Re: [PATCH v10 2/4] cpufreq: Introduce an optional cpuinfo_avg_freq sysfs entry

From: Viresh Kumar
Date: Wed Feb 05 2025 - 02:01:21 EST


On 31-01-25, 16:24, Beata Michalska wrote:
> Currently the CPUFreq core exposes two sysfs attributes that can be used
> to query current frequency of a given CPU(s): namely cpuinfo_cur_freq
> and scaling_cur_freq. Both provide slightly different view on the
> subject and they do come with their own drawbacks.
>
> cpuinfo_cur_freq provides higher precision though at a cost of being
> rather expensive. Moreover, the information retrieved via this attribute
> is somewhat short lived as frequency can change at any point of time
> making it difficult to reason from.
>
> scaling_cur_freq, on the other hand, tends to be less accurate but then
> the actual level of precision (and source of information) varies between
> architectures making it a bit ambiguous.
>
> The new attribute, cpuinfo_avg_freq, is intended to provide more stable,
> distinct interface, exposing an average frequency of a given CPU(s), as
> reported by the hardware, over a time frame spanning no more than a few
> milliseconds. As it requires appropriate hardware support, this
> interface is optional.
>
> Note that under the hood, the new attribute relies on the information
> provided by arch_freq_get_on_cpu, which, up to this point, has been
> feeding data for scaling_cur_freq attribute, being the source of
> ambiguity when it comes to interpretation. This has been amended by
> restoring the intended behavior for scaling_cur_freq, with a new
> dedicated config option to maintain status quo for those, who may need
> it.
>
> CC: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@xxxxxxx>
> CC: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Borislav Petkov <bp@xxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: H. Peter Anvin <hpa@xxxxxxxxx>
> CC: Phil Auld <pauld@xxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: x86@xxxxxxxxxx
> CC: linux-doc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Signed-off-by: Beata Michalska <beata.michalska@xxxxxxx>
> Reviewed-by: Prasanna Kumar T S M <ptsm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reviewed-by: Sumit Gupta <sumitg@xxxxxxxxxx>

Acked-by: Viresh Kumar <viresh.kumar@xxxxxxxxxx>

--
viresh