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![Rafael J. Wysocki](/assets/img/avatar_default.png)
Replace the remaining documents under Documentation/cpuidle/ with one more complete governor and driver API document for cpuidle under Documentation/driver-api/pm/. Signed-off-by: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com> Reviewed-by: Ulf Hansson <ulf.hansson@linaro.org>
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282 lines
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.. |struct cpuidle_governor| replace:: :c:type:`struct cpuidle_governor <cpuidle_governor>`
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.. |struct cpuidle_device| replace:: :c:type:`struct cpuidle_device <cpuidle_device>`
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.. |struct cpuidle_driver| replace:: :c:type:`struct cpuidle_driver <cpuidle_driver>`
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.. |struct cpuidle_state| replace:: :c:type:`struct cpuidle_state <cpuidle_state>`
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========================
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CPU Idle Time Management
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========================
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::
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Copyright (c) 2019 Intel Corp., Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com>
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CPU Idle Time Management Subsystem
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==================================
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Every time one of the logical CPUs in the system (the entities that appear to
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fetch and execute instructions: hardware threads, if present, or processor
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cores) is idle after an interrupt or equivalent wakeup event, which means that
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there are no tasks to run on it except for the special "idle" task associated
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with it, there is an opportunity to save energy for the processor that it
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belongs to. That can be done by making the idle logical CPU stop fetching
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instructions from memory and putting some of the processor's functional units
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depended on by it into an idle state in which they will draw less power.
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However, there may be multiple different idle states that can be used in such a
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situation in principle, so it may be necessary to find the most suitable one
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(from the kernel perspective) and ask the processor to use (or "enter") that
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particular idle state. That is the role of the CPU idle time management
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subsystem in the kernel, called ``CPUIdle``.
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The design of ``CPUIdle`` is modular and based on the code duplication avoidance
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principle, so the generic code that in principle need not depend on the hardware
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or platform design details in it is separate from the code that interacts with
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the hardware. It generally is divided into three categories of functional
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units: *governors* responsible for selecting idle states to ask the processor
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to enter, *drivers* that pass the governors' decisions on to the hardware and
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the *core* providing a common framework for them.
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CPU Idle Time Governors
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=======================
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A CPU idle time (``CPUIdle``) governor is a bundle of policy code invoked when
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one of the logical CPUs in the system turns out to be idle. Its role is to
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select an idle state to ask the processor to enter in order to save some energy.
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``CPUIdle`` governors are generic and each of them can be used on any hardware
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platform that the Linux kernel can run on. For this reason, data structures
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operated on by them cannot depend on any hardware architecture or platform
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design details as well.
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The governor itself is represented by a |struct cpuidle_governor| object
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containing four callback pointers, :c:member:`enable`, :c:member:`disable`,
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:c:member:`select`, :c:member:`reflect`, a :c:member:`rating` field described
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below, and a name (string) used for identifying it.
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For the governor to be available at all, that object needs to be registered
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with the ``CPUIdle`` core by calling :c:func:`cpuidle_register_governor()` with
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a pointer to it passed as the argument. If successful, that causes the core to
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add the governor to the global list of available governors and, if it is the
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only one in the list (that is, the list was empty before) or the value of its
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:c:member:`rating` field is greater than the value of that field for the
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governor currently in use, or the name of the new governor was passed to the
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kernel as the value of the ``cpuidle.governor=`` command line parameter, the new
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governor will be used from that point on (there can be only one ``CPUIdle``
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governor in use at a time). Also, if ``cpuidle_sysfs_switch`` is passed to the
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kernel in the command line, user space can choose the ``CPUIdle`` governor to
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use at run time via ``sysfs``.
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Once registered, ``CPUIdle`` governors cannot be unregistered, so it is not
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practical to put them into loadable kernel modules.
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The interface between ``CPUIdle`` governors and the core consists of four
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callbacks:
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:c:member:`enable`
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::
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int (*enable) (struct cpuidle_driver *drv, struct cpuidle_device *dev);
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The role of this callback is to prepare the governor for handling the
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(logical) CPU represented by the |struct cpuidle_device| object pointed
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to by the ``dev`` argument. The |struct cpuidle_driver| object pointed
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to by the ``drv`` argument represents the ``CPUIdle`` driver to be used
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with that CPU (among other things, it should contain the list of
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|struct cpuidle_state| objects representing idle states that the
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processor holding the given CPU can be asked to enter).
