From: Willem de Bruijn <willemdebruijn.kernel@gmail.com>
To: Willem de Bruijn <willemdebruijn.kernel@gmail.com>,
Maciek Machnikowski <maciek@machnikowski.net>,
netdev@vger.kernel.org
Cc: kuba@kernel.org, maciek@machnikowski.net,
richardcochran@gmail.com, milena.olech@intel.com,
willemdebruijn.kernel@gmail.com, andrew@lunn.ch,
vadim.fedorenko@linux.dev, horms@kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v3 net-next 2/3] netdevsim: Implement basic ptp support
Date: Wed, 04 Mar 2026 10:48:04 -0500 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <willemdebruijn.kernel.288cce8279af0@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <willemdebruijn.kernel.211108b8ab49@gmail.com>
Willem de Bruijn wrote:
> Maciek Machnikowski wrote:
> > Add support for virtual timestamping inside the netdevsim driver.
> > The implementation uses two attached ptp_mock clocks, reads the timestamps
> > of the ones attached either to the netdevsim or its peer and returns
> > timestamps using standard timestamps APIs.
> >
> > This implementation enables running ptp4l on netdevsim adapters and
> > introduces a new ptp selftest.
> >
> > Co-developed-by: Milena Olech <milena.olech@intel.com>
> > Signed-off-by: Milena Olech <milena.olech@intel.com>
> > Signed-off-by: Maciek Machnikowski <maciek@machnikowski.net>
> > ---
> > drivers/net/netdevsim/ethtool.c | 11 ++++
> > drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c | 90 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > drivers/net/netdevsim/netdevsim.h | 1 +
> > 3 files changed, 102 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/ethtool.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/ethtool.c
> > index 36a201533..5b709033c 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/ethtool.c
> > +++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/ethtool.c
> > @@ -200,7 +200,18 @@ static int nsim_get_ts_info(struct net_device *dev,
> > {
> > struct netdevsim *ns = netdev_priv(dev);
> >
> > + ethtool_op_get_ts_info(dev, info);
> > +
> > info->phc_index = mock_phc_index(ns->phc);
> > + if (info->phc_index < 0)
> > + return 0;
> > +
> > + info->so_timestamping |= SOF_TIMESTAMPING_TX_HARDWARE |
> > + SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RX_HARDWARE |
> > + SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RAW_HARDWARE;
> > +
> > + info->tx_types = BIT(HWTSTAMP_TX_OFF) | BIT(HWTSTAMP_TX_ON);
> > + info->rx_filters = BIT(HWTSTAMP_FILTER_NONE) | BIT(HWTSTAMP_FILTER_ALL);
> >
> > return 0;
> > }
> > diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
> > index 6285fbefe..b1161c1ca 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
> > +++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
> > @@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
> > #include <net/rtnetlink.h>
> > #include <net/udp_tunnel.h>
> > #include <net/busy_poll.h>
> > +#include <linux/ptp_clock_kernel.h>
> > +#include <linux/timecounter.h>
> >
> > #include "netdevsim.h"
> >
> > @@ -119,12 +121,17 @@ static int nsim_forward_skb(struct net_device *tx_dev,
> >
> > static netdev_tx_t nsim_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
> > {
> > + struct skb_shared_hwtstamps shhwtstamps = {};
> > struct netdevsim *ns = netdev_priv(dev);
> > + struct ptp_clock_info *ptp_info;
> > + struct timespec64 tx_ts, rx_ts;
> > + struct sk_buff *skb_orig = skb;
> > struct skb_ext *psp_ext = NULL;
> > struct net_device *peer_dev;
> > unsigned int len = skb->len;
> > struct netdevsim *peer_ns;
> > struct netdev_config *cfg;
> > + bool gen_tx_tstamp = false;
> > struct nsim_rq *rq;
> > int rxq;
> > int dr;
> > @@ -161,6 +168,27 @@ static netdev_tx_t nsim_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
> > skb_linearize(skb);
> >
> > skb_tx_timestamp(skb);
