Improve synchronization between writer and readers in vespalib::GenerationHandler.

2 files changed, 17 insertions, 15 deletions

diff --git a/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.cpp b/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.cpp
index 8edf0d6fae4..dda298bf4a2 100644
--- a/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.cpp
+++ b/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.cpp
@@ -17,23 +17,27 @@ GenerationHandler::GenerationHold::~GenerationHold() {
 
 void
 GenerationHandler::GenerationHold::setValid() noexcept {
-    assert(!valid(_refCount));
-    _refCount.fetch_sub(1);
+    auto old = _refCount.fetch_sub(1, std::memory_order_release);
+    assert(!valid(old));
 }
 
 bool
 GenerationHandler::GenerationHold::setInvalid() noexcept {
-    uint32_t refs = _refCount;
-    assert(valid(refs));
-    if (refs != 0) {
+    uint32_t refs = 0;
+    if (_refCount.compare_exchange_strong(refs, 1,
+                                          std::memory_order_acq_rel,
+                                          std::memory_order_relaxed))
+    {
+        return true;
+    } else {
+        assert(valid(refs));
         return false;
     }
-    return _refCount.compare_exchange_strong(refs, 1, std::memory_order_seq_cst);
 }
 
 GenerationHandler::GenerationHold *
 GenerationHandler::GenerationHold::acquire() noexcept {
-    if (valid(_refCount.fetch_add(2))) {
+    if (valid(_refCount.fetch_add(2, std::memory_order_acq_rel))) {
         return this;
     } else {
         release();
@@ -46,7 +50,7 @@ GenerationHandler::GenerationHold::copy(GenerationHold *self) noexcept {
     if (self == nullptr) {
         return nullptr;
     } else {
-        uint32_t oldRefCount = self->_refCount.fetch_add(2);
+        uint32_t oldRefCount = self->_refCount.fetch_add(2, std::memory_order_relaxed);
         (void) oldRefCount;
         assert(valid(oldRefCount));
         return self;
@@ -143,15 +147,10 @@ GenerationHandler::incGeneration()
 {
     generation_t ngen = getNextGeneration();
 
-    // Make pending writes visible to other threads before checking for readers
-    // present in last generation.
-    std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_seq_cst);
     auto last = _last.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
-    if (last->getRefCount() == 0) {
+    if (last->getRefCountAcqRel() == 0) {
         // Last generation is unused, morph it to new generation.  This is
         // the typical case when no readers are present.
-        // Note: atomic thread fence above is needed to avoid stale data in
-        // reader
         set_generation(ngen);
         last->_generation.store(ngen, std::memory_order_relaxed);
         update_oldest_used_generation();
diff --git a/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.h b/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.h
index b346b1fa4e2..69dc17cacb1 100644
--- a/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.h
+++ b/vespalib/src/vespa/vespalib/util/generationhandler.h
@@ -39,13 +39,16 @@ public:
         void setValid() noexcept;
         bool setInvalid() noexcept;
         void release() noexcept {
-            _refCount.fetch_sub(2);
+            _refCount.fetch_sub(2, std::memory_order_acq_rel);
         }
         GenerationHold *acquire() noexcept;
         static GenerationHold *copy(GenerationHold *self) noexcept;
         uint32_t getRefCount() const noexcept {
             return _refCount.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) / 2;
         }
+        uint32_t getRefCountAcqRel() noexcept {
+            return _refCount.fetch_add(0, std::memory_order_acq_rel) / 2;
+        }
     };
 
     /**