Re: [PATCH 1/4] time: add ktime_get_cycles64() api

[John Stultz]

On Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 7:37 PM Mahesh Bandewar <maheshb@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> add a method to retrieve raw cycles in the same fashion as there are
> ktime_get_* methods available for supported time-bases. The method
> continues using the 'struct timespec64' since the UAPI uses 'struct
> ptp_clock_time'.
>
> The caller can perform operation equivalent of timespec64_to_ns() to
> retrieve raw-cycles value. The precision loss because of this conversion
> should be none for 64 bit cycle counters and nominal at 96 bit counters
> (considering UAPI of s64 + u32 of 'struct ptp_clock_time).
>
> Signed-off-by: Mahesh Bandewar <maheshb@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: John Stultz <jstultz@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Stephen Boyd <sboyd@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Richard Cochran <richardcochran@xxxxxxxxx>
> CC: netdev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> CC: linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ---
>  include/linux/timekeeping.h |  1 +
>  kernel/time/timekeeping.c   | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  2 files changed, 25 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/timekeeping.h b/include/linux/timekeeping.h
> index fe1e467ba046..5537700ad113 100644
> --- a/include/linux/timekeeping.h
> +++ b/include/linux/timekeeping.h
> @@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ extern void ktime_get_ts64(struct timespec64 *ts);
>  extern void ktime_get_real_ts64(struct timespec64 *tv);
>  extern void ktime_get_coarse_ts64(struct timespec64 *ts);
>  extern void ktime_get_coarse_real_ts64(struct timespec64 *ts);
> +extern void ktime_get_cycles64(struct timespec64 *ts);
>
>  void getboottime64(struct timespec64 *ts);
>
> diff --git a/kernel/time/timekeeping.c b/kernel/time/timekeeping.c
> index 266d02809dbb..35d603d21bd5 100644
> --- a/kernel/time/timekeeping.c
> +++ b/kernel/time/timekeeping.c
> @@ -989,6 +989,30 @@ void ktime_get_ts64(struct timespec64 *ts)
>  }
>  EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ktime_get_ts64);
>
> +/**
> + * ktime_get_cycles64 - get the raw clock cycles in timespec64 format
> + * @ts:                pointer to timespec variable
> + *
> + * This function converts the raw clock cycles into timespce64 format
> + * in the varibale pointed to by @ts
> + */
> +void ktime_get_cycles64(struct timespec64 *ts)
> +{
> +       struct timekeeper *tk = &tk_core.timekeeper;
> +       unsigned int seq;
> +       u64 now;
> +
> +       WARN_ON_ONCE(timekeeping_suspended);
> +
> +       do {
> +               seq = read_seqcount_begin(&tk_core.seq);
> +               now = tk_clock_read(&tk->tkr_mono);
> +       } while (read_seqcount_retry(&tk_core.seq, seq));
> +
> +       *ts = ns_to_timespec64(now);
> +}

Hey Mahesh,
  Thanks for sending this out.  Unfortunately, I'm a bit confused by
this. It might be helpful to further explain what this would be used
for in more detail?

Some aspects that are particularly unclear:
1) You seem to be trying to stuff cycle values into a timespec64,
which is not very intuitive (and a type error of sorts). It's not
clear /why/ that type is useful.

2) Depending on your clocksource, this would have very strange
wrapping behavior, so I'm not sure it is generally safe to use.

3) Nit: The interface is called ktime_get_cycles64 (timespec64
returning interfaces usually are postfixed with ts64).

I guess could you clarify why you need this instead of using
CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW which tries to abstract raw cycles in a way that
is safe and avoids wrapping across various clocksources?

thanks
-john