> > + gen_tx_tstamp = skb_shinfo(skb)->tx_flags & SKBTX_HW_TSTAMP;
> > + if (gen_tx_tstamp) {
> > + ptp_info = mock_phc_get_ptp_info(ns->phc);
> > +
> > + /* Create a copy of tx skb to keep the tx reference */
> > + skb_orig = skb;
> > + skb = skb_copy(skb_orig, GFP_ATOMIC);
> > + skb_shinfo(skb_orig)->tx_flags |= SKBTX_IN_PROGRESS;
> > +
> > + /* Timestamp as late as possible */
> > + if (ptp_info)
> > + ptp_info->gettime64(ptp_info, &tx_ts);
> > + }
> > +
> > + /* Generate Rx tstamp based on the peer clock */
> > + ptp_info = mock_phc_get_ptp_info(peer_ns->phc);
> > + if (ptp_info) {
> > + ptp_info->gettime64(ptp_info, &rx_ts);
> > + skb_hwtstamps(skb)->hwtstamp = timespec64_to_ktime(rx_ts);
> > + }
> > +
> > if (unlikely(nsim_forward_skb(dev, peer_dev,
> > skb, rq, psp_ext) == NET_RX_DROP))
> > goto out_drop_cnt;
> > @@ -168,6 +196,13 @@ static netdev_tx_t nsim_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
> > if (!hrtimer_active(&rq->napi_timer))
> > hrtimer_start(&rq->napi_timer, us_to_ktime(5), HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
> >
> > + /* only timestamp the outbound packet if user requested it */
> > + if (gen_tx_tstamp) {
> > + shhwtstamps.hwtstamp = timespec64_to_ktime(tx_ts);
> > + skb_tstamp_tx(skb_orig, &shhwtstamps);
> > + dev_kfree_skb_any(skb_orig);
> > + }
> > +
>
> I still don't understand this tx timestamp path, which is
> non-standard.
>
> The comment says timestamp as late as possible, which would be calling
> gettime64 in the second branch, rather than the first. That would mean
> that the tx timestamp is taken after the rx timestamp at the peer.
> Confusing, but something that may actually happen on real NICs too in
> some cases (e.g., PCI backpressure).
>
> If goal is to maintain ordering between the two, remove the comment
> about as late as possible.
>
> More importantly, since skb_tstamp_tx internally will call alloc_skb
> or skb_clone, why is this skb_copy here needed?
>
> I probably should have replied to your previous response:
>
> > If I queue the tx timestamp before forwarding - the same skb would
> > be freed when the timestamp is delivered.
>
> That is not the case since it is a clone or separate skb that is
> queued to the error queue?
Let me ask differently: why not queue the tx timestamp directly in
that first branch?
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-03-04 15:48 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 14+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-25 15:38 [PATCH v3 net-next 0/3] Implement PTP support in netdevsim Maciek Machnikowski
2026-02-25 15:38 ` [PATCH v3 net-next 1/3] ptp_mock: Expose ptp_clock_info to external drivers Maciek Machnikowski
2026-02-26 1:57 ` Jakub Kicinski
2026-02-25 15:38 ` [PATCH v3 net-next 2/3] netdevsim: Implement basic ptp support Maciek Machnikowski
2026-02-25 16:32 ` Sai Krishna Gajula
2026-02-26 2:01 ` Jakub Kicinski
2026-03-04 12:41 ` Maciek Machnikowski
2026-03-04 15:19 ` Willem de Bruijn
2026-03-04 15:48 ` Willem de Bruijn [this message]
2026-02-25 15:38 ` [PATCH v3 net-next 3/3] selftests:net: Implement ptp4l sync test using netdevsim Maciek Machnikowski
2026-02-25 16:45 ` Sai Krishna Gajula
2026-03-04 12:44 ` Maciek Machnikowski
2026-02-26 2:41 ` Jakub Kicinski
2026-03-04 15:21 ` Willem de Bruijn
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=willemdebruijn.kernel.288cce8279af0@gmail.com \
--to=willemdebruijn.kernel@gmail.com \
--cc=andrew@lunn.ch \
--cc=horms@kernel.org \
--cc=kuba@kernel.org \
--cc=maciek@machnikowski.net \
--cc=milena.olech@intel.com \
--cc=netdev@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=richardcochran@gmail.com \
--cc=vadim.fedorenko@linux.dev \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox