[PATCH v2 0/2] perf riscv: Implement rdtsc()
Chen Pei
cp0613 at linux.alibaba.com
Mon Sep 28 20:41:31 PDT 2026
tools/perf falls back to the __weak rdtsc() stub in tools/perf/util/tsc.c
on every architecture that does not override it, riscv included. The
stub returns a constant 0, so anything that reaches for the counter gets
a value that means nothing and cannot tell it apart from a counter that
happens to be at 0.
The time CSR is a natural TSC equivalent on riscv: readable from user
mode, constant frequency, and the same counter that riscv's
arch_perf_update_userpage() feeds the user page conversion fields from,
ever since commit 83c5e13b8cbb ("riscv: Prepare for user-space perf
event mmap support"). This series registers that on the tools side.
The two patches are split so that the first stands on its own:
1. Implement rdtsc() over the time CSR for riscv64.
2. Have the build system say which architectures have a usable counter,
instead of a list of compiler macros inside the test.
What this is worth beyond the subtest result:
1. The subtest is the only reader of those conversion fields riscv
can run, so it guards arithmetic that has shipped unexercised;
registering the counter at the same time leaves a future riscv
auxtrace driver the reading and the conversion already in place.
2. The flag lets a caller ask whether the architecture has a counter
before it uses the value, without keeping its own copy of a list
that has to be edited every time an architecture grows an
implementation.
Changes since v1:
- Define rdtsc() for RV64 only. RV32 now keeps the weak stub.
- Declare the capability through the build system rather than through a
weak arch__rdtsc_supported() hook, following the PERF_HAVE_JITDUMP
pattern, as Leo Yan suggested.
Tests:
======
- riscv64 QEMU virt guest with sscofpmf, comparing the build before the
series with the build after it: before, the "TSC support" subtest skips
and the conversion subtest fails while comparing against the stub's
constant 0; after, both report Ok.
- riscv64 and riscv32 cross builds: the compile command of
tests/perf-time-to-tsc.o carries -DHAVE_RDTSC on rv64 and not on
rv32, so RV32 stays on the weak stub.
- x86_64 host and arm64 cross builds: -DHAVE_RDTSC is in effect for
both, and on the host the "TSC support" subtest still reports Ok.
Chen Pei (2):
perf riscv: Implement rdtsc()
perf tsc: Declare TSC support from the build system
tools/perf/Makefile.config | 4 ++++
tools/perf/arch/arm64/Makefile | 1 +
tools/perf/arch/riscv/Makefile | 1 +
tools/perf/arch/riscv/util/Build | 1 +
tools/perf/arch/riscv/util/tsc.c | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
tools/perf/arch/x86/Makefile | 1 +
tools/perf/tests/perf-time-to-tsc.c | 19 ++++---------------
7 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 tools/perf/arch/riscv/util/tsc.c
--
2.50.1
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