diff options
author | Stephen Rothwell <sfr@canb.auug.org.au> | 2010-09-15 11:31:09 +1000 |
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committer | Stephen Rothwell <sfr@canb.auug.org.au> | 2010-09-15 11:31:09 +1000 |
commit | 2f7ab2b521ca4d8024f6cc51fb68a82787815c34 (patch) | |
tree | 56e8a3c598c7fe00b611ed876a10636673f69d1c /Documentation | |
parent | e0f0bfc000d0c992ec54dffe241233e40c68bb91 (diff) | |
parent | 8e151ce747bc693f2c9b179244e292d83894bc93 (diff) |
Merge remote branch 'kvm/linux-next'
Conflicts:
arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_emulate.h
virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt | 2 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/kvm/api.txt | 56 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/kvm/ppc-pv.txt | 196 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/kvm/timekeeping.txt | 612 |
4 files changed, 864 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt index 8dd7248508a9..6bd23751a2ce 100644 --- a/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt +++ b/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt @@ -1693,6 +1693,8 @@ and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file nojitter [IA64] Disables jitter checking for ITC timers. + no-kvmclock [X86,KVM] Disable paravirtualized KVM clock driver + nolapic [X86-32,APIC] Do not enable or use the local APIC. nolapic_timer [X86-32,APIC] Do not use the local APIC timer. diff --git a/Documentation/kvm/api.txt b/Documentation/kvm/api.txt index 5f5b64982b1a..24d634128746 100644 --- a/Documentation/kvm/api.txt +++ b/Documentation/kvm/api.txt @@ -320,13 +320,13 @@ struct kvm_translation { 4.15 KVM_INTERRUPT Capability: basic -Architectures: x86 +Architectures: x86, ppc Type: vcpu ioctl Parameters: struct kvm_interrupt (in) Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error Queues a hardware interrupt vector to be injected. This is only -useful if in-kernel local APIC is not used. +useful if in-kernel local APIC or equivalent is not used. /* for KVM_INTERRUPT */ struct kvm_interrupt { @@ -334,8 +334,37 @@ struct kvm_interrupt { __u32 irq; }; +X86: + Note 'irq' is an interrupt vector, not an interrupt pin or line. +PPC: + +Queues an external interrupt to be injected. This ioctl is overleaded +with 3 different irq values: + +a) KVM_INTERRUPT_SET + + This injects an edge type external interrupt into the guest once it's ready + to receive interrupts. When injected, the interrupt is done. + +b) KVM_INTERRUPT_UNSET + + This unsets any pending interrupt. + + Only available with KVM_CAP_PPC_UNSET_IRQ. + +c) KVM_INTERRUPT_SET_LEVEL + + This injects a level type external interrupt into the guest context. The + interrupt stays pending until a specific ioctl with KVM_INTERRUPT_UNSET + is triggered. + + Only available with KVM_CAP_PPC_IRQ_LEVEL. + +Note that any value for 'irq' other than the ones stated above is invalid +and incurs unexpected behavior. + 4.16 KVM_DEBUG_GUEST Capability: basic @@ -1032,6 +1061,29 @@ are defined as follows: eax, ebx, ecx, edx: the values returned by the cpuid instruction for this function/index combination +4.46 KVM_PPC_GET_PVINFO + +Capability: KVM_CAP_PPC_GET_PVINFO +Architectures: ppc +Type: vm ioctl +Parameters: struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo (out) +Returns: 0 on success, !0 on error + +struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo { + __u32 flags; + __u32 hcall[4]; + __u8 pad[108]; +}; + +This ioctl fetches PV specific information that need to be passed to the guest +using the device tree or other means from vm context. + +For now the only implemented piece of information distributed here is an array +of 4 instructions that make up a hypercall. + +If any additional field gets added to this structure later on, a bit for that +additional piece of information will be set in the flags bitmap. + 5. The kvm_run structure Application code obtains a pointer to the kvm_run structure by diff --git a/Documentation/kvm/ppc-pv.txt b/Documentation/kvm/ppc-pv.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..a7f2244b3be9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/kvm/ppc-pv.txt @@ -0,0 +1,196 @@ +The PPC KVM paravirtual interface +================================= + +The basic execution principle by which KVM on PowerPC works is to run all kernel +space code in PR=1 which is user space. This way we trap all privileged +instructions and can emulate them accordingly. + +Unfortunately that is also the downfall. There are quite some privileged +instructions that needlessly return us to the hypervisor even though they +could be handled differently. + +This is what the PPC PV interface helps with. It takes privileged instructions +and transforms them into unprivileged ones with some help from the hypervisor. +This cuts down virtualization costs by about 50% on some of my benchmarks. + +The code for that interface can be found in arch/powerpc/kernel/kvm* + +Querying for existence +====================== + +To find out if we're running on KVM or not, we