https://github.com/pjsny/macos-zero-copy-ipc
Fast zero-copy IPC for macOS using POSIX shared memory (not XPC) with examples
https://github.com/pjsny/macos-zero-copy-ipc
c interprocess-communication ipc macos memory-mapping mmap performance posix posix-shm shared-memory zero-copy
Last synced: 3 months ago
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Fast zero-copy IPC for macOS using POSIX shared memory (not XPC) with examples
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/pjsny/macos-zero-copy-ipc
- Owner: pjsny
- Created: 2025-02-26T05:49:54.000Z (3 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-02-26T06:25:50.000Z (3 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-02-26T06:29:19.810Z (3 months ago)
- Topics: c, interprocess-communication, ipc, macos, memory-mapping, mmap, performance, posix, posix-shm, shared-memory, zero-copy
- Language: C
- Homepage:
- Size: 0 Bytes
- Stars: 2
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
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Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README
# macOS Zero-Copy IPC
A collection of examples demonstrating zero-copy shared memory communication between processes on macOS.
## Overview
This repository contains examples of inter-process communication using zero-copy shared memory on macOS. The examples demonstrate different approaches to shared memory:
- POSIX shared memory (shm_open) with memory mapping
- Memory-mapped files (mmap) for persistent storage
- Lock-free synchronization with atomic operations
- SIMD-accelerated processing with Apple Silicon optimizations
Each approach has different performance characteristics and use cases.
## Examples
### 1. Countdown
A simple demonstration where one process counts down from 10 to 0, sending each number to another process that processes it. Uses POSIX shared memory (shm_open) and semaphores for synchronization.
### 2. Buffer Transfer
An example of continuous data streaming between processes. One process generates random X,Y coordinates and the other displays them in real-time. Uses POSIX shared memory (shm_open) and semaphores for synchronization.
### 3. Lock-Free Ring Buffer
A high-performance lock-free ring buffer implementation using atomic operations for thread-safe communication without mutexes. Demonstrates efficient producer-consumer pattern with non-blocking I/O. Uses POSIX shared memory (shm_open) but replaces semaphores with atomic operations.
### 4. Memory-Mapped File Database
A persistent shared memory example using memory-mapped files (mmap) with regular files. Demonstrates how to create a simple database that persists between program executions and can be accessed by multiple processes simultaneously. Uses pthread mutexes for synchronization.
### 5. SIMD-Accelerated Processing
A high-performance example optimized for Apple Silicon (M-series) processors. Uses SIMD vector instructions (ARM NEON) to process data in parallel, huge pages for better TLB efficiency, and cache-line alignment to prevent false sharing. Demonstrates how to achieve maximum performance on modern hardware.
### 6. SIMD vs Standard Processing Benchmark
A benchmark comparing standard buffer processing against SIMD-accelerated processing.
## Cloning the Repository
This repository uses Git submodules for external dependencies. To clone the repository with all submodules:
```bash
# Clone the repository with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/pjsny/macos-zero-copy-ipc.git
# Or if you already cloned without --recursive:
git submodule init
git submodule update
```
## Building
```bash
# Build all examples
make
# Build a specific example
make countdown
make buffer_transfer
make ring_buffer
make mmap_file
make simd_processing
make benchmark_simd
```
## Credits
The SIMD-Accelerated Processing example uses the [math_intrinsics](https://github.com/Geolm/math_intrinsics) library by Geolm for efficient SIMD math operations. This excellent library provides transcendental math functions (cos, sin, acos, etc.) implemented using 100% AVX/Neon instructions with no branching.