Excerpt from Efficient Synchronization on Multiprocessors With Shared Memory A new formalism is given for read-modify-write (rmw) synchronization opera tions. This formalism is used to extend the memory reference combining mechan ism, introduced in the nyu Ultracomputer, to arbitrary rmw operations. A for mal correctness proof of this combining mechanism is given. General requirements for the practicality of combining are discussed. Combining is shown to be practical for many useful memory access Operations. This includes memory updates of the form mem_val mem_val op val, where op need not be associative, and a variety of synchronization primitives. The computation involved is shown to be closely re lated to parallel prefix evaluation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.