Apple Inc.
Multi-thread synchronization primitive

Abstract:

Techniques are disclosed relating to efficiently handling execution of multiple threads to perform various actions. In some embodiments, an application instantiates a queue and a synchronization primitive. The queue maintains a set of work items to be operated on by a thread pool maintained by a kernel. The synchronization primitive controls access to the queue by a plurality of threads including threads of the thread pool. In such an embodiment, a first thread of the application enqueues a work item in the queue and issues a system call to the kernel to request that the kernel dispatch a thread of the thread pool to operate on the first work item. In various embodiments, the dispatched thread is executable to acquire the synchronization primitive, dequeue the work item, and operate on it.