- * Returns the total number of CPUs in the system. If the cache is not yet
- * initialized, get the value from "/sys/devices/system/cpu/possible" or
- * fallback to sysconf and cache it.
+ * Returns the length of an array that could contain a per-CPU element for each
+ * possible CPU id for the lifetime of the process.
+ *
+ * We currently assume CPU ids are contiguous up the maximum CPU id.
+ *
+ * If the cache is not yet initialized, get the value from
+ * "/sys/devices/system/cpu/possible" or fallback to sysconf and cache it.