leverage the device tree. When +Linux is running on KVM, a node /hypervisor exists. That node contains a +compatible property with the value "linux,kvm". + +Once you determined you're running under a PV capable KVM, you can now use +hypercalls as described below. + +KVM hypercalls +============== + +Inside the device tree's /hypervisor node there's a property called +'hypercall-instructions'. This property contains at most 4 opcodes that make +up the hypercall. To call a hypercall, just call these instructions. + +The parameters are as follows: + + Register IN OUT + + r0 - volatile + r3 1st parameter Return code + r4 2nd parameter 1st output value + r5 3rd parameter 2nd output value + r6 4th parameter 3rd output value + r7 5th parameter 4th output value + r8 6th parameter 5th output value + r9 7th parameter 6th output value + r10 8th parameter 7th output value + r11 hypercall number 8th output value + r12 - volatile + +Hypercall definitions are shared in generic code, so the same hypercall numbers +apply for x86 and powerpc alike with the exception that each KVM hypercall +also needs to be ORed with the KVM vendor code which is (42 << 16). + +Return codes can be as follows: + + Code Meaning + + 0 Success + 12 Hypercall not implemented + <0 Error + +The magic page +============== + +To enable communication between the hypervisor and guest there is a new shared +page that contains parts of supervisor visible register state. The guest can +map this shared page using the KVM hypercall KVM_HC_PPC_MAP_MAGIC_PAGE. + +With this hypercall issued the guest always gets the magic page mapped at the +desired location in effective and physical address space. For now, we always +map the page to -4096. This way we can access it using absolute load and store +functions. The following instruction reads the first field of the magic page: + + ld rX, -4096(0) + +The interface is designed to be extensible should there be need later to add +additional registers to the magic page. If you add fields to the magic page, +also define a new hypercall feature to indicate that the host can give you more +registers. Only if the host supports the additional features, make use of them. + +The magic page has the following layout as described in +arch/powerpc/include/asm/kvm_para.h: + +struct kvm_vcpu_arch_shared { + __u64 scratch1; + __u64 scratch2; + __u64 scratch3; + __u64 critical; /* Guest may not get interrupts if == r1 */ + __u64 sprg0; + __u64 sprg1; + __u64 sprg2; + __u64 sprg3; + __u64 srr0; + __u64 srr1; + __u64 dar; + __u64 msr; + __u32 dsisr; + __u32 int_pending; /* Tells the guest if we have an interrupt */ +}; + +Additions to the page must only occur at the end. Struct fields are always 32 +or 64 bit aligned, depending on them being 32 or 64 bit wide respectively. + +Magic page features +=================== + +When mapping the magic page using the KVM hypercall KVM_HC_PPC_MAP_MAGIC_PAGE, +a second return value is passed to the guest. This second return value contains +a bitmap of available features inside the magic page. + +The following enhancements to the magic page are currently available: + + KVM_MAGIC_FEAT_SR Maps SR registers r/w in the magic page + +For enhanced features in the magic page, please check for the existence of the +feature before using them! + +MSR bits +======== + +The MSR contains bits that require hypervisor intervention and bits that do +not require direct hypervisor intervention because they only get interpreted +when entering the guest or don't have any impact on the hypervisor's behavior. + +The following bits are safe to be set inside the guest: + + MSR_EE + MSR_RI + MSR_CR + MSR_ME + +If any other bit changes in the MSR, please still use mtmsr(d). + +Patched instructions +==================== + +The "ld" and "std" instructions are transormed to "lwz" and "stw" instructions +respectively on 32 bit systems with an added offset of 4 to accomodate for big +endianness. + +The following is a list of mapping the Linux kernel performs when running as +guest. Implementing any of those mappings is optional, as the instruction traps +also act on the shared page. So calling privileged instructions still works as +before. + +From To +==== == + +mfmsr rX ld rX, magic_page->msr +mfsprg rX, 0 ld rX, magic_page->sprg0 +mfsprg rX, 1 ld rX, magic_page->sprg1 +mfsprg rX, 2 ld rX, magic_page->sprg2 +mfsprg rX, 3 ld rX, magic_page->sprg3 +mfsrr0 rX ld rX, magic_page->srr0 +mfsrr1 rX ld rX, magic_page->srr1 +mfdar rX ld rX, magic_page->dar +mfdsisr rX lwz rX, magic_page->dsisr + +mtmsr rX std rX, magic_page->msr +mtsprg 0, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg0 +mtsprg 1, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg1 +mtsprg 2, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg2 +mtsprg 3, rX std rX, magic_page->sprg3 +mtsrr0 rX std rX, magic_page->srr0 +mtsrr1 rX std rX, magic_page->srr1 +mtdar rX std rX, magic_page->dar +mtdsisr rX stw rX, magic_page->dsisr + +tlbsync nop + +mtmsrd rX, 0 b <special mtmsr section> +mtmsr rX b <special mtmsr