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Date:      Thu, 29 Oct 1998 15:13:18 -0800
From:      Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>
To:        Shafia Kausar <s0k9955@unix.tamu.edu>
Cc:        FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG>, shafiak@ee.tamu.edu
Subject:   Re: Timer Granularity 
Message-ID:  <199810292313.PAA00616@dingo.cdrom.com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 29 Oct 1998 12:41:31 CST." <Pine.SOL.3.96.981029123940.26121A-100000@scully.tamu.edu> 

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> I am new to the FreeBSD OS. I have a few questions for which I could not
> find answers on the webpages.
> 
> I am using the FreeBSD version 2.1.5 Relase #2. What is the kernel clock
> granularity in this version?

10ms, if I remember correctly.

> There are a number of clocks being used in FreeBSD. Which clock is used
> for real time kernel processing? Is this accessible to the users?

No clocks are "accessible to the users".  User applications obtain time 
values from the system.

> Has the timer granularity improved in the releases following this release?

Yes.  Timer support now offers nanosecond resolution, dependant on the 
particular clock source(s) in use.

> In the /sys/kern/kern_clock.c file the variable time_precision has been
> initialised to 1microsec, but it has been stated that the resolution
> decreases depending on whether the external clock is working or not. 
> What is the range of the variation in the resolutuion? 

It depends on the hardware in use.  On some systems the Pentium TSC is 
available as a time source, in which case time resolution is one CPU 
cycle.  The i8254 timecounter generally has an operating frequency 
around 1.19MHz, giving a resolution of approximately 1us.

-- 
\\  Sometimes you're ahead,       \\  Mike Smith
\\  sometimes you're behind.      \\  mike@smith.net.au
\\  The race is long, and in the  \\  msmith@freebsd.org
\\  end it's only with yourself.  \\  msmith@cdrom.com



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