Add the documentation which describes the new userspace-driven timers API introduced in this patch series. The documentation contains:

- Description of userspace-driven ALSA timers, what they are for - Description of the timers API - Example of how the timers can be created and triggered - How the timers can be used as a timer sources for snd-aloop module

Suggested-by: Axel Holzinger aholzinger@gmx.de Signed-off-by: Ivan Orlov ivan.orlov0322@gmail.com --- V1 -> V2: - No changes V2 -> V3: - No changes V3 -> V4: - Update the userspace-driver ALSA timer structure name and fields in correspondence with the latest changes (remove pcm-specific fields from the structure description) - Update the snd-aloop paragraph to provide a way to calculate the timer resolution from frame rate and period size

Documentation/sound/index.rst | 1 + Documentation/sound/utimers.rst | 125 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 126 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Documentation/sound/utimers.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/sound/index.rst b/Documentation/sound/index.rst index 7e67e12730d3..c437f2a4bc85 100644 --- a/Documentation/sound/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/sound/index.rst @@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Sound Subsystem Documentation alsa-configuration hd-audio/index cards/index + utimers

.. only:: subproject and html

diff --git a/Documentation/sound/utimers.rst b/Documentation/sound/utimers.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..df1aeccd3285 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/sound/utimers.rst @@ -0,0 +1,125 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +======================= +Userspace-driven timers +======================= + +:Author: Ivan Orlov ivan.orlov0322@gmail.com + +Preface +======= + +This document describes the userspace-driven timers: virtual ALSA timers +which could be created and controlled by userspace applications using +IOCTL calls. Such timers could be useful when synchronizing audio +stream with timer sources which we don't have ALSA timers exported for +(e.g. PTP clocks), and when synchronizing the audio stream going through +two virtual sound devices using ``snd-aloop`` (for instance, when +we have a network application sending frames to one snd-aloop device, +and another sound application listening on the other end of snd-aloop). + +Enabling userspace-driven timers +================================ + +The userspace-driven timers could be enabled in the kernel using the +``CONFIG_SND_UTIMER`` configuration option. It depends on the +``CONFIG_SND_TIMER`` option, so it also should be enabled. + +Userspace-driven timers API +=========================== + +Userspace application can create a userspace-driven ALSA timer by +executing the ``SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE`` ioctl call on the +``/dev/snd/timer`` device file descriptor. The ``snd_timer_uinfo`` +structure should be passed as an ioctl argument: + +:: + + struct snd_timer_uinfo { + __u64 resolution; + unsigned int id; + unsigned char reserved[16]; + } + +The ``resolution`` field sets the desired resolution in nanoseconds for +the virtual timer. ``resolution`` field simply provides an information +about the virtual timer, but does not affect the timing itself. ``id`` +field gets overwritten by the ioctl, and the identifier you get in this +field after the call can be used as a timer subdevice number when +passing the timer to ``snd-aloop`` kernel module or other userspace +applications. There could be up to 128 userspace-driven timers in the +system at one moment of time, thus the id value ranges from 0 to 127. + +Besides from overwriting the ``snd_timer_uinfo`` struct, ioctl returns +a timer file descriptor, which can be used to trigger the timer. This +guarantees that the timer can only be triggered by the process which +created it. The timer then can be triggered with +``SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER`` ioctl call on the timer file descriptor. + +So, the example code for creating and triggering the timer would be: + +:: + + static const struct snd_timer_uinfo utimer_info = { + /* Timer is going to tick (presumably) every 1000000 ns */ + .resolution = 1000000ULL, + .id = -1, + }; + + int timer_device_fd = open("/dev/snd/timer", O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC); + int utimer_fd = ioctl(timer_device_fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE, &utimer_info); + + if (utimer_fd < 0) { + perror("Failed to create the timer"); + return -1; + } + + ... + + /* + * Now we want to trigger the timer. Callbacks of all of the + * timer instances binded to this timer will be executed after + * this call. + */ + ioctl(utimer_fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER, NULL); + + ... + + /* Now, destroy the timer */ + close(utimer_fd); + + +More detailed example of creating and ticking the timer could be found +in the utimer ALSA selftest. + +Userspace-driven timers and snd-aloop +------------------------------------- + +Userspace-driven timers could be easily used with ``snd-aloop`` module +when synchronizing two sound applications on both ends of the virtual +sound loopback. For instance, if one of the applications receives sound +frames from network and sends them to snd-aloop pcm device, and another +application listens for frames on the other snd-aloop pcm device, it +makes sense that the ALSA middle layer should initiate a data +transaction when the new period of data is received through network, but +not when the certain amount of jiffies elapses. Userspace-driven ALSA +timers could be used to achieve this. + +To use userspace-driven ALSA timer as a timer source of snd-aloop, pass +the following string as the snd-aloop ``timer_source`` parameter: + +:: + + # modprobe snd-aloop timer_source="-1.4.<utimer_id>" + +Where ``utimer_id`` is the id of the timer you created with +``SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE``, and ``4`` is the number of +userspace-driven timers device (``SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_UDRIVEN``). + +``resolution`` for the userspace-driven ALSA timer used with snd-aloop +should be calculated as ``1000000000ULL / frame_rate * period_size`` as +the timer is going to tick every time a new period of frames is ready. + +After that, each time you trigger the timer with +``SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER`` the new period of data will be transferred +from one snd-aloop device to another.

