Choosing a Locking Scheme

The locking scheme for most device drivers should be kept straightforward. Using additional locks may allow more concurrency but increase overhead. Using fewer locks is less time consuming but allows less concurrency. Generally, use one mutex per data structure, a condition variable for each event or condition the driver must wait for, and a mutex for each major set of data global to the driver. Avoid holding mutexes for long periods of time.

To look at lock usage, use lockstat(1M). lockstat(1M) monitors all kernel lock events, gathers frequency and timing data about the events, and displays the data.

For more information on locking schemes, see Appendix G, Advanced Topics. Also see the Multithreaded Programming Guide for more details on multithreading operations.