lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2008]   [Nov]   [18]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
From
SubjectRe: [PATCH] x86: Support always running TSC on Intel CPUs
On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:05:42AM -0500, Ingo Molnar wrote:
>
> * Joe Korty <joe.korty@ccur.com> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 09:09:52AM +0100, Ingo Molnar wrote:
> > >
> > > * Venki Pallipadi <venkatesh.pallipadi@intel.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > + if (c->x86_power & (1 << 8)) {
> > > > set_cpu_cap(c, X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC);
> > > > + set_cpu_cap(c, X86_FEATURE_NOSTOP_TSC);
> > > > + }
> > >
> > > hm, the naming is a bit confusing. We now have 3 variants:
> > >
> > > X86_FEATURE_TSC
> > > X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC
> > > X86_FEATURE_NOSTOP_TSC
> > >
> > > NOSTOP_TSC is basically what CONSTANT_TSC should have been to begin
> > > with ;-)
> > >
> > > i'd suggest to rename it to this:
> > >
> > > X86_FEATURE_TSC
> > > X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_FREQ_TSC
> > > X86_FEATURE_STABLE_TSC
> > >
> > > ... with CONSTANT_FREQ_TSC not having any real role in the long run.
> > > (it's similarly problematic to a completely unstable TSC)
> > >
> > > does this sound ok?
> >
> >
> > To me, the new naming has the same head-scratching potential
> > as the old....
> >
> > How about:
> >
> > X86_FEATURE_TSC
> > X86_FEATURE_STABLE_TSC_OBSOLETE
> > X86_FEATURE_STABLE_TSC
>
> the _honest_ naming would be:
>
> X86_FEATURE_TSC
> X86_FEATURE_STABLE_TSC_BUT_NOT_ALWAYS
> X86_FEATURE_STABLE_TSC
>
> ;-)
>
> what's head-scratching about X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_FREQ_TSC? It's a
> limited TSC variant: it follows a reference frequency that does not
> change with cpufreq changes, but it can stop at a whim in C states. So
> it's not "stable" nor really "constant" in the everyday sense.
>
> What is 'constant' about it is its reference frequency - hence
> X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_FREQ_TSC.
>
> Ingo


A name like X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_FREQ_TSC implies that
the result (the TSC) is constant frequency, not the input.


\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2008-11-18 17:51    [W:0.059 / U:0.280 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site