Kernel developer Paul McKenney explores unconventional RCU implementations using fixed-time grace periods, including historical examples from Van Jacobson and DEC OSF/1. The article examines how timed-wait approaches work in real-time systems despite being considered unorthodox. These implementations provide low-overhead synchronization without requiring strict real-time constraints on readers.
Background
RCU (Read-Copy-Update) is a synchronization mechanism widely used in the Linux kernel for scalable read-mostly data structures. It allows readers to access data without locking while ensuring memory reclamation safety.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Apr 20, 2026 at 05:12 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10