diff --git a/docs/devel/atomics.rst b/docs/devel/atomics.rst
index 83ed3d6981..18bec11edd 100644
--- a/docs/devel/atomics.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/atomics.rst
@@ -11,10 +11,15 @@ that is consistent with the expectations of the programmer.
 The most basic tool is locking.  Mutexes, condition variables and
 semaphores are used in QEMU, and should be the default approach to
 synchronization.  Anything else is considerably harder, but it's
-also justified more often than one would like.  The two tools that
-are provided by ``qemu/atomic.h`` are memory barriers and atomic operations.
+also justified more often than one would like;
+the most performance-critical parts of QEMU in particular require
+a very low level approach to concurrency, involving memory barriers
+and atomic operations.  The semantics of concurrent memory accesses are governed
+by the C11 memory model.
 
-Macros defined by ``qemu/atomic.h`` fall in three camps:
+QEMU provides a header, ``qemu/atomic.h``, which wraps C11 atomics to
+provide better portability and a less verbose syntax.  ``qemu/atomic.h``
+provides macros that fall in three camps:
 
 - compiler barriers: ``barrier()``;
 
@@ -24,13 +29,21 @@ Macros defined by ``qemu/atomic.h`` fall in three camps:
 
 - sequentially consistent atomic access: everything else.
 
+In general, use of ``qemu/atomic.h`` should be wrapped with more easily
+used data structures (e.g. the lock-free singly-linked list operations
+``QSLIST_INSERT_HEAD_ATOMIC`` and ``QSLIST_MOVE_ATOMIC``) or synchronization
+primitives (such as RCU, ``QemuEvent`` or ``QemuLockCnt``).  Bare use of
+atomic operations and memory barriers should be limited to inter-thread
+checking of flags and documented thoroughly.
+
+
 
 Compiler memory barrier
 =======================
 
-``barrier()`` prevents the compiler from moving the memory accesses either
-side of it to the other side.  The compiler barrier has no direct effect
-on the CPU, which may then reorder things however it wishes.
+``barrier()`` prevents the compiler from moving the memory accesses on
+either side of it to the other side.  The compiler barrier has no direct
+effect on the CPU, which may then reorder things however it wishes.
 
 ``barrier()`` is mostly used within ``qemu/atomic.h`` itself.  On some
 architectures, CPU guarantees are strong enough that blocking compiler
@@ -73,7 +86,8 @@ operations::
     typeof(*ptr) atomic_cmpxchg(ptr, old, new)
 
 all of which return the old value of ``*ptr``.  These operations are
-polymorphic; they operate on any type that is as wide as a pointer.
+polymorphic; they operate on any type that is as wide as a pointer or
+smaller.
 
 Similar operations return the new value of ``*ptr``::
 
@@ -85,36 +99,28 @@ Similar operations return the new value of ``*ptr``::
     typeof(*ptr) atomic_or_fetch(ptr, val)
     typeof(*ptr) atomic_xor_fetch(ptr, val)
 
-Sequentially consistent loads and stores can be done using::
-
-    atomic_fetch_add(ptr, 0) for loads
-    atomic_xchg(ptr, val) for stores
-
-However, they are quite expensive on some platforms, notably POWER and
-Arm.  Therefore, qemu/atomic.h provides two primitives with slightly
-weaker constraints::
+``qemu/atomic.h`` also provides loads and stores that cannot be reordered
+with each other::
 
     typeof(*ptr) atomic_mb_read(ptr)
     void         atomic_mb_set(ptr, val)
 
-The semantics of these primitives map to Java volatile variables,
-and are strongly related to memory barriers as used in the Linux
-kernel (see below).
+However these do not provide sequential consistency and, in particular,
+they do not participate in the total ordering enforced by
+sequentially-consistent operations.  For this reason they are deprecated.
+They should instead be replaced with any of the following (ordered from
+easiest to hardest):
 