section> + +mtmsrd rX, 1 b <special mtmsrd section> + +[Book3S only] +mtsrin rX, rY b <special mtsrin section> + +[BookE only] +wrteei [0|1] b <special wrteei section> + + +Some instructions require more logic to determine what's going on than a load +or store instruction can deliver. To enable patching of those, we keep some +RAM around where we can live translate instructions to. What happens is the +following: + + 1) copy emulation code to memory + 2) patch that code to fit the emulated instruction + 3) patch that code to return to the original pc + 4 + 4) patch the original instruction to branch to the new code + +That way we can inject an arbitrary amount of code as replacement for a single +instruction. This allows us to check for pending interrupts when setting EE=1 +for example. diff --git a/Documentation/kvm/timekeeping.txt b/Documentation/kvm/timekeeping.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..0c5033a58c9e --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/kvm/timekeeping.txt @@ -0,0 +1,612 @@ + + Timekeeping Virtualization for X86-Based Architectures + + Zachary Amsden <zamsden@redhat.com> + Copyright (c) 2010, Red Hat. All rights reserved. + +1) Overview +2) Timing Devices +3) TSC Hardware +4) Virtualization Problems + +========================================================================= + +1) Overview + +One of the most complicated parts of the X86 platform, and specifically, +the virtualization of this platform is the plethora of timing devices available +and the complexity of emulating those devices. In addition, virtualization of +time introduces a new set of challenges because it introduces a multiplexed +division of time beyond the control of the guest CPU. + +First, we will describe the various timekeeping hardware available, then +present some of the problems which arise and solutions available, giving +specific recommendations for certain classes of KVM guests. + +The purpose of this document is to collect data and information relevant to +timekeeping which may be difficult to find elsewhere, specifically, +information relevant to KVM and hardware-based virtualization. + +========================================================================= + +2) Timing Devices + +First we discuss the basic hardware devices available. TSC and the related +KVM clock are special enough to warrant a full exposition and are described in +the following section. + +2.1) i8254 - PIT + +One of the first timer devices available is the programmable interrupt timer, +or PIT. The PIT has a fixed frequency 1.193182 MHz base clock and three +channels which can be programmed to deliver periodic or one-shot interrupts. +These three channels can be configured in different modes and have individual +counters. Channel 1 and 2 were not available for general use in the original +IBM PC, and historically were connected to control RAM refresh and the PC +speaker. Now the PIT is typically integrated as part of an emulated chipset +and a separate physical PIT is not used. + +The PIT uses I/O ports 0x40 - 0x43. Access to the 16-bit counters is done +using single or multiple byte access to the I/O ports. There are 6 modes +available, but not all modes are available to all timers, as only timer 2 +has a connected gate input, required for modes 1 and 5. The gate line is +controlled by port 61h, bit 0, as illustrated in the following diagram. + + -------------- ---------------- +| | | | +| 1.1932 MHz |---------->| CLOCK OUT | ---------> IRQ 0 +| Clock | | | | + -------------- | +->| GATE TIMER 0 | + | ---------------- + | + | ---------------- + | | | + |------>| CLOCK OUT | ---------> 66.3 KHZ DRAM + | | | (aka /dev/null) + | +->| GATE TIMER 1 | + | ---------------- + | + | ---------------- + | | | + |------>| CLOCK OUT | ---------> Port 61h, bit 5 + | | | +Port 61h, bit 0 ---------->| GATE TIMER 2 | \_.---- ____ + ---------------- _| )--|LPF|---Speaker + / *---- \___/ +Port 61h, bit 1 -----------------------------------/ + +The timer modes are now described. + +Mode 0: Single Timeout. This is a one-shot software timeout that counts down + when the gate is high (always true for timers 0 and 1). When the count + reaches zero, the output goes high. + +Mode 1: Triggered One-shot. The output is intially set high. When the gate + line is set high, a countdown is initiated (which does not stop if the gate is + lowered), during which the output is set low. When the count reaches zero, + the output goes high. + +Mode 2: Rate Generator. The output is initially set high. When the countdown + reaches 1, the output goes low for one count and then returns high. The value + is reloaded and the countdown automatically resumes. If the gate line goes + low, the count is halted. If the output is low when the gate is lowered, the + output automatically goes high (this only affects timer 2). + +Mode 3: Square Wave. This generates a high / low square wave. The count + determines the length of the pulse, which alternates between high and low + when zero is reached. The count only