The bellow is a list of Linux timers listed in Bovet's[1] Book.
2.1     PIT - programmable interval timer
PIT is Linux default scheduler timer. Its frequency is 1KHZ at best.
2.2     TSC - Time Stamp counter
All x86 processors include a CLK processor input pin. The processor
has a timer which increases at each clock signal. This clock timer is
read by "rdtscl" assembly command. With 2GHZ the time stamp counter
will increment every 500 picoseconds.
2.3     RTC - Real time clock
Real time clock (RTC) frequency is up to 8 KHz and accuracy is quite
good. RTC is running on battery and is independent from the PC power.
2.4     HPET - High Precision Event timer
High Precision Event timer is a new timer developed by Intel and
Microsoft. It is a chip containing several 64bit or 32bit timer. Each
timer frequency is at least 10Mhz. It raises a hardware interrupt
every 100ns.
2.5     CPU Local Timer
The Local APIC is in present x86 microprocessors. It is based on the
bus clock signal.
2.6     PM - ACPI power management
ACPI (Advanced configuration power interface) is resident in almost
all ACPI-based motherboards. This is a simple counter with frequency
3.58 MHz. It does not generate any interrupts but accesses able
through an I/O port.


On Sat, Sep 20, 2008 at 1:28 PM, Sitsofe Wheeler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Peter Teoh wrote:
>>
>> Q1:   the assembly instruction:   "rdtsc" will always get its clocking
>> from PIT right?
>
> I doubt it. I believe on x86 RDTSC just reads a bunch of registers updated
> by the CPU when it ticks. It's not really a separate programmable piece of
> hardware.
>
>> Q2:   the remark for select_clocksource() said it will select the
>> best, but the function is a loopless, deterministic function that just
>> return value from a linked list.   Hm.....cannot understand it
>> usage...
>
> You might want to trace execution from clocksource_register (and the
> functions that end up being called from it) in that case to see HOW the list
> is built.
>
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