-As long as you use atomic_mb_read and atomic_mb_set, accesses cannot
-be reordered with each other, and it is also not possible to reorder
-"normal" accesses around them.
+- accesses inside a mutex or spinlock
 
-However, and this is the important difference between
-atomic_mb_read/atomic_mb_set and sequential consistency, it is important
-for both threads to access the same volatile variable.  It is not the
-case that everything visible to thread A when it writes volatile field f
-becomes visible to thread B after it reads volatile field g. The store
-and load have to "match" (i.e., be performed on the same volatile
-field) to achieve the right semantics.
+- lightweight synchronization primitives such as ``QemuEvent``
 
+- RCU operations (``atomic_rcu_read``, ``atomic_rcu_set``) when publishing
+  or accessing a new version of a data structure
 
-These operations operate on any type that is as wide as an int or smaller.
+- other atomic accesses: ``atomic_read`` and ``atomic_load_acquire`` for
+  loads, ``atomic_set`` and ``atomic_store_release`` for stores, ``smp_mb``
+  to forbid reordering subsequent loads before a store.
 
 
 Weak atomic access and manual memory barriers
@@ -122,9 +128,24 @@ Weak atomic access and manual memory barriers
 
 Compared to sequentially consistent atomic access, programming with
 weaker consistency models can be considerably more complicated.
-In general, if the algorithm you are writing includes both writes
-and reads on the same side, it is generally simpler to use sequentially
-consistent primitives.
+The only guarantees that you can rely upon in this case are:
+
+- atomic accesses will not cause data races (and hence undefined behavior);
+  ordinary accesses instead cause data races if they are concurrent with
+  other accesses and at least one access is a write.  In order to ensure this,
+  the compiler will not optimize accesses out of existence, create unsolicited
+  accesses, or perform other similar optimzations.
+
+- acquire operations will appear to happen, with respect to the other
+  components of the system, before all the LOAD or STORE operations
+  specified afterwards.
+
+- release operations will appear to happen, with respect to the other
+  components of the system, after all the LOAD or STORE operations
+  specified afterwards.
+
+- release operations will *synchronize with* acquire operations;
+  see :ref:`acqrel` for a detailed explanation.
 
 When using this model, variables are accessed with:
 
@@ -208,168 +229,182 @@ They come in six kinds:
   dependency and a full read barrier or better is required.
 
