work queue
also: workqueue, kworker
A kernel mechanism that defers work (like interrupt handlers) to be executed later in a less-critical context, improving system responsiveness and allowing blocking operations that aren't safe in interrupt handlers.
A work queue is a kernel data structure that queues deferred work—typically tasks that need to run outside of interrupt context—for execution by kernel worker threads. When an interrupt or other time-critical code needs to do non-urgent or potentially blocking work, it can queue a task to the work queue instead of doing it immediately.
The kernel maintains dedicated worker threads (kworker) that process queued work items asynchronously. This allows interrupt handlers to execute quickly (keeping interrupts responsive) while deferring slower operations like I/O, memory allocation, or lock acquisition to a safer context.
For example, a network device driver might queue packet processing work to the work queue from its interrupt handler, rather than processing packets immediately. The kernel then schedules a worker thread to handle the actual packet processing when the system is less busy.