 Types of consistency

models used in DSM

1.weak consistency
2.release consistency
3.entry consistency
 What is consistency
model ?
 A contract between the software and memory
 Contract says:- if the s/w agrees to obey
certain rules , then memory promises to work
properly.
 If s/w violates the rules then correctness of
memory operation is no longer guaranteed .
 WEAK CONSISTENCY
 Even if no process is allowed to touch the
variable until the first process leaves the critical
section.
The memory can’t know whether or not a

process is in a critical section.

So has to propagate all writes to all memories in
usual way.
 synchronization
variable
 Better solution for synchronization process.

 operations on it are used to synchronize

memory.
 After synchronization completes all writes
done on that machine are propagated outwards
 And all writes done on other machines are
brought in..
Weak consistency model:-
three imp properties.
 Access to synchronization variables are
sequentially consistent.
 No access to synchronization variable is
allowed to be performed until all previous
writes have completed everywhere.
 No data access(read or write) is allowed to be
performed until all previous accesses to
synchronization variables have been
performed.
 Release consistency
model.
Problem in weak consistency :- the memory
does not know if the access to
synchronization variable is being done
because the process is finished writing the
shared variables or about to start reading
them.
 If the memory could tell the difference between
entering a critical region and leaving one , a more
efficient implementation might be possible.
 To provide this information, two kinds of

synchronization variables or operations are needed

instead of one.
 Release consistency provides these two kinds.

1.Acquire
2.release
 Acquire accesses are used to tell the
memory system that a critical region is about to be
entered.

 Release accesses say that a critical region

has just been exited.
 Barriers can b used instead of critical regions with
release consistency.
 Barrier – synchronization mechanism – prevents any
process from starting phase n+1 of a program until all
processes have finished phase n.
 When process arrives at a barrier it must wait until all
other processes get there 2.
 When last one arrives, all shared variables are
synchronized and then all processes are resumed.
 DEPARTURE is ACQUIRE and ARRIVAL is
RELEASE.
 Release consistency model:-
three imp properties.
 Before an ordinary access to a shared variable is
performed , all previous acquires done by the
process must have completed successfully.
 Before a release is allowed to be performed , all
previous reads and writes done by the process must
have completed.
 The acquire and release accesses must be processor
consistent.
 (sequential consistency is not required.)
 Entry consistency
 It requires the programmer to use acquire and
release at the start and end of each critical section
resp.
 Each ordinary shared variable is associated with
synchronization variables such as lock or barrier.
 entry consistency model:- imp
properties.
 An acquire access a of a synchronization variable is
not allowed to perform with respect to a process
until all updates to the guarded shared data have
been performed with respect to that process
 Before an exclusive mode access to a
synchronization variable by a process is allowed to
perform with respect to that process , no other
process may hold the synchronization variable , not
even in nonexclusive mode.
 Ty ….