 
-This is the set of barriers that is required *between* two ``atomic_read()``
-and ``atomic_set()`` operations to achieve sequential consistency:
-
-   +----------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
-   |                |                 2nd operation                         |
-   |                +------------------+-----------------+------------------+
-   | 1st operation  | (after last)     | atomic_read     | atomic_set       |
-   +----------------+------------------+-----------------+------------------+
-   | (before first) | ..               | none            | smp_mb_release() |
-   +----------------+------------------+-----------------+------------------+
-   | atomic_read    | smp_mb_acquire() | smp_rmb() [1]_  | [2]_             |
-   +----------------+------------------+-----------------+------------------+
-   | atomic_set     | none             | smp_mb() [3]_   | smp_wmb()        |
-   +----------------+------------------+-----------------+------------------+
-
-   .. [1] Or smp_read_barrier_depends().
-
-   .. [2] This requires a load-store barrier.  This is achieved by
-          either smp_mb_acquire() or smp_mb_release().
-
-   .. [3] This requires a store-load barrier.  On most machines, the only
-          way to achieve this is a full barrier.
-
-
-You can see that the two possible definitions of ``atomic_mb_read()``
-and ``atomic_mb_set()`` are the following:
-
-  1) | atomic_mb_read(p)   = atomic_read(p); smp_mb_acquire()
-     | atomic_mb_set(p, v) = smp_mb_release(); atomic_set(p, v); smp_mb()
-
-  2) | atomic_mb_read(p)   = smp_mb() atomic_read(p); smp_mb_acquire()
-     | atomic_mb_set(p, v) = smp_mb_release(); atomic_set(p, v);
-
-Usually the former is used, because ``smp_mb()`` is expensive and a program
-normally has more reads than writes.  Therefore it makes more sense to
-make ``atomic_mb_set()`` the more expensive operation.
-
-There are two common cases in which atomic_mb_read and atomic_mb_set
-generate too many memory barriers, and thus it can be useful to manually
-place barriers, or use atomic_load_acquire/atomic_store_release instead:
-
-- when a data structure has one thread that is always a writer
-  and one thread that is always a reader, manual placement of
-  memory barriers makes the write side faster.  Furthermore,
-  correctness is easy to check for in this case using the "pairing"
-  trick that is explained below:
-
-    +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
-    | thread 1                                                             |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-    | before                            | after                            |
-    +===================================+==================================+
-    | ::                                | ::                               |
-    |                                   |                                  |
-    |   (other writes)                  |                                  |
-    |   atomic_mb_set(&a, x)            |   atomic_store_release(&a, x)    |
-    |   atomic_mb_set(&b, y)            |   atomic_store_release(&b, y)    |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-
-    +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
-    | thread 2                                                             |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-    | before                            | after                            |
-    +===================================+==================================+
-    | ::                                | ::                               |
-    |                                   |                                  |
-    |   y = atomic_mb_read(&b)          |   y = atomic_load_acquire(&b)    |
-    |   x = atomic_mb_read(&a)          |   x = atomic_load_acquire(&a)    |
-    |   (other reads)                   |                                  |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-
-  Note that the barrier between the stores in thread 1, and between
-  the loads in thread 2, has been optimized here to a write or a
-  read memory barrier respectively.  On some architectures, notably
-  ARMv7, smp_mb_acquire and smp_mb_release are just as expensive as
-  smp_mb, but smp_rmb and/or smp_wmb are more efficient.
-
-- sometimes, a thread is accessing many variables that are otherwise
-  unrelated to each other (for example because, apart from the current
-  thread, exactly one other thread will read or write each of these
-  variables).  In this case, it is possible to "hoist" the implicit
-  barriers provided by ``atomic_mb_read()`` and ``atomic_mb_set()`` outside
-  a loop.  For example, the above definition ``atomic_mb_read()`` gives
-  the following transformation:
-
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-    | before                            | after                            |
-    +===================================+==================================+
-    | ::                                | ::                               |
-    |                                   |                                  |
-    |   n = 0;                          |   n = 0;                         |
-    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)        |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)       |
-    |     n += atomic_mb_read(&a[i]);   |     n += atomic_read(&a[i]);     |
-    |                                   |   smp_mb_acquire();              |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-
-  Similarly, atomic_mb_set() can be transformed as follows:
-
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-    | before                            | after                            |
-    +===================================+==================================+
-    | ::                                | ::                               |
-    |                                   |                                  |
-    |                                   |   smp_mb_release();              |
-    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)        |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)       |
-    |     atomic_mb_set(&a[i], false);  |     atomic_set(&a[i], false);    |