proceeds when gate is high and is + automatically reloaded on reaching zero. The count is decremented twice at + each clock to generate a full high / low cycle at the full periodic rate. + If the count is even, the clock remains high for N/2 counts and low for N/2 + counts; if the clock is odd, the clock is high for (N+1)/2 counts and low + for (N-1)/2 counts. Only even values are latched by the counter, so odd + values are not observed when reading. This is the intended mode for timer 2, + which generates sine-like tones by low-pass filtering the square wave output. + +Mode 4: Software Strobe. After programming this mode and loading the counter, + the output remains high until the counter reaches zero. Then the output + goes low for 1 clock cycle and returns high. The counter is not reloaded. + Counting only occurs when gate is high. + +Mode 5: Hardware Strobe. After programming and loading the counter, the + output remains high. When the gate is raised, a countdown is initiated + (which does not stop if the gate is lowered). When the counter reaches zero, + the output goes low for 1 clock cycle and then returns high. The counter is + not reloaded. + +In addition to normal binary counting, the PIT supports BCD counting. The +command port, 0x43 is used to set the counter and mode for each of the three +timers. + +PIT commands, issued to port 0x43, using the following bit encoding: + +Bit 7-4: Command (See table below) +Bit 3-1: Mode (000 = Mode 0, 101 = Mode 5, 11X = undefined) +Bit 0 : Binary (0) / BCD (1) + +Command table: + +0000 - Latch Timer 0 count for port 0x40 + sample and hold the count to be read in port 0x40; + additional commands ignored until counter is read; + mode bits ignored. + +0001 - Set Timer 0 LSB mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read LSB only and force MSB to zero; + mode bits set timer mode + +0010 - Set Timer 0 MSB mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read MSB only and force LSB to zero; + mode bits set timer mode + +0011 - Set Timer 0 16-bit mode for port 0x40 + set timer to read / write LSB first, then MSB; + mode bits set timer mode + +0100 - Latch Timer 1 count for port 0x41 - as described above +0101 - Set Timer 1 LSB mode for port 0x41 - as described above +0110 - Set Timer 1 MSB mode for port 0x41 - as described above +0111 - Set Timer 1 16-bit mode for port 0x41 - as described above + +1000 - Latch Timer 2 count for port 0x42 - as described above +1001 - Set Timer 2 LSB mode for port 0x42 - as described above +1010 - Set Timer 2 MSB mode for port 0x42 - as described above +1011 - Set Timer 2 16-bit mode for port 0x42 as described above + +1101 - General counter latch + Latch combination of counters into corresponding ports + Bit 3 = Counter 2 + Bit 2 = Counter 1 + Bit 1 = Counter 0 + Bit 0 = Unused + +1110 - Latch timer status + Latch combination of counter mode into corresponding ports + Bit 3 = Counter 2 + Bit 2 = Counter 1 + Bit 1 = Counter 0 + + The output of ports 0x40-0x42 following this command will be: + + Bit 7 = Output pin + Bit 6 = Count loaded (0 if timer has expired) + Bit 5-4 = Read / Write mode + 01 = MSB only + 10 = LSB only + 11 = LSB / MSB (16-bit) + Bit 3-1 = Mode + Bit 0 = Binary (0) / BCD mode (1) + +2.2) RTC + +The second device which was available in the original PC was the MC146818 real +time clock. The original device is now obsolete, and usually emulated by the +system chipset, sometimes by an HPET and some frankenstein IRQ routing. + +The RTC is accessed through CMOS variables, which uses an index register to +control which bytes are read. Since there is only one index register, read +of the CMOS and read of the RTC require lock protection (in addition, it is +dangerous to allow userspace utilities such as hwclock to have direct RTC +access, as they could corrupt kernel reads and writes of CMOS memory). + +The RTC generates an interrupt which is usually routed to IRQ 8. The interrupt +can function as a periodic timer, an additional once a day alarm, and can issue +interrupts after an update of the CMOS registers by the MC146818 is complete. +The type of interrupt is signalled in the RTC status registers. + +The RTC will update the current time fields by battery power even while the +system is off. The current time fields should not be read while an update is +in progress, as indicated in the status register. + +The clock uses a 32.768kHz crystal, so bits 6-4 of register A should be +programmed to a 32kHz divider if the RTC is to count seconds. + +This is the RAM map originally used for the RTC/CMOS: + +Location Size Description +------------------------------------------ +00h byte Current second (BCD) +01h byte Seconds alarm (BCD) +02h byte Current minute (BCD) +03h byte Minutes alarm (BCD) +04h byte Current hour (BCD) +05h byte Hours alarm (BCD) +06h byte Current day of week (BCD) +07h byte Current day of month (BCD) +08h byte Current month (BCD) +09h byte Current year (BCD) +0Ah byte Register A + bit 7 = Update in progress + bit 6-4 = Divider for clock + 000 = 4.194 