A Constraint-Based Approach for Specifying Memory Consistency Models

Conforming to the underlying memory consistency rules is a fundamental requirement for implementing shared memory systems and writing multiprocessor software. In order to promote understanding and enable rigorous analysis, it is highly desirable that a memory model speciflcation be both declarative and executable. In this paper, we explore the practicality of analyzing memory consistency models using constraint solving. By precisely deflning a memory model as a set of constraints in an axiomatic and compositional style, our approach provides a generic formalism for specifying memory consistency models. Furthermore, this framework ofiers a unique advantage for program veriflcation, i.e., it enables an accurate and exhaustive analysis of program properties which covers all execution paths for a given shared memory system. With this constraint-base approach, this paper formalizes a collection of classical memory models as well as the memory ordering rules of the Intel Itanium processor families. We also discuss how logic programming and constraint solving can be used to make these axiomatic speciflcations executable to support automated analysis.

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