Add a test for the new functionality of userspace-driven timers and the tool which allows us to count timer ticks in a certain time period. The test:

1. Creates a userspace-driven timer with ioctl to /dev/snd/timer 2. Starts the `global-timer` application to count the ticks of the timer from step 1. 3. Asynchronously triggers the timer multiple times with some interval 4. Compares the amount of caught ticks with the amount of trigger calls.

Since we can't include <alsa/asoundlib.h> and <sound/asound.h> in one file due to overlapping declarations, I have to split the test into two applications: one of them counts the amount of timer ticks in the defined time period, and another one is the actual test which creates the timer, triggers it periodically and starts the first app to count the amount of ticks in a separate thread.

Besides from testing the functionality itself, the test represents a sample application showing userspace-driven ALSA timers API.

Also, the timer test includes a test case which tries to create a timer with invalid resolution (=0), and NULL as a timer info structure.

Signed-off-by: Ivan Orlov ivan.orlov0322@gmail.com --- V1 -> V2: - Return NULL in the pthreaded function (ticking_func) - Process TIMER_NO_EVENT enum in the timer app output processing loop V2 -> V3: - Add new test case to cover invalid period sizes and frame rates for the userspace-driven timers (to test the sanity checks in snd_utimer_create) V3 -> V4: - Use the new structure declarations to define timer info - Calculate the timer resolution in userspace from frame rate and period size - Remove majority of test-cases for invalid timer test as we don't do many sanity checks in the kernel anymore - Move `global-timer` into the TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED list as it is not a standalone test but an app called from `utimer-test.c` - Add test case which tries to pass NULL as a timer info structure for the timer creation ioctl

tools/testing/selftests/alsa/Makefile | 4 +- tools/testing/selftests/alsa/global-timer.c | 87 +++++++++++ tools/testing/selftests/alsa/utimer-test.c | 164 ++++++++++++++++++++ 3 files changed, 253 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/alsa/global-timer.c create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/alsa/utimer-test.c

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/Makefile index c1ce39874e2b..25be68025290 100644 --- a/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/Makefile +++ b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/Makefile @@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ LDLIBS+=-lpthread

OVERRIDE_TARGETS = 1

-TEST_GEN_PROGS := mixer-test pcm-test test-pcmtest-driver +TEST_GEN_PROGS := mixer-test pcm-test test-pcmtest-driver utimer-test

-TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED := libatest.so +TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED := libatest.so global-timer