MHz + 001 = 1.049 MHz + 010 = 32 kHz + 10X = test modes + 110 = reset / disable + 111 = reset / disable + bit 3-0 = Rate selection for periodic interrupt + 000 = periodic timer disabled + 001 = 3.90625 uS + 010 = 7.8125 uS + 011 = .122070 mS + 100 = .244141 mS + ... + 1101 = 125 mS + 1110 = 250 mS + 1111 = 500 mS +0Bh byte Register B + bit 7 = Run (0) / Halt (1) + bit 6 = Periodic interrupt enable + bit 5 = Alarm interrupt enable + bit 4 = Update-ended interrupt enable + bit 3 = Square wave interrupt enable + bit 2 = BCD calendar (0) / Binary (1) + bit 1 = 12-hour mode (0) / 24-hour mode (1) + bit 0 = 0 (DST off) / 1 (DST enabled) +OCh byte Register C (read only) + bit 7 = interrupt request flag (IRQF) + bit 6 = periodic interrupt flag (PF) + bit 5 = alarm interrupt flag (AF) + bit 4 = update interrupt flag (UF) + bit 3-0 = reserved +ODh byte Register D (read only) + bit 7 = RTC has power + bit 6-0 = reserved +32h byte Current century BCD (*) + (*) location vendor specific and now determined from ACPI global tables + +2.3) APIC + +On Pentium and later processors, an on-board timer is available to each CPU +as part of the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller. The APIC is +accessed through memory-mapped registers and provides interrupt service to each +CPU, used for IPIs and local timer interrupts. + +Although in theory the APIC is a safe and stable source for local interrupts, +in practice, many bugs and glitches have occurred due to the special nature of +the APIC CPU-local memory-mapped hardware. Beware that CPU errata may affect +the use of the APIC and that workarounds may be required. In addition, some of +these workarounds pose unique constraints for virtualization - requiring either +extra overhead incurred from extra reads of memory-mapped I/O or additional +functionality that may be more computationally expensive to implement. + +Since the APIC is documented quite well in the Intel and AMD manuals, we will +avoid repetition of the detail here. It should be pointed out that the APIC +timer is programmed through the LVT (local vector timer) register, is capable +of one-shot or periodic operation, and is based on the bus clock divided down +by the programmable divider register. + +2.4) HPET + +HPET is quite complex, and was originally intended to replace the PIT / RTC +support of the X86 PC. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case, as +the de facto standard of PC hardware is to emulate these older devices. Some +systems designated as legacy free may support only the HPET as a hardware timer +device. + +The HPET spec is rather loose and vague, requiring at least 3 hardware timers, +but allowing implementation freedom to support many more. It also imposes no +fixed rate on the timer frequency, but does impose some extremal values on +frequency, error and slew. + +In general, the HPET is recommended as a high precision (compared to PIT /RTC) +time source which is independent of local variation (as there is only one HPET +in any given system). The HPET is also memory-mapped, and its presence is +indicated through ACPI tables by the BIOS. + +Detailed specification of the HPET is beyond the current scope of this +document, as it is also very well documented elsewhere. + +2.5) Offboard Timers + +Several cards, both proprietary (watchdog boards) and commonplace (e1000) have +timing chips built into the cards which may have registers which are accessible +to kernel or user drivers. To the author's knowledge, using these to generate +a clocksource for a Linux or other kernel has not yet been attempted and is in +general frowned upon as not playing by the agreed rules of the game. Such a +timer device would require additional support to be virtualized properly and is +not considered important at this time as no known operating system does this. + +========================================================================= + +3) TSC Hardware + +The TSC or time stamp counter is relatively simple in theory; it counts +instruction cycles issued by the processor, which can be used as a measure of +time. In practice, due to a number of problems, it is the most complicated +timekeeping device to use. + +The TSC is represented internally as a 64-bit MSR which can be read with the +RDMSR, RDTSC, or RDTSCP (when available) instructions. In the past, hardware +limitations made it possible to write the TSC, but generally on old hardware it +was only possible to write the low 32-bits of the 64-bit counter, and the upper +32-bits of the counter were cleared. Now, however, on Intel processors family +0Fh, for models 3, 4 and 6, and family 06h, models e and f, this restriction +has been lifted and all 64-bits are writable. On AMD systems, the ability to +write the TSC MSR is not an architectural guarantee. + +The TSC is accessible from CPL-0 and conditionally, for CPL > 0 software by +means of the CR4.TSD bit, which when enabled, disables CPL > 0 TSC access. + +Some vendors have implemented an additional instruction, RDTSCP, which returns +atomically