According to RCU_INIT_POINTER()'s block comment 3.a, it can be used if "3. The referenced data structure has already been exposed to readers either at compile time or via rcu_assign_pointer() -and- a. You have not made -any- reader-visible changes to this structure since then". This case fulfills the conditions above because between the rcu_dereference() call (cvif = rcu_dereference(ar->beacon_iter);) and the rcu_assign_pointer() call there is no update of the "cvif" variable. Therefore, this patch makes the replacement. The following Coccinelle semantic patch was used: @@ identifier v; @@ v = rcu_dereference(...); ... when != rcu_dereference(...); when != v = ...; when != (<+...v...+>)++; when != \(memcpy\|memset\)(...); ( - rcu_assign_pointer + RCU_INIT_POINTER (..., v); | if(...) { ... when != v = ...; - rcu_assign_pointer + RCU_INIT_POINTER (..., v); ... when any } ) Because there are cases where between a “rcu_dereference()” call and a “rcu_assign_pointer()” call might be updates of the value that interests us, the Coccinelle semantic patch ignores them and replaces with "RCU_INIT_POINTER()" only when the update is not happening. Signed-off-by: Andreea-Cristina Bernat <bernat.ada@xxxxxxxxx> --- drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c index 4cadfd4..ae86a600 100644 --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c @@ -1557,7 +1557,7 @@ static struct carl9170_vif_info *carl9170_pick_beaconing_vif(struct ar9170 *ar) } out: - rcu_assign_pointer(ar->beacon_iter, cvif); + RCU_INIT_POINTER(ar->beacon_iter, cvif); return cvif; } -- 1.9.1 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html