Re: [v3, 3/3] MIPS: VDSO: Add implementations of gettimeofday() and clock_gettime()

[Leonid Yegoshin <Leonid.Yegoshin@imgtec.com>]

On 10/27/2015 02:02 PM, David Daney wrote:
> On 10/27/2015 01:46 PM, Leonid Yegoshin wrote:
> [...]
>>
>> And finally. clock scaling - what we would do if there are two CPUs with
>> different clock ratios in system? It seems like common kernel timing
>> subsystem can handle that.
>>
>
> The code that executes in userspace must have access to a consistent 
> clock source.  If you are running on a SMP system that doesn't have 
> synchronized CP0.Count registers, then your gettimeofday() cannot use 
> CP0.Count (RDHWR $2).

Right, I agree.

>
> As far as I know, CP0.Count is the only available counter visible to 
> userspace, so you would have to disable the accelerated versions of 
> gettimeofday() where you cannot assert that the counters are always 
> synchronized.

Any system with GIC may have access to the same GIC global counter in a 
special separate page available for mapping by user in RO mode and it 
seems Alex did that.

Besides that this GIC global counter is used as a major system 
clocksource in systems with GIC.

- Leonid