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It may fail, in which case it is expected to return a negative error
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code, and that causes the kernel to run the architecture-specific
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default code for idle CPUs on the CPU in question instead of ``CPUIdle``
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until the ``->enable()`` governor callback is invoked for that CPU
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again.
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:c:member:`disable`
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::
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void (*disable) (struct cpuidle_driver *drv, struct cpuidle_device *dev);
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Called to make the governor stop handling the (logical) CPU represented
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by the |struct cpuidle_device| object pointed to by the ``dev``
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argument.
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It is expected to reverse any changes made by the ``->enable()``
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callback when it was last invoked for the target CPU, free all memory
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allocated by that callback and so on.
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:c:member:`select`
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::
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int (*select) (struct cpuidle_driver *drv, struct cpuidle_device *dev,
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bool *stop_tick);
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Called to select an idle state for the processor holding the (logical)
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CPU represented by the |struct cpuidle_device| object pointed to by the
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``dev`` argument.
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The list of idle states to take into consideration is represented by the
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:c:member:`states` array of |struct cpuidle_state| objects held by the
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|struct cpuidle_driver| object pointed to by the ``drv`` argument (which
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represents the ``CPUIdle`` driver to be used with the CPU at hand). The
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value returned by this callback is interpreted as an index into that
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array (unless it is a negative error code).
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The ``stop_tick`` argument is used to indicate whether or not to stop
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the scheduler tick before asking the processor to enter the selected
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idle state. When the ``bool`` variable pointed to by it (which is set
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to ``true`` before invoking this callback) is cleared to ``false``, the
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processor will be asked to enter the selected idle state without
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stopping the scheduler tick on the given CPU (if the tick has been
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stopped on that CPU already, however, it will not be restarted before
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asking the processor to enter the idle state).
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This callback is mandatory (i.e. the :c:member:`select` callback pointer
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in |struct cpuidle_governor| must not be ``NULL`` for the registration
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of the governor to succeed).
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:c:member:`reflect`
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::
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void (*reflect) (struct cpuidle_device *dev, int index);
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Called to allow the governor to evaluate the accuracy of the idle state
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selection made by the ``->select()`` callback (when it was invoked last
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time) and possibly use the result of that to improve the accuracy of
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idle state selections in the future.
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In addition, ``CPUIdle`` governors are required to take power management
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quality of service (PM QoS) constraints on the processor wakeup latency into
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account when selecting idle states. In order to obtain the current effective
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PM QoS wakeup latency constraint for a given CPU, a ``CPUIdle`` governor is
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expected to pass the number of the CPU to
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:c:func:`cpuidle_governor_latency_req()`. Then, the governor's ``->select()``
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callback must not return the index of an indle state whose
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:c:member:`exit_latency` value is greater than the number returned by that
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function.
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CPU Idle Time Management Drivers
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================================
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CPU idle time management (``CPUIdle``) drivers provide an interface between the
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other parts of ``CPUIdle`` and the hardware.
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First of all, a ``CPUIdle`` driver has to populate the :c:member:`states` array
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of |struct cpuidle_state| objects included in the |struct cpuidle_driver| object
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representing it. Going forward this array will represent the list of available
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idle states that the processor hardware can be asked to enter shared by all of
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the logical CPUs handled by the given driver.
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The entries in the :c:member:`states` array are expected to be sorted by the
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value of the :c:member:`target_residency` field in |struct cpuidle_state| in
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the ascending order (that is, index 0 should correspond to the idle state with
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the minimum value of :c:member:`target_residency`). [Since the
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:c:member:`target_residency` value is expected to reflect the "depth" of the
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idle state represented by the |struct cpuidle_state| object holding it, this
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sorting order should be the same as the ascending sorting order by the idle
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state "depth".]
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Three fields in |struct cpuidle_state| are used by the existing ``CPUIdle``
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governors for computations related to idle state selection:
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:c:member:`target_residency`
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Minimum time to spend in this idle state including the time needed to
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enter it (which may be substantial) to save more energy than could
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be saved by staying in a shallower idle state for the same amount of
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time, in microseconds.
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:c:member:`exit_latency`
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Maximum time it will take a CPU asking the processor to enter this idle
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state to start executing the first instruction after a wakeup from it,
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in microseconds.
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:c:member:`flags`
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Flags representing idle state properties. Currently, governors only use
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the ``CPUIDLE_FLAG_POLLING`` flag which is set if the given object
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does not represent a real idle state, but an interface to a software
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"loop" that can be used in order to avoid asking the processor to enter
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any idle state at all. [There are other flags used by the ``CPUIdle``
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core in special situations.]
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The :c:member:`enter` callback pointer in |struct cpuidle_state|, which must not
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be ``NULL``, points to the routine to execute in order to ask the processor to
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enter this particular idle state:
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::
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void (*enter) (struct cpuidle_device *dev, struct cpuidle_driver *drv,
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int index);
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The first two arguments of it point to the |struct cpuidle_device| object
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representing the logical CPU running this callback and the
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|struct cpuidle_driver| object representing the driver itself, respectively,
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and the last one is an index of the |struct cpuidle_state| entry in the driver's
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:c:member:`states` array representing the idle state to ask the processor to
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enter.
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The analogous ``->enter_s2idle()`` callback in |struct cpuidle_state| is used
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only for implementing the suspend-to-idle system-wide power management feature.
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The difference between in and ``->enter()`` is that it must not re-enable
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interrupts at any point (even temporarily) or attempt to change the states of
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clock event devices, which the ``->enter()`` callback may do sometimes.
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Once the :c:member:`states` array has been populated, the number of valid
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entries in it has to be stored in the :c:member:`state_count` field of the
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|struct cpuidle_driver| object representing the driver. Moreover, if any
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entries in the :c:member:`states` array represent "coupled" idle states (that
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is, idle states that can only be asked for if multiple related logical CPUs are
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idle), the :c:member:`safe_state_index` field in |struct cpuidle_driver| needs
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to be the index of an idle state that is not "coupled" (that is, one that can be
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asked for if only one logical CPU is idle).
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In addition to that, if the given ``CPUIdle`` driver is only going to handle a
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subset of logical CPUs in the system, the :c:member:`cpumask` field in its
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|struct cpuidle_driver| object must point to the set (mask) of CPUs that will be
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handled by it.
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A ``CPUIdle`` driver can only be used after it has been registered. If there
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are no "coupled" idle state entries in the driver's :c:member:`states` array,
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that can be accomplished by passing the driver's |struct cpuidle_driver| object
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to :c:func:`cpuidle_register_driver()`. Otherwise, :c:func:`cpuidle_register()`
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should be used for this purpose.
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However, it also is necessary to register |struct cpuidle_device| objects for
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all of the logical CPUs to be handled by the given ``CPUIdle`` driver with the
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help of :c:func:`cpuidle_register_device()` after the driver has been registered
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and :c:func:`cpuidle_register_driver()`, unlike :c:func:`cpuidle_register()`,
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does not do that automatically. For this reason, the drivers that use
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:c:func:`cpuidle_register_driver()` to register themselves must also take care
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of registering the |struct cpuidle_device| objects as needed, so it is generally
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recommended to use :c:func:`cpuidle_register()` for ``CPUIdle`` driver
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registration in all cases.
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The registration of a |struct cpuidle_device| object causes the ``CPUIdle``
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``sysfs`` interface to be created and the governor's ``->enable()`` callback to
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be invoked for the logical CPU represented by it, so it must take place after
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registering the driver that will handle the CPU in question.
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``CPUIdle`` drivers and |struct cpuidle_device| objects can be unregistered
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when they are not necessary any more which allows some resources associated with
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them to be released. Due to dependencies between them, all of the
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|struct cpuidle_device| objects representing CPUs handled by the given
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``CPUIdle`` driver must be unregistered, with the help of
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:c:func:`cpuidle_unregister_device()`, before calling
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:c:func:`cpuidle_unregister_driver()` to unregister the driver. Alternatively,
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:c:func:`cpuidle_unregister()` can be called to unregister a ``CPUIdle`` driver
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along with all of the |struct cpuidle_device| objects representing CPUs handled
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by it.
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``CPUIdle`` drivers can respond to runtime system configuration changes that
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lead to modifications of the list of available processor idle states (which can
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happen, for example, when the system's power source is switched from AC to
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battery or the other way around). Upon a notification of such a change,
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a ``CPUIdle`` driver is expected to call :c:func:`cpuidle_pause_and_lock()` to
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turn ``CPUIdle`` off temporarily and then :c:func:`cpuidle_disable_device()` for
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all of the |struct cpuidle_device| objects representing CPUs affected by that
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change. Next, it can update its :c:member:`states` array in accordance with
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the new configuration of the system, call :c:func:`cpuidle_enable_device()` for
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all of the relevant |struct cpuidle_device| objects and invoke
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:c:func:`cpuidle_resume_and_unlock()` to allow ``CPUIdle`` to be used again.
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