LR.W

RISC-V LR.W Instruction Details

Instruction ManualR-type

Load 32-bit word from address in rs1 and register a reservation for subsequent SC.W

Instruction Syntax

lr.w rd, (rs1)
Operand Breakdown
Destination rd: register receiving the operation result.
Source rs1: register holding the first operand.
Source rs2: register holding the second operand.
AZalrscAtomic

Instruction Behavior

LR.W loads a word from the address in rs1, places the sign-extended value in rd, and registers a reservation set covering the addressed bytes. The reservation is used by subsequent SC.W for conditional store. Supports aq/rl bits for memory ordering. Value is sign-extended to 64 bits in RV64.

Common Usage Scenarios

Atomic & Sync

Understand this scenario with real code like «lr.w.aq t0, (a0) # load word from *a0 with acquire ordering, set reservation».

Pre-Use Checklist

Syntax Check
  • Confirm the current instruction format is R-type.
  • Confirm the operand order matches the example.
Semantic Check
  • Ensure the destination register usage is compatible with the calling convention.
  • Confirm this is not the lower-level form of a pseudo-instruction expansion.

Pitfalls / Common Confusions

Address must be 4-byte aligned
Must pair with SC.W
Stores from other harts invalidate reservation
New LR on same hart overwrites previous reservation