not just the TSC, but an indicator which corresponds to the +processor number. This can be used to index into an array of TSC variables to +determine offset information in SMP systems where TSCs are not synchronized. +The presence of this instruction must be determined by consulting CPUID feature +bits. + +Both VMX and SVM provide extension fields in the virtualization hardware which +allows the guest visible TSC to be offset by a constant. Newer implementations +promise to allow the TSC to additionally be scaled, but this hardware is not +yet widely available. + +3.1) TSC synchronization + +The TSC is a CPU-local clock in most implementations. This means, on SMP +platforms, the TSCs of different CPUs may start at different times depending +on when the CPUs are powered on. Generally, CPUs on the same die will share +the same clock, however, this is not always the case. + +The BIOS may attempt to resynchronize the TSCs during the poweron process and +the operating system or other system software may attempt to do this as well. +Several hardware limitations make the problem worse - if it is not possible to +write the full 64-bits of the TSC, it may be impossible to match the TSC in +newly arriving CPUs to that of the rest of the system, resulting in +unsynchronized TSCs. This may be done by BIOS or system software, but in +practice, getting a perfectly synchronized TSC will not be possible unless all +values are read from the same clock, which generally only is possible on single +socket systems or those with special hardware support. + +3.2) TSC and CPU hotplug + +As touched on already, CPUs which arrive later than the boot time of the system +may not have a TSC value that is synchronized with the rest of the system. +Either system software, BIOS, or SMM code may actually try to establish the TSC +to a value matching the rest of the system, but a perfect match is usually not +a guarantee. This can have the effect of bringing a system from a state where +TSC is synchronized back to a state where TSC synchronization flaws, however +small, may be exposed to the OS and any virtualization environment. + +3.3) TSC and multi-socket / NUMA + +Multi-socket systems, especially large multi-socket systems are likely to have +individual clocksources rather than a single, universally distributed clock. +Since these clocks are driven by different crystals, they will not have +perfectly matched frequency, and temperature and electrical variations will +cause the CPU clocks, and thus the TSCs to drift over time. Depending on the +exact clock and bus design, the drift may or may not be fixed in absolute +error, and may accumulate over time. + +In addition, very large systems may deliberately slew the clocks of individual +cores. This technique, known as spread-spectrum clocking, reduces EMI at the +clock frequency and harmonics of it, which may be required to pass FCC +standards for telecommunications and computer equipment. + +It is recommended not to trust the TSCs to remain synchronized on NUMA or +multiple socket systems for these reasons. + +3.4) TSC and C-states + +C-states, or idling states of the processor, especially C1E and deeper sleep +states may be problematic for TSC as well. The TSC may stop advancing in such +a state, resulting in a TSC which is behind that of other CPUs when execution +is resumed. Such CPUs must be detected and flagged by the operating system +based on CPU and chipset identifications. + +The TSC in such a case may be corrected by catching it up to a known external +clocksource. + +3.5) TSC frequency change / P-states + +To make things slightly more interesting, some CPUs may change frequency. They +may or may not run the TSC at the same rate, and because the frequency change +may be staggered or slewed, at some points in time, the TSC rate may not be +known other than falling within a range of values. In this case, the TSC will +not be a stable time source, and must be calibrated against a known, stable, +external clock to be a usable source of time. + +Whether the TSC runs at a constant rate or scales with the P-state is model +dependent and must be determined by inspecting CPUID, chipset or vendor +specific MSR fields. + +In addition, some vendors have known bugs where the P-state is actually +compensated for properly during normal operation, but when the processor is +inactive, the P-state may be raised temporarily to service cache misses from +other processors. In such cases, the TSC on halted CPUs could advance faster +than that of non-halted processors. AMD Turion processors are known to have +this problem. + +3.6) TSC and STPCLK / T-states + +External signals given to the processor may also have the effect of stopping +the TSC. This is typically done for thermal emergency power control to prevent +an overheating condition, and typically, there is no way to detect that this +condition has happened. + +3.7) TSC virtualization - VMX + +VMX provides conditional trapping of RDTSC, RDMSR, WRMSR and RDTSCP +instructions, which is enough for full