iceoryx2 provides zero-copy inter-process communication mechanisms based on shared memory and data structures that are modified concurrently by multiple processes.

One of the key operations in these algorithms is a memory copy using core::ptr::copy. However, this results in undefined behavior if one process reads the data while another process writes to it concurrently. Even if our lock-free algorithm reliably detects such a race, iceoryx2 cannot depend on undefined behavior in a safety-critical system.

This blog post introduces our solution: a byte-wise atomic wrapper that enables well-defined concurrent copy operations. It also shows how it can be used to implement a simple sequence lock.

Note: I am not the original author of the blog post. Since the author does not have a programming.dev account, I am posting it on her behalf.