-    |                                   |   smp_mb();                      |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-
-
-  The other thread can still use ``atomic_mb_read()``/``atomic_mb_set()``.
-
-The two tricks can be combined.  In this case, splitting a loop in
-two lets you hoist the barriers out of the loops _and_ eliminate the
-expensive ``smp_mb()``:
-
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-    | before                            | after                            |
-    +===================================+==================================+
-    | ::                                | ::                               |
-    |                                   |                                  |
-    |                                   |     smp_mb_release();            |
-    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {      |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
-    |     atomic_mb_set(&a[i], false);  |       atomic_set(&a[i], false);  |
-    |     atomic_mb_set(&b[i], false);  |     smb_wmb();                   |
-    |   }                               |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
-    |                                   |       atomic_set(&a[i], false);  |
-    |                                   |     smp_mb();                    |
-    +-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
-
-
-Memory barrier pairing
-----------------------
-
-A useful rule of thumb is that memory barriers should always, or almost
-always, be paired with another barrier.  In the case of QEMU, however,
-note that the other barrier may actually be in a driver that runs in
-the guest!
-
-For the purposes of pairing, ``smp_read_barrier_depends()`` and ``smp_rmb()``
-both count as read barriers.  A read barrier shall pair with a write
-barrier or a full barrier; a write barrier shall pair with a read
-barrier or a full barrier.  A full barrier can pair with anything.
-For example:
-
-      +--------------------+------------------------------+
-      | thread 1           | thread 2                     |
-      +====================+==============================+
-      | ::                 | ::                           |
-      |                    |                              |
-      |   a = 1;           |                              |
-      |   smp_wmb();       |                              |
-      |   b = 2;           |   x = b;                     |
-      |                    |   smp_rmb();                 |
-      |                    |   y = a;                     |
-      +--------------------+------------------------------+
+Memory barriers and ``atomic_load_acquire``/``atomic_store_release`` are
+mostly used when a data structure has one thread that is always a writer
+and one thread that is always a reader:
+
+    +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+    | thread 1                         | thread 2                         |
+    +==================================+==================================+
+    | ::                               | ::                               |
+    |                                  |                                  |
+    |   atomic_store_release(&a, x);   |   y = atomic_load_acquire(&b);   |
+    |   atomic_store_release(&b, y);   |   x = atomic_load_acquire(&a);   |
+    +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+
+In this case, correctness is easy to check for in this case using the
+"pairing" trick that is explained below.
+
+Sometimes, a thread is accessing many variables that are otherwise
+unrelated to each other (for example because, apart from the current
+thread, exactly one other thread will read or write each of these
+variables).  In this case, it is possible to "hoist" the barriers
+outside a loop.  For example:
+
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+    | before                                   | after                            |
+    +==========================================+==================================+
+    | ::                                       | ::                               |
+    |                                          |                                  |
+    |   n = 0;                                 |   n = 0;                         |
+    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)               |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)       |
+    |     n += atomic_load_acquire(&a[i]);     |     n += atomic_read(&a[i]);     |
+    |                                          |   smp_mb_acquire();              |
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+    | ::                                       | ::                               |
+    |                                          |                                  |
+    |                                          |   smp_mb_release();              |
+    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)               |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)       |
+    |     atomic_store_release(&a[i], false);  |     atomic_set(&a[i], false);    |
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+
+Splitting a loop can also be useful to reduce the number of barriers:
+
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+    | before                                   | after                            |
+    +==========================================+==================================+
+    | ::                                       | ::                               |
+    |                                          |                                  |
+    |   n = 0;                                 |     smp_mb_release();            |
+    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {             |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
+    |     atomic_store_release(&a[i], false);  |       atomic_set(&a[i], false);  |
+    |     smp_mb();                            |     smb_mb();                    |
+    |     n += atomic_read(&b[i]);             |     n = 0;                       |
+    |   }                                      |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
+    |                                          |       n += atomic_read(&b[i]);   |
