A simple correctness pro of of the MCS contention free lo ck
Theo dore Johnson
Krishna Harathi
Computer and Information Sciences Department
University of Florida
Abstract
Mellor Crummey and Scott present a spin lo ck that avoids network contention byhaving
pro cessors spin on lo cal memory lo cations Their algorithm is equivalent to a lo ck free queue
with a sp ecial access pattern The authors provide a complex and unintuitive pro of of the
correctness of their algorithm In this pap er weprovide a simple pro of that the MCS lo ckisa
correct critical section solution whichprovides insightinto why the algorithm is correct
Keywords mutual exclusion serializability parallel pro cessing spin lo ck