virtualization of TSC in any manner. In +addition, VMX allows passing through the host TSC plus an additional TSC_OFFSET +field specified in the VMCS. Special instructions must be used to read and +write the VMCS field. + +3.8) TSC virtualization - SVM + +SVM provides conditional trapping of RDTSC, RDMSR, WRMSR and RDTSCP +instructions, which is enough for full virtualization of TSC in any manner. In +addition, SVM allows passing through the host TSC plus an additional offset +field specified in the SVM control block. + +3.9) TSC feature bits in Linux + +In summary, there is no way to guarantee the TSC remains in perfect +synchronization unless it is explicitly guaranteed by the architecture. Even +if so, the TSCs in multi-sockets or NUMA systems may still run independently +despite being locally consistent. + +The following feature bits are used by Linux to signal various TSC attributes, +but they can only be taken to be meaningful for UP or single node systems. + +X86_FEATURE_TSC : The TSC is available in hardware +X86_FEATURE_RDTSCP : The RDTSCP instruction is available +X86_FEATURE_CONSTANT_TSC : The TSC rate is unchanged with P-states +X86_FEATURE_NONSTOP_TSC : The TSC does not stop in C-states +X86_FEATURE_TSC_RELIABLE : TSC sync checks are skipped (VMware) + +4) Virtualization Problems + +Timekeeping is especially problematic for virtualization because a number of +challenges arise. The most obvious problem is that time is now shared between +the host and, potentially, a number of virtual machines. Thus the virtual +operating system does not run with 100% usage of the CPU, despite the fact that +it may very well make that assumption. It may expect it to remain true to very +exacting bounds when interrupt sources are disabled, but in reality only its +virtual interrupt sources are disabled, and the machine may still be preempted +at any time. This causes problems as the passage of real time, the injection +of machine interrupts and the associated clock sources are no longer completely +synchronized with real time. + +This same problem can occur on native harware to a degree, as SMM mode may +steal cycles from the naturally on X86 systems when SMM mode is used by the +BIOS, but not in such an extreme fashion. However, the fact that SMM mode may +cause similar problems to virtualization makes it a good justification for +solving many of these problems on bare metal. + +4.1) Interrupt clocking + +One of the most immediate problems that occurs with legacy operating systems +is that the system timekeeping routines are often designed to keep track of +time by counting periodic interrupts. These interrupts may come from the PIT +or the RTC, but the problem is the same: the host virtualization engine may not +be able to deliver the proper number of interrupts per second, and so guest +time may fall behind. This is especially problematic if a high interrupt rate +is selected, such as 1000 HZ, which is unfortunately the default for many Linux +guests. + +There are three approaches to solving this problem; first, it may be possible +to simply ignore it. Guests which have a separate time source for tracking +'wall clock' or 'real time' may not need any adjustment of their interrupts to +maintain proper time. If this is not sufficient, it may be necessary to inject +additional interrupts into the guest in order to increase the effective +interrupt rate. This approach leads to complications in extreme conditions, +where host load or guest lag is too much to compensate for, and thus another +solution to the problem has risen: the guest may need to become aware of lost +ticks and compensate for them internally. Although promising in theory, the +implementation of this policy in Linux has been extremely error prone, and a +number of buggy variants of lost tick compensation are distributed across +commonly used Linux systems. + +Windows uses periodic RTC clocking as a means of keeping time internally, and +thus requires interrupt slewing to keep proper time. It does use a low enough +rate (ed: is it 18.2 Hz?) however that it has not yet been a problem in +practice. + +4.2) TSC sampling and serialization + +As the highest precision time source available, the cycle counter of the CPU +has aroused much interest from developers. As explained above, this timer has +many problems unique to its nature as a local, potentially unstable and +potentially unsynchronized source. One issue which is not unique to the TSC, +but is highlighted because of its very precise nature is sampling delay. By +definition, the counter, once read is already old. However, it is also +possible for the counter to be read ahead of the actual use of the result. +This is a consequence of the superscalar execution of the instruction stream, +which may execute instructions out of order. Such execution is called +non-serialized. Forcing serialized execution is necessary for precise +measurement with the TSC, and requires a serializing instruction, such as CPUID +or an MSR read. + +Since CPUID may actually be