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+
+In this case, a ``smp_mb_release()`` is also replaced with a (possibly cheaper, and clearer
+as well) ``smp_wmb()``:
+
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+    | before                                   | after                            |
+    +==========================================+==================================+
+    | ::                                       | ::                               |
+    |                                          |                                  |
+    |                                          |     smp_mb_release();            |
+    |   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {             |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
+    |     atomic_store_release(&a[i], false);  |       atomic_set(&a[i], false);  |
+    |     atomic_store_release(&b[i], false);  |     smb_wmb();                   |
+    |   }                                      |     for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)     |
+    |                                          |       atomic_set(&b[i], false);  |
+    +------------------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+
+
+.. _acqrel:
+
+Acquire/release pairing and the *synchronizes-with* relation
+------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Atomic operations other than ``atomic_set()`` and ``atomic_read()`` have
+either *acquire* or *release* semantics.  This has two effects:
+
+- within a thread, they are ordered either after previous operations (for
+  acquire) or before subsequent operations (for release).
+
+- if a release operation in one thread *synchronizes with* an acquire operation in another
+  thread, the ordering constraints propagates from the first to the
+  second thread.  That is, everything before the release operation in the
+  first thread is guaranteed to *happen before* everything after the
+  acquire operation in the second thread.
+
+The concept of acquire and release semantics is not exclusive to atomic
+operations; almost all higher-level synchronization primitives also have
+acquire or release semantics.  For example:
+
+- ``pthread_mutex_lock`` has acquire semantics, ``pthread_mutex_unlock`` has
+  release semantics and synchronizes with a ``pthread_mutex_lock`` for the
+  same mutex.
+
+- ``pthread_cond_broadcast`` has release semantics, ``pthread_cond_wait`` has
+  both release semantics (for loads and stores before the wait) and acquire
+  semantics (for loads and stores after the wakeup)
+
+- ``pthread_create`` has release semantics and synchronizes with the start
+  of the new thread; ``pthread_join`` has acquire semantics and synchronizes
+  with the exiting of the thread.
+
+- ``qemu_event_set`` has release semantics, ``qemu_event_wait`` has
+  acquire semantics
+
+For example, in the following example there are no atomic accesses, but still
+thread 2 is relying on the *synchronizes-with* relation between ``pthread_exit``
+(release) and ``pthread_join`` (acquire):
+
+      +----------------------+-------------------------------+
+      | thread 1             | thread 2                      |
+      +======================+===============================+
+      | ::                   | ::                            |
+      |                      |                               |
+      |   *a = 1;            |                               |
+      |   pthread_exit(a);   |   pthread_join(thread1, &a);  |
+      |                      |   x = *a;                     |
+      +----------------------+-------------------------------+
+
+As a result, a useful rule of thumb is that atomic operations other than
+``atomic_set()`` and ``atomic_read()`` will almost always be paired with another
+operation of the opposite kind: an acquire operation will pair with
+a release operation and vice versa.  In the case of QEMU, however, note
+that the other barrier may actually be in a driver that runs in the guest!
+
+``smp_read_barrier_depends()``, ``smp_rmb()``, ``smp_mb_acquire()``,
+``atomic_load_acquire()`` and ``atomic_rcu_read()`` all count
+as acquire operations.  ``smp_wmb()``, ``smp_mb_release()``,
+``atomic_store_release()`` and ``atomic_rcu_set()`` all count as release
+operations.  ``smp_mb()`` counts as both acquire and release, therefore
+it can pair with any other atomic operation.  Here is an example:
+
+      +----------------------+------------------------------+
+      | thread 1             | thread 2                     |
+      +======================+==============================+
+      | ::                   | ::                           |
+      |                      |                              |
+      |   atomic_set(&a, 1); |                              |
+      |   smp_wmb();         |                              |
+      |   atomic_set(&b, 2); |   x = atomic_read(&b);       |
+      |                      |   smp_rmb();                 |
+      |                      |   y = atomic_read(&a);       |
+      +----------------------+------------------------------+
+
+Note that a load-store pair only counts if the two operations access the
+same variable: that is, a store-release on a variable ``x`` *synchronizes
+with* a load-acquire on a variable ``x``, while a release barrier
+synchronizes with any acquire operation.  The following example shows
+correct synchronization:
+
+      +--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
+      | thread 1                       | thread 2                       |
+      +================================+================================+
+      | ::                             | ::                             |
+      |                                |                                |
+      |   atomic_set(&a, 1);           |                                |
+      |   atomic_store_release(&b, 2); |   x = atomic_load_acquire(&b); |
+      |                                |   y = atomic_read(&a);         |
+      +--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
+
+Acquire and release semantics of higher-level synchronization primitives
+can also be relied upon for the purpose of pairing memory barriers or
+acquire/release operations.
 