TEST_FILES := conf.d pcm-test.conf

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/global-timer.c b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/global-timer.c new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..c15ec0ba851a --- /dev/null +++ b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/global-timer.c @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 +/* + * This tool is used by the utimer test, and it allows us to + * count the ticks of a global timer in a certain time frame + * (which is set by `timeout` parameter). + * + * Author: Ivan Orlov ivan.orlov0322@gmail.com + */ +#include <stdio.h> +#include <stdlib.h> +#include <alsa/asoundlib.h> +#include <time.h> + +static int ticked; +static void async_callback(snd_async_handler_t *ahandler) +{ + ticked++; +} + +static char timer_name[64]; +static void bind_to_timer(int device, int subdevice, int timeout) +{ + snd_timer_t *handle; + snd_timer_params_t *params; + snd_async_handler_t *ahandler; + + time_t end; + + sprintf(timer_name, "hw:CLASS=%d,SCLASS=%d,DEV=%d,SUBDEV=%d", + SND_TIMER_CLASS_GLOBAL, SND_TIMER_SCLASS_NONE, + device, subdevice); + + snd_timer_params_alloca(&params); + + if (snd_timer_open(&handle, timer_name, SND_TIMER_OPEN_NONBLOCK) < 0) { + perror("Can't open the timer"); + exit(EXIT_FAILURE); + } + + snd_timer_params_set_auto_start(params, 1); + snd_timer_params_set_ticks(params, 1); + if (snd_timer_params(handle, params) < 0) { + perror("Can't set timer params"); + exit(EXIT_FAILURE); + } + + if (snd_async_add_timer_handler(&ahandler, handle, async_callback, NULL) < 0) { + perror("Can't create a handler"); + exit(EXIT_FAILURE); + } + end = time(NULL) + timeout; + if (snd_timer_start(handle) < 0) { + perror("Failed to start the timer"); + exit(EXIT_FAILURE); + } + printf("Timer has started\n"); + while (time(NULL) <= end) { + /* + * Waiting for the timeout to elapse. Can't use sleep here, as it gets + * constantly interrupted by the signal from the timer (SIGIO) + */ + } + snd_timer_stop(handle); + snd_timer_close(handle); +} + +int main(int argc, char *argv[]) +{ + int device, subdevice, timeout; + + if (argc < 4) { + perror("Usage: %s <device> <subdevice> <timeout>"); + return EXIT_FAILURE; + } + + setlinebuf(stdout); + + device = atoi(argv[1]); + subdevice = atoi(argv[2]); + timeout = atoi(argv[3]); + + bind_to_timer(device, subdevice, timeout); + + printf("Total ticks count: %d\n", ticked); + + return EXIT_SUCCESS; +} diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/utimer-test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/utimer-test.c new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..f7a90ead8c5a --- /dev/null +++ b/tools/testing/selftests/alsa/utimer-test.c @@ -0,0 +1,164 @@ +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 +/* + * This test covers the functionality of userspace-driven ALSA timers. Such timers + * are purely virtual (so they don't directly depend on the hardware), and they could be + * created and triggered by userspace applications. + * + * Author: Ivan Orlov ivan.orlov0322@gmail.com + */ +#include "../kselftest_harness.h" +#include <sound/asound.h> +#include <unistd.h> +#include <fcntl.h> +#include <limits.h> +#include <sys/ioctl.h> +#include <stdlib.h> +#include <pthread.h> +#include <string.h> + +#define FRAME_RATE 8000 +#define PERIOD_SIZE 4410 +#define UTIMER_DEFAULT_ID -1 +#define NANO 1000000000ULL +#define TICKS_COUNT 10 +#define TICKS_RECORDING_DELTA 5 +#define TIMER_OUTPUT_BUF_LEN 1024 +#define