MCS Lock

mcs_lock.cpp

#include "mcs_lock.h"

namespace sync {

    void mcs_lock::lock() {
        //to acquire the lock a thread atomically appends its own local node at the tail of the list returning tail's previous contents
        auto prior_node = tail.exchange(&local_node,
                                        std::memory_order_acquire);
        if(prior_node != nullptr) {
            local_node.locked = true;
        //if the list was not previously empty, it sets the predecessor’s next field to refer to its own local node
            prior_node->next = &local_node;
        //thread then spins on its local locked field, waiting until its predecessor sets this field to false
            while(local_node.locked)
                cpu_relax();
        }
        //now first in the queue, own the lock and enter the critical section...
    }

    void mcs_lock::unlock() {
        //...leave the critical section
        //check whether this thread's local node’s next field is null
        if(local_node.next == nullptr) {
        //if so, then either:
        // 1. no other thread is contending for the lock
        // 2. there is a race condition with another thread about to
        //to distinguish between these cases atomic compare exchange the tail field
        //if the call succeeds, then no other thread is trying to acquire the lock, tail is set to nullptr, and unlock() returns
            mcs_node* p = &local_node;
            if(tail.compare_exchange_strong(p,nullptr,
                                            std::memory_order_release,
                                            std::memory_order_relaxed)) {
                return;
            }
        //otherwise, another thread is in the process of trying to acquire the lock, so spins waiting for it to finish
            while (local_node.next == nullptr) {};
        }
        //in either case, once the successor has appeared, the unlock() method sets its successor’s locked field to false, indicating that the lock is now free
        local_node.next->locked = false;
        //at this point no other thread can access this node and it can be reused
        local_node.next = nullptr;
    }

    thread_local mcs_lock::mcs_node mcs_lock::local_node = mcs_lock::mcs_node{};

}