Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] net: nps_enet: Sync access to packet sent flag

From: Lino Sanfilippo <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 20:32:49 +0200

Hi Elad,

On 08.05.2016 15:44, Elad Kanfi wrote:

>   
> After reviewing the code and your suggestion, it seems that we can do without the flag tx_packet_sent and therefor the first issue becomes irrelevant.
> The indication that a packet was sent is (tx_skb != NULL) , and the sequence will be:
> 
> CPU A:
> 1. tx_skb = skb
> 2. wmb() /* make sure tx_skb reaches the RAM before the HW is informed and the IRQ is fired */
> 3. nps_enet_reg_set(priv, NPS_ENET_REG_TX_CTL, tx_ctrl.value); /* send frame */
> 
> CPU B:
> 1. read tx_skb 
> 2. if( tx_skb != NULL ) handle tx_skb
> 3. tx_skb = NULL 
> 
> 

Ok, without the tx_packet_sent flag the code becomes simpler. But it
does not mean that we can toss the smp_rmb in the irq handler
completely. We still have to use a read barrier there to ensure that we
see the most recent value of tx_skb. E.g like this:

if (priv->tx_skb != NULL ) {
	smp_rmb()
	/ * handle tx_skb */
}

With both barriers in place the code should work as expected.

Regards,
Lino