NdisAllocateSpinLock function (ndis.h)

Article
04/18/2022

The NdisAllocateSpinLock function initializes a variable of type NDIS_SPIN_LOCK, used to synchronize access to resources shared among non-ISR driver functions.

Syntax

void NdisAllocateSpinLock(
  [out] PNDIS_SPIN_LOCK SpinLock
);

Parameters

[out] SpinLock

Pointer to an opaque variable that represents a spin lock.

Return value

None

Remarks

Before a driver calls NdisAcquireSpinLock, NdisDprAcquireSpinLock, or any of the NdisInterlockedXxx functions, it must call NdisAllocateSpinLock to initialize the spin lock passed as a required parameter to these NdisXxx functions. The caller must provide nonpaged storage for the variable at SpinLock .

After calling NdisAllocateSpinLock, the driver can call NdisAcquireSpinLock to obtain exclusive use of the resource(s) the spin lock protects. When resource access is complete, the driver calls NdisReleaseSpinLock so that other driver functions can access the resource(s) protected by that spin lock.

As a general rule, to improve performance a driver should use different locks to protect different critical sections. Thus, a driver might initialize more than one spin lock with NdisAllocateSpinLock.

Each spin lock that a driver allocates protects a discrete set of shared resources from simultaneous access by driver functions that run at IRQL <= DISPATCH_LEVEL. For example, a driver that maintains an internal queue of packets might initialize one spin lock to protect its queue and another to protect a set of state variables that several driver functions, not including the MiniportInterrupt or MiniportDisableInterruptEx function, access while the driver is processing packets.

NdisAcquireSpinLock raises the IRQL to DISPATCH_LEVEL and stores the old IRQL in the spin lock. Releasing the spin lock sets the IRQL to the value stored in the spin lock. Because NDIS sometimes enters drivers at PASSIVE_LEVEL, problems can arise with the following code:

NdisAcquireSpinLock(A);
NdisAcquireSpinLock(B);
NdisReleaseSpinLock(A);
NdisReleaseSpinLock(B);

A driver should not access spin locks in this sequence for the following reasons:

Between NdisReleaseSpinLock(A) and NdisReleaseSpinLock(B) the code is running at PASSIVE_LEVEL instead of DISPATCH_LEVEL and is subject to inappropriate interruption.
After NdisReleaseSpinLock(B) the code is running at DISPATCH_LEVEL which could cause the caller to fault at much later time with an IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL stop error.

A driver should never use two spin locks to protect the same (sub)set of resources because nested spin lock acquisitions so frequently cause deadlocks. Even if a driver could be designed to prevent deadlocks, nested spin lock acquisitions have an adverse effect on driver performance and I/O throughput.

A miniport driver cannot use a spin lock to protect resources that its non-ISR functions share with its MiniportInterrupt or MiniportDisableInterruptEx function. To access resources shared with a MiniportInterrupt or MiniportDisableInterruptEx function, a miniport driver must call NdisMSynchronizeWithInterruptEx to have its MiniportSynchronizeInterrupt function access those resources at DIRQL.

When a driver no longer requires resource protection, for example, when a NIC is being removed and the driver is releasing the resources it allocated for that NIC, the driver calls NdisFreeSpinLock.

Freeing a spin lock and releasing a spin lock are potentially confusing. NdisFreeSpinLock clears the memory at SpinLock so it no longer represents a spin lock. Releasing an acquired spin lock with NdisReleaseSpinLock simply allows another thread of execution to acquire that spin lock.

For more information about acquiring and releasing NDIS spin locks, see Synchronization and Notification in Network Drivers.

Callers of NdisAllocateSpinLock can run at any IRQL. Usually a caller is running at IRQL = PASSIVE_LEVEL during initialization.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Supported for NDIS 6.0 and NDIS 5.1 drivers (see NdisAllocateSpinLock (NDIS 5.1)) in Windows Vista. Supported for NDIS 5.1 drivers (see NdisAllocateSpinLock (NDIS 5.1)) in Windows XP.
Target Platform	Universal
Header	ndis.h (include Ndis.h)
Library	Ndis.lib
IRQL	Any level (see Remarks section)
DDI compliance rules	SpinLockDpr(ndis), SpinLockDprRelease(ndis), SpinlockRelease(ndis)