Atomic update instructions with bit masking

A system comprising:

• a circuit board having memory mounted to the circuit board;
• a first processing unit;
• a second processing unit configured to execute a masked atomic update instruction by:
• comparing a subset of multiple fields of a data structure to at least one source value specified by the masked atomic update instruction;
• and
• modifying the data structure using at least one replacement value specified by the masked atomic update instruction in response to the subset of the multiple fields matching the at least one source value;
• or
• not modifying the data structure in response to the subset of the multiple fields not matching the at least one source value;
• the second processing unit further configured to prevent the first processing unit from modifying the subset of the multiple fields of the data structure while executing the masked atomic update instruction;
• and
• the first processing unit configured to modify fields of the data structure excluded in the subset of the multiple fields while the second processing unit is executing the masked atomic update instruction.

A device comprising:

• a processing unit configured to:
• receive a masked atomic update instruction that includes information describing:
• an address for a data storage location;
• at least one source value;
• at least one replacement value;
• and
• a mask;
• and
• execute the masked atomic update instruction by:
• identifying, from a data structure associated with the data storage location, a subset of multiple data fields using the mask;
• comparing the subset of the multiple data fields to the at least one source value;
• and
• modifying the data structure using the at least one replacement value in response to the subset of the multiple data fields matching the at least one source value;
• or
• not modifying the data structure in response to the subset of the multiple data fields not matching the at least one source value;
• and
• allow a different processing unit to access, from the data storage location, data fields that are excluded from the subset of the multiple data fields during the executing the masked atomic update instruction.