From e763e0073f1b6c82b77be77fdd101ce3e54f650f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:44:52 -0400
Subject: [PATCH v4 4/6] bufmgr: Use atomic sub for unpinning buffers

The prior commit made it legal to modify BufferDesc.state while the buffer
header spinlock is held. This allows us to replace the CAS loop
inUnpinBufferNoOwner() with an atomic sub. This improves scalability
significantly. See the prior commits for more background.

Reviewed-by: Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/fvfmkr5kk4nyex56ejgxj3uzi63isfxovp2biecb4bspbjrze7@az2pljabhnff
---
 src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c | 29 +++--------------------------
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 26 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c b/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
index 0ce4a736b58..594a8e5d512 100644
--- a/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
+++ b/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
@@ -3247,7 +3247,6 @@ UnpinBufferNoOwner(BufferDesc *buf)
 	ref->refcount--;
 	if (ref->refcount == 0)
 	{
-		uint32		buf_state;
 		uint32		old_buf_state;
 
 		/*
@@ -3262,33 +3261,11 @@ UnpinBufferNoOwner(BufferDesc *buf)
 		/* I'd better not still hold the buffer content lock */
 		Assert(!LWLockHeldByMe(BufferDescriptorGetContentLock(buf)));
 
-		/*
-		 * Decrement the shared reference count.
-		 *
-		 * Since buffer spinlock holder can update status using just write,
-		 * it's not safe to use atomic decrement here; thus use a CAS loop.
-		 *
-		 * TODO: The above requirement does not hold anymore, in a future
-		 * commit this will be rewritten to release the pin in a single atomic
-		 * operation.
-		 */
-		old_buf_state = pg_atomic_read_u32(&buf->state);
-		for (;;)
-		{
-			if (old_buf_state & BM_LOCKED)
-				old_buf_state = WaitBufHdrUnlocked(buf);
-
-			buf_state = old_buf_state;
-
-			buf_state -= BUF_REFCOUNT_ONE;
-
-			if (pg_atomic_compare_exchange_u32(&buf->state, &old_buf_state,
-											   buf_state))
-				break;
-		}
+		/* decrement the shared reference count */
+		old_buf_state = pg_atomic_fetch_sub_u32(&buf->state, BUF_REFCOUNT_ONE);
 
 		/* Support LockBufferForCleanup() */
-		if (buf_state & BM_PIN_COUNT_WAITER)
+		if (old_buf_state & BM_PIN_COUNT_WAITER)
 			WakePinCountWaiter(buf);
 
 		ForgetPrivateRefCountEntry(ref);
-- 
2.48.1.76.g4e746b1a31.dirty

