective epsilons into a single high-resolution clock interrupt or
choose to use cheaper low-resolution clock interrupts instead.
.Pp
However, the system is still limited by its best clock interrupt
resolution and by scheduling competition, which may delay the wakeup by
more than
.Fa bt Li "+" Fa epsilon .
.It Fn cv_signal "cv"
.Pp
Awaken one LWP waiting on the specified condition variable.
Where there are waiters sleeping non-interruptaby, more than one
LWP may be awoken.
This can be used to avoid a "thundering herd" problem, where a large
number of LWPs are awoken following an event, but only one LWP can
process the event.
.Pp
The mutex passed to the wait function
.Po Fa mtx Pc
should be held or have been released immediately before
.Fn cv_signal
is called.
.Pp
(Note that
.Fn cv_signal
is erroneously named in that it does not send a signal in the traditional
sense to LWPs waiting on a CV.)
.It Fn cv_broadcast "cv"
.Pp
Awaken all LWPs waiting on the specified condition variable.
.Pp
As with
.Fn cv_signal ,
the mutex passed to the wait function
.Po Fa mtx Pc
should be held or have been released immediately before
.Fn cv_broadcast
is called.
.It Fn cv_has_waiters "cv"
.Pp
Return
.Dv true
if one or more LWPs are waiting on the specified condition variable.
.Pp
.Fn cv_has_waiters
cannot test reliably for interruptable waits.
It should only be used to test for non-interruptable waits
made using
.Fn cv_wait .
.Pp
.Fn cv_has_waiters
should only be used when making diagnostic assertions, and must
be called while holding the interlocking mutex passed to
.Fn cv_wait .
.El
.Sh EXAMPLES
Consuming a resource:
.Bd -literal
	/*
	 * Lock the resource.  Its mutex will also serve as the
	 * interlock.
	 */
	mutex_enter(&res->mutex);

	/*
	 * Wait for the resource to become available.  Timeout after
	 * five seconds.  If the resource is not available within the
	 * allotted time, return an error.
	 */
	struct bintime timeout = { .sec = 5, .frac = 0 };
	while (res->state == BUSY) {
		error = cv_timedwaitbt(&res->condvar,
		    &res->mutex, &timeout, DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_EPSILON);
		if (error) {
			KASSERT(error == EWOULDBLOCK);
			mutex_exit(&res->mutex);
			return ETIMEDOUT;
		}
	}

	/*
	 * It's now available to us.  Take ownership of the
	 * resource, and consume it.
	 */
	res->state = BUSY;
	mutex_exit(&res->mutex);
	consume(res);
.Ed
.Pp
Releasing a resource for the next consumer to use:
.Bd -literal
	mutex_enter(&res->mutex);
	res->state = IDLE;
	cv_signal(&res->condvar);
	mutex_exit(&res->mutex);
.Ed
.Sh CODE REFERENCES
The core of the CV implementation is in
.Pa sys/kern/kern_condvar.c .
.Pp
The header file
.Pa sys/sys/condvar.h
describes the public interface.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr sigaction 2 ,
.Xr membar_ops 3 ,
.Xr errno 9 ,
.Xr mstohz 9 ,
.Xr mutex 9 ,
.Xr rwlock 9
.Pp
.Rs
.%A Jim Mauro
.%A Richard McDougall
.%T Solaris Internals: Core Kernel Architecture
.%I Prentice Hall
.%D 2001
.%O ISBN 0-13-022496-0
.Re
.Sh HISTORY
The CV primitives first appeared in
.Nx 5.0 .
The
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt
and
.Fn cv_timedwaitbt_sig
primitives first appeared in
.Nx 9.0 .