The Weakest Memory-Access Order

Abstract In 1979 Lamport explained that a multiprocessor that allows out-of-order memory access may obtain incorrect results. In the present article, a conceptual framework is developed for understanding this problem, and the problem is defined in terms of this framework. Then the problem is solved in the weakest manner possible, and the weakest order is related to prior access-order solutions. At the heart of the underlying conceptual framework is a model of asynchronous multiprocess computation, which includes a model of asynchronous interprocess communication.

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