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diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.html b/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.html index ece410f40436..a4d3838130e4 100644 --- a/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.html +++ b/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.html @@ -2493,6 +2493,28 @@ or some future “lazy” variant of <tt>call_rcu()</tt> that might one day be created for energy-efficiency purposes. +<p> +That said, there are limits. +RCU requires that the <tt>rcu_head</tt> structure be aligned to a +two-byte boundary, and passing a misaligned <tt>rcu_head</tt> +structure to one of the <tt>call_rcu()</tt> family of functions +will result in a splat. +It is therefore necessary to exercise caution when packing +structures containing fields of type <tt>rcu_head</tt>. +Why not a four-byte or even eight-byte alignment requirement? +Because the m68k architecture provides only two-byte alignment, +and thus acts as alignment's least common denominator. + +<p> +The reason for reserving the bottom bit of pointers to +<tt>rcu_head</tt> structures is to leave the door open to +“lazy” callbacks whose invocations can safely be deferred. +Deferring invocation could potentially have energy-efficiency +benefits, but only if the rate of non-lazy callbacks decreases +significantly for some important workload. +In the meantime, reserving the bottom bit keeps this option open +in case it one day becomes useful. + <h3><a name="Performance, Scalability, Response Time, and Reliability"> Performance, Scalability, Response Time, and Reliability</a></h3> |