Re: [PATCH] Define wc_wmb, a write barrier for PCI write combining

[Bryan O'Sullivan]

On Sat, 2006-02-25 at 12:41 -0500, Benjamin LaHaise wrote:

> That is not the same as saying the write buffers are flushed and wholly 
> visible to their destination, it just means that subsequent reads or 
> writes will not be reordered prior to the sfence instruction.

Right.  I don't need the writes to be visible at the destination device,
in this particular case; a write followed by a barrier just has to show
up at the device before the next write.

Here's what a write to our chip looks like, for sending a packet:

      * write a 64-bit control register that includes the length of the
        segment being written
      * do a barrier to make sure it gets to the device before any other
        writes
      * perform a pile of writes using __iowrite_copy32, not caring
        about the order in which they reach the chip
      * do another barrier
      * perform one final 32-bit write using __raw_writel
      * do one final barrier

The last 32-bit write triggers the chip to put the packet on the wire.
We make sure it happens after the earlier bulk write using a barrier.

	<b

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