preempt_count

struct thread_info{

               ................

              int                     preempt_count;

             ....................

}

/*
 * We put the hardirq and softirq counter into the preemption
 * counter. The bitmask has the following meaning:
 *
 * - bits 0-7 are the preemption count (max preemption depth: 256)
 * - bits 8-15 are the softirq count (max # of softirqs: 256)
 *
 * The hardirq count can in theory reach the same as NR_IRQS.
 * In reality, the number of nested IRQS is limited to the stack
 * size as well. For archs with over 1000 IRQS it is not practical
 * to expect that they will all nest. We give a max of 10 bits for
 * hardirq nesting. An arch may choose to give less than 10 bits.
 * m68k expects it to be 8.
 *
 * - bits 16-25 are the hardirq count (max # of nested hardirqs: 1024)
 * - bit 26 is the NMI_MASK
 * - bit 27 is the PREEMPT_ACTIVE flag
 *
 * PREEMPT_MASK: 0x000000ff
 * SOFTIRQ_MASK: 0x0000ff00
 * HARDIRQ_MASK: 0x03ff0000
 * NMI_MASK: 0x04000000

 */

A：hardirq nest

a：中断嵌套

b：irq reentry？

From the Documentation/PCI/MSI-HOWTO.txt:

> With pin-based interrupts or a single MSI, it is not  necessary to disable interrupts (Linux guarantees the same interrupt will
> not be re-entered).

B：为什么softirq需要256？

C：preemption count为什么需要这么多？

D：PREEMPT_ACTIVE