Cell processor atomic compare and swap using dedicated synergistic processor element

摘要

An atomic compare and swap operation that can be implemented in processor system having a power processor element (PPE) and a synergistic processor element (SPE) that have different sized memory transfer capabilities. The PPE notifies an SPE to perform a compare and swap operation on an address in main memory. The address has a size less than or equal to a maximum memory transfer size for the SPE and greater than a maximum memory transfer size for the PPE. The SPE atomically performs the compare and swap operation and notifies the PPE of the success or failure of the compare and swap operation.