I think this is a first step in order to improve the code of the main loop, because it will make the loop more understable. I think in the final implementation of the main loop we shouldn't need this separation, because it should be enough simple and clear that spliting it in functions shouldn't be necessary.
I am going to apply the patch of FRIGN about monotonic clock before your patch, , that conflict with your changes. If you can rebase this patch with that patch could be great (I hope I could push the patch of FRIGN soon). And, please be careful with the style ;). St code doesn't use underscore for names (I am not an maniatic about it, but there is a style police that catch all the fails!). Regards, -- Roberto E. Vargas Caballero