virtualized by a trap and emulate mechanism, this +serialization can pose a performance issue for hardware virtualization. An +accurate time stamp counter reading may therefore not always be available, and +it may be necessary for an implementation to guard against "backwards" reads of +the TSC as seen from other CPUs, even in an otherwise perfectly synchronized +system. + +4.3) Timespec aliasing + +Additionally, this lack of serialization from the TSC poses another challenge +when using results of the TSC when measured against another time source. As +the TSC is much higher precision, many possible values of the TSC may be read +while another clock is still expressing the same value. + +That is, you may read (T,T+10) while external clock C maintains the same value. +Due to non-serialized reads, you may actually end up with a range which +fluctuates - from (T-1.. T+10). Thus, any time calculated from a TSC, but +calibrated against an external value may have a range of valid values. +Re-calibrating this computation may actually cause time, as computed after the +calibration, to go backwards, compared with time computed before the +calibration. + +This problem is particularly pronounced with an internal time source in Linux, +the kernel time, which is expressed in the theoretically high resolution +timespec - but which advances in much larger granularity intervals, sometimes +at the rate of jiffies, and possibly in catchup modes, at a much larger step. + +This aliasing requires care in the computation and recalibration of kvmclock +and any other values derived from TSC computation (such as TSC virtualization +itself). + +4.4) Migration + +Migration of a virtual machine raises problems for timekeeping in two ways. +First, the migration itself may take time, during which interrupts cannot be +delivered, and after which, the guest time may need to be caught up. NTP may +be able to help to some degree here, as the clock correction required is +typically small enough to fall in the NTP-correctable window. + +An additional concern is that timers based off the TSC (or HPET, if the raw bus +clock is exposed) may now be running at different rates, requiring compensation +in some way in the hypervisor by virtualizing these timers. In addition, +migrating to a faster machine may preclude the use of a passthrough TSC, as a +faster clock cannot be made visible to a guest without the potential of time +advancing faster than usual. A slower clock is less of a problem, as it can +always be caught up to the original rate. KVM clock avoids these problems by +simply storing multipliers and offsets against the TSC for the guest to convert +back into nanosecond resolution values. + +4.5) Scheduling + +Since scheduling may be based on precise timing and firing of interrupts, the +scheduling algorithms of an operating system may be adversely affected by +virtualization. In theory, the effect is random and should be universally +distributed, but in contrived as well as real scenarios (guest device access, +causes of virtualization exits, possible context switch), this may not always +be the case. The effect of this has not been well studied. + +In an attempt to work around this, several implementations have provided a +paravirtualized scheduler clock, which reveals the true amount of CPU time for +which a virtual machine has been running. + +4.6) Watchdogs + +Watchdog timers, such as the lock detector in Linux may fire accidentally when +running under hardware virtualization due to timer interrupts being delayed or +misinterpretation of the passage of real time. Usually, these warnings are +spurious and can be ignored, but in some circumstances it may be necessary to +disable such detection. + +4.7) Delays and precision timing + +Precise timing and delays may not be possible in a virtualized system. This +can happen if the system is controlling physical hardware, or issues delays to +compensate for slower I/O to and from devices. The first issue is not solvable +in general for a virtualized system; hardware control software can't be +adequately virtualized without a full real-time operating system, which would +require an RT aware virtualization platform. + +The second issue may cause performance problems, but this is unlikely to be a +significant issue. In many cases these delays may be eliminated through +configuration or paravirtualization. + +4.8) Covert channels and leaks + +In addition to the above problems, time information will inevitably leak to the +guest about the host in anything but a perfect implementation of virtualized +time. This may allow the guest to infer the presence of a hypervisor (as in a +red-pill type detection), and it may allow information to leak between guests +by using CPU utilization itself as a signalling channel. Preventing such +problems would require completely isolated virtual time which may not track +real time any longer. This may be useful in certain security or QA contexts, +but in general isn't recommended for real-world deployment scenarios. |