TIMER_FREQ_SEC 1 +#define RESULT_PREFIX_LEN strlen("Total ticks count: ") + +enum timer_app_event { + TIMER_APP_STARTED, + TIMER_APP_RESULT, + TIMER_NO_EVENT, +}; + +FIXTURE(timer_f) { + int utimer_fd; + struct snd_timer_uinfo *utimer_info; +}; + +FIXTURE_SETUP(timer_f) { + int timer_dev_fd; + + if (geteuid()) + SKIP(return, "This test needs root to run!"); + + self->utimer_info = calloc(1, sizeof(*self->utimer_info)); + ASSERT_NE(NULL, self->utimer_info); + + /* Resolution is the time the period of frames takes in nanoseconds */ + self->utimer_info->resolution = (NANO / FRAME_RATE * PERIOD_SIZE); + + timer_dev_fd = open("/dev/snd/timer", O_RDONLY); + ASSERT_GE(timer_dev_fd, 0); + + self->utimer_fd = ioctl(timer_dev_fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE, self->utimer_info); + ASSERT_GE(self->utimer_fd, 0); + + close(timer_dev_fd); +} + +FIXTURE_TEARDOWN(timer_f) { + close(self->utimer_fd); + free(self->utimer_info); +} + +static void *ticking_func(void *data) +{ + int i; + int *fd = (int *)data; + + for (i = 0; i < TICKS_COUNT; i++) { + /* Well, trigger the timer! */ + ioctl(*fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER, NULL); + sleep(TIMER_FREQ_SEC); + } + + return NULL; +} + +static enum timer_app_event parse_timer_output(const char *s) +{ + if (strstr(s, "Timer has started")) + return TIMER_APP_STARTED; + if (strstr(s, "Total ticks count")) + return TIMER_APP_RESULT; + + return TIMER_NO_EVENT; +} + +static int parse_timer_result(const char *s) +{ + char *end; + long d; + + d = strtol(s + RESULT_PREFIX_LEN, &end, 10); + if (end == s + RESULT_PREFIX_LEN) + return -1; + + return d; +} + +/* + * This test triggers the timer and counts ticks at the same time. The amount + * of the timer trigger calls should be equal to the amount of ticks received. + */ +TEST_F(timer_f, utimer) { + char command[64]; + pthread_t ticking_thread; + int total_ticks = 0; + FILE *rfp; + char *buf = malloc(TIMER_OUTPUT_BUF_LEN); + + ASSERT_NE(buf, NULL); + + /* The timeout should be the ticks interval * count of ticks + some delta */ + sprintf(command, "./global-timer %d %d %d", SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_UDRIVEN, + self->utimer_info->id, TICKS_COUNT * TIMER_FREQ_SEC + TICKS_RECORDING_DELTA); + + rfp = popen(command, "r"); + while (fgets(buf, TIMER_OUTPUT_BUF_LEN, rfp)) { + buf[TIMER_OUTPUT_BUF_LEN - 1] = 0; + switch (parse_timer_output(buf)) { + case TIMER_APP_STARTED: + /* global-timer waits for timer to trigger, so start the ticking thread */ + pthread_create(&ticking_thread, NULL, ticking_func, + &self->utimer_fd); + break; + case TIMER_APP_RESULT: + total_ticks = parse_timer_result(buf); + break; + case TIMER_NO_EVENT: + break; + } + } + pthread_join(ticking_thread, NULL); + ASSERT_EQ(total_ticks, TICKS_COUNT); + pclose(rfp); +} + +TEST(wrong_timers_test) { + int timer_dev_fd; + int utimer_fd; + size_t i; + struct snd_timer_uinfo wrong_timer = { + .resolution = 0, + .id = UTIMER_DEFAULT_ID, + }; + + timer_dev_fd = open("/dev/snd/timer", O_RDONLY); + ASSERT_GE(timer_dev_fd, 0); + + utimer_fd = ioctl(timer_dev_fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE, &wrong_timer); + ASSERT_LT(utimer_fd, 0); + /* Check that id was not updated */ + ASSERT_EQ(wrong_timer.id, UTIMER_DEFAULT_ID); + + /* Test the NULL as an argument is processed correctly */ + utimer_fd = ioctl(timer_dev_fd, SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE, NULL); + ASSERT_LT(utimer_fd, 0); + + close(timer_dev_fd); +} + +TEST_HARNESS_MAIN