Re: [RFC PATCH 01/13] arm: Fix mutual exclusion in arch_gettimeoffset

[Finn Thain]

On Tue, 13 Nov 2018, Russell King - ARM Linux wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 02:39:00PM +1100, Finn Thain wrote:
> > 
> > You could remove the old arch_gettimeoffset API without dropping any 
> > platforms.
> > 
> > If no-one converts a given platform to the clocksource API it would mean 
> > that the default 'jiffies' clocksource will get used on that platform.
> > 
> > Clock resolution and timer precision would be degraded, but that might not 
> > matter.
> > 
> > Anyway, if someone who has this hardware is willing to test a clocksource 
> > API conversion, they can let me know and I'll attempt that patch.
> 
> There's reasons why that's not appropriate - such as not having two
> separate timers in order to supply a clocksource and separate clock
> event.
> 
> Not all hardware is suited to the clocksource + clockevent idea.
> 

Sorry, I don't follow.

AFAIK, clocksources and clock event devices are orthogonal concepts. There 
are platforms with !ARCH_USES_GETTIMEOFFSET && !GENERIC_CLOCKEVENTS (and 
every other combination).

A clocksource read method just provides a cycle count, and in this sense 
arch_gettimeoffset() is equivalent to a clocksource.

If these two arm platforms have an existing clock event device which 
somehow precludes any new clocksources, why doesn't that also render 
arch_gettimeoffset() impossible?

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