[PATCH v1] locking/memory-barriers.txt: Improve documentation for writel() usage

From: Parav Pandit
Date: Thu Sep 29 2022 - 22:04:31 EST


The cited commit describes that when using writel(), explcit wmb()
is not needed. wmb() is an expensive barrier. writel() uses the needed
I/O barrier instead of expensive wmb().

Hence update the example to be more accurate that matches the current
implementation.

commit 5846581e3563 ("locking/memory-barriers.txt: Fix broken DMA vs. MMIO ordering example")
Signed-off-by: Parav Pandit <parav@xxxxxxxxxx>

---
changelog:
v0->v1:
- Corrected to mention I/O barrier instead of dma_wmb().
- removed numbered references in commit log
- corrected typo 'explcit' to 'explicit' in commit log
---
Documentation/memory-barriers.txt | 9 +++++----
1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/memory-barriers.txt b/Documentation/memory-barriers.txt
index 832b5d36e279..2d77a7411e52 100644
--- a/Documentation/memory-barriers.txt
+++ b/Documentation/memory-barriers.txt
@@ -1927,10 +1927,11 @@ There are some more advanced barrier functions:
before we read the data from the descriptor, and the dma_wmb() allows
us to guarantee the data is written to the descriptor before the device
can see it now has ownership. The dma_mb() implies both a dma_rmb() and
- a dma_wmb(). Note that, when using writel(), a prior wmb() is not needed
- to guarantee that the cache coherent memory writes have completed before
- writing to the MMIO region. The cheaper writel_relaxed() does not provide
- this guarantee and must not be used here.
+ a dma_wmb(). Note that, when using writel(), a prior I/O barrier is not
+ needed to guarantee that the cache coherent memory writes have completed
+ before writing to the MMIO region. The cheaper writel_relaxed() does not
+ provide this guarantee and must not be used here. Hence, writeX() is always
+ preferred.

See the subsection "Kernel I/O barrier effects" for more information on
relaxed I/O accessors and the Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst file for
--
2.26.2