doc: kernel: threads: add dynamic thread stack docs

Add documentation to indicate that, aside from static thread
stack allocation, Zephyr supports dynamically allocated thread
stacks.

Signed-off-by: Chris Friedt <cfriedt@tenstorrent.com>

Author: cfriedt

doc/kernel/services/threads/index.rst

@@ -189,8 +189,12 @@ require their regions to be of some power of two in size, and aligned to its
 own size.
 
 Because of this, portable code can't simply pass an arbitrary character buffer
-to :c:func:`k_thread_create`. Special macros exist to instantiate stacks,
-prefixed with ``K_KERNEL_STACK`` and ``K_THREAD_STACK``.
+to :c:func:`k_thread_create`. Special macros exist to instantiate stacks
+statically, prefixed with ``K_KERNEL_STACK`` and ``K_THREAD_STACK``.
+
+Additionally, stacks may be instantiated dynamically using
+:c:func:`k_thread_stack_alloc` and subsequently freed with
+:c:func:`k_thread_stack_free`.
 
 Kernel-only Stacks
 ==================
@@ -411,8 +415,9 @@ Spawning a Thread
 A thread is spawned by defining its stack area and its thread control block,
 and then calling :c:func:`k_thread_create`.
 
-The stack area must be defined using :c:macro:`K_THREAD_STACK_DEFINE` or
-:c:macro:`K_KERNEL_STACK_DEFINE` to ensure it is properly set up in memory.
+The stack area may be statically allocated using
+:c:macro:`K_THREAD_STACK_DEFINE` or :c:macro:`K_KERNEL_STACK_DEFINE` to ensure
+it is properly set up in memory.
 
 The size parameter for the stack must be one of three values:
 
@@ -426,6 +431,9 @@ The size parameter for the stack must be one of three values:
   macros, the return value of :c:macro:`K_KERNEL_STACK_SIZEOF()` for that
   object.
 
+Alternatively, the stack area may be dynamically allocated using
+:c:func:`k_thread_stack_alloc` and freed using :c:func:`k_thread_stack_free`.
+
 The thread spawning function returns its thread id, which can be used
 to reference the thread.
 
@@ -470,6 +478,25 @@ The following code has the same effect as the code segment above.
    thread immediately. The corresponding parameter to :c:macro:`K_THREAD_DEFINE`
    is a duration in integral milliseconds, so the equivalent argument is 0.
 
+The following code dynamically allocates a thread stack, waits until the thread
+has joined, and then frees the dynamically allocated thread stack.
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    extern void my_entry_point(void *, void *, void *);
+
+    k_tid_t my_tid;
+    void *my_stack_area;
+
+    my_stack_area = k_thread_stack_alloc(CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_STACK_SIZE);
+    my_tid = k_thread_create(&my_thread_data, my_stack_area,
+                              CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_STACK_SIZE,
+                              my_entry_point,
+                              NULL, NULL, NULL,
+                              MY_PRIORITY, 0, K_NO_WAIT);
+    k_thread_join(my_tid, K_FOREVER);
+    k_thread_stack_free(my_stack_area);
+
 User Mode Constraints
 ---------------------
 

include/zephyr/kernel.h

@@ -332,21 +332,25 @@ void k_thread_foreach_unlocked_filter_by_cpu(unsigned int cpu,
 /**
  * @brief Dynamically allocate a thread stack.
  *
- * Dynamically allocate a thread stack either from a pool of thread stacks of size
- * @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_POOL_SIZE}, or from the system heap. Order is determined by the
- * kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_PREFER_ALLOC} and @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_PREFER_POOL}
- * options. Thread stacks from the pool are of maximum size
- * @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_STACK_SIZE}.
+ * Dynamically allocate a thread stack either from a pool of thread stacks of
+ * size @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_POOL_SIZE}, or from the system heap.
+ * Order is determined by the @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_PREFER_ALLOC} and
+ * @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_PREFER_POOL} options. Thread stacks from the
+ * pool are of maximum size @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD_STACK_SIZE}.
  *
- * Relevant stack creation flags include:
- * - @ref K_USER allocate a userspace thread (requires @kconfig{CONFIG_USERSPACE})
+ * @note When no longer required, thread stacks allocated with
+ * `k_thread_stack_alloc()` must be freed with @ref k_thread_stack_free to
+ * avoid leaking memory.
  *
  * @param size Stack size in bytes.
  * @param flags Stack creation flags, or 0.
  *
  * @retval the allocated thread stack on success.
  * @retval NULL on failure.
  *
+ * Relevant stack creation flags include:
+ * - @ref K_USER allocate a userspace thread (requires @kconfig{CONFIG_USERSPACE})
+ *
  * @see @kconfig{CONFIG_DYNAMIC_THREAD}
  */
 __syscall k_thread_stack_t *k_thread_stack_alloc(size_t size, int flags);
@@ -389,8 +393,7 @@ __syscall int k_thread_stack_free(k_thread_stack_t *stack);
  *   enabled.
  *
  * Alternatively, the stack may be dynamically allocated using
- * @ref k_thread_stack_alloc. If this is the case, then the stack should
- * be freed using @ref k_thread_stack_free after joining the thread.
+ * @ref k_thread_stack_alloc.
  *
  * The stack_size parameter has constraints. It must either be:
  *