 Note that the "writing" thread is accessing the variables in the
 opposite order as the "reading" thread.  This is expected: stores
-before the write barrier will normally match the loads after the
-read barrier, and vice versa.  The same is true for more than 2
-access and for data dependency barriers:
+before a release operation or write barrier will normally match the loads
+after the acquire operation or read barrier, and vice versa.  The same
+was true in the ``pthread_exit``/``pthread_join`` example above.
+
+Finally, this more complex example has more than two accesses and data
+dependency barriers.  It also does not use atomic accesses whenever there
+cannot be a data race:
 
       +----------------------+------------------------------+
       | thread 1             | thread 2                     |
@@ -380,17 +415,13 @@ access and for data dependency barriers:
       |   smp_wmb();         |                              |
       |   x->i = 2;          |                              |
       |   smp_wmb();         |                              |
-      |   a = x;             |  x = a;                      |
+      |   atomic_set(&a, x); |  x = atomic_read(&a);        |
       |                      |  smp_read_barrier_depends(); |
       |                      |  y = x->i;                   |
       |                      |  smp_read_barrier_depends(); |
       |                      |  z = b[y];                   |
       +----------------------+------------------------------+
 
-``smp_wmb()`` also pairs with ``atomic_mb_read()`` and ``smp_mb_acquire()``.
-and ``smp_rmb()`` also pairs with ``atomic_mb_set()`` and ``smp_mb_release()``.
-
-
 Comparison with Linux kernel memory barriers
 ============================================
 
@@ -426,19 +457,43 @@ and memory barriers, and the equivalents in QEMU:
          ``atomic_cmpxchg``    returns the old value of the variable
          ===================== =========================================
 
-  In QEMU, the second kind does not exist.  Currently Linux has
-  atomic_fetch_or only.  QEMU provides and, or, inc, dec, add, sub.
+  In QEMU, the second kind is named ``atomic_OP_fetch``.
 
 - different atomic read-modify-write operations in Linux imply
   a different set of memory barriers; in QEMU, all of them enforce
-  sequential consistency, which means they imply full memory barriers
-  before and after the operation.
-
-- Linux does not have an equivalent of ``atomic_mb_set()``.  In particular,
-  note that ``smp_store_mb()`` is a little weaker than ``atomic_mb_set()``.
-  ``atomic_mb_read()`` compiles to the same instructions as Linux's
-  ``smp_load_acquire()``, but this should be treated as an implementation
-  detail.
+  sequential consistency.
+
+- in QEMU, ``atomic_read()`` and ``atomic_set()`` do not participate in
+  the total ordering enforced by sequentially-consistent operations.
+  This is because QEMU uses the C11 memory model.  The following example
+  is correct in Linux but not in QEMU:
+
+      +----------------------------------+--------------------------------+
+      | Linux (correct)                  | QEMU (incorrect)               |
+      +==================================+================================+
+      | ::                               | ::                             |
+      |                                  |                                |
+      |   a = atomic_fetch_add(&x, 2);   |   a = atomic_fetch_add(&x, 2); |
+      |   b = READ_ONCE(&y);             |   b = atomic_read(&y);         |
+      +----------------------------------+--------------------------------+
+
+  because the read of ``y`` can be moved (by either the processor or the
+  compiler) before the write of ``x``.
+
+  Fixing this requires an ``smp_mb()`` memory barrier between the write
+  of ``x`` and the read of ``y``.  In the common case where only one thread
+  writes ``x``, it is also possible to write it like this:
+
+      +--------------------------------+
+      | QEMU (correct)                 |
+      +================================+
+      | ::                             |
+      |                                |
+      |   a = atomic_read(&x);         |
+      |   atomic_set(&x, a + 2);       |
+      |   smp_mb();                    |
+      |   b = atomic_read(&y);         |
+      +--------------------------------+
 
 Sources
 =======
