A Discrete-Event Network Simulator
API
wall-clock-synchronizer.cc
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1 /* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
2 /*
3  * Copyright (c) 2008 University of Washington
4  *
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12  * GNU General Public License for more details.
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16  * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
17  */
18 
19 
20 #include <ctime> // clock_t
21 #include <sys/time.h> // gettimeofday
22  // clock_getres: glibc < 2.17, link with librt
23 
24 #include "log.h"
25 #include "system-condition.h"
26 
28 
35 namespace ns3 {
36 
37 NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE ("WallClockSynchronizer");
38 
39 NS_OBJECT_ENSURE_REGISTERED (WallClockSynchronizer);
40 
41 TypeId
43 {
44  static TypeId tid = TypeId ("ns3::WallClockSynchronizer")
46  .SetGroupName ("Core")
47  ;
48  return tid;
49 }
50 
52 {
53  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
54 //
55 // In Linux, the basic timekeeping unit is derived from a variable called HZ
56 // HZ is the frequency in hertz of the system timer. The system timer fires
57 // every 1/HZ seconds and a counter, called the jiffies counter is incremented
58 // at each tick. The time between ticks is called a jiffy (American slang for
59 // a short period of time). The ticking of the jiffies counter is how the
60 // the kernel tells time.
61 //
62 // Now, the shortest time the kernel can sleep is one jiffy since a timer
63 // has to be set to expire and trigger the process to be made ready. The
64 // Posix clock CLOCK_REALTIME is defined as a 1/HZ clock, so by doing a
65 // clock_getres () on the realtime clock we can infer the scheduler quantum
66 // and the minimimum sleep time for the system. This is most certainly NOT
67 // going to be one nanosecond even though clock_nanosleep () pretends it is.
68 //
69 // The reason this number is important is that we are going to schedule lots
70 // of waits for less time than a jiffy. The clock_nanosleep function is
71 // going to guarantee that it will sleep for AT LEAST the time specified.
72 // The least time that it will sleep is a jiffy.
73 //
74 // In order to deal with this, we are going to do a spin-wait if the simulator
75 // requires a delay less than a jiffy. This is on the order of one millisecond
76 // (999848 ns) on the ns-regression machine.
77 //
78 // If the underlying OS does not support posix clocks, we'll just assume a
79 // one millisecond quantum and deal with this as best we can
80 
81 #ifdef CLOCK_REALTIME
82  struct timespec ts;
83  clock_getres (CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
84  m_jiffy = ts.tv_sec * NS_PER_SEC + ts.tv_nsec;
85  NS_LOG_INFO ("Jiffy is " << m_jiffy << " ns");
86 #else
87  m_jiffy = 1000000;
88 #endif
89 }
90 
92 {
93  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
94 }
95 
96 bool
98 {
99  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
100  return true;
101 }
102 
103 uint64_t
105 {
106  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
107  return GetNormalizedRealtime ();
108 }
109 
110 void
112 {
113  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << ns);
114 //
115 // In order to make sure we're really locking the simulation time to some
116 // wall-clock time, we need to be able to compare that simulation time to
117 // that wall-clock time. The wall clock will have been running for some
118 // long time and will probably have a huge count of nanoseconds in it. We
119 // save the real time away so we can subtract it from "now" later and get
120 // a count of nanoseconds in real time since the simulation started.
121 //
123  NS_LOG_INFO ("origin = " << m_realtimeOriginNano);
124 }
125 
126 int64_t
128 {
129  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << ns);
130 //
131 // In order to make sure we're really locking the simulation time to some
132 // wall-clock time, we need to be able to compare that simulation time to
133 // that wall-clock time. In DoSetOrigin we saved the real time at the start
134 // of the simulation away. This is the place where we subtract it from "now"
135 // to a count of nanoseconds in real time since the simulation started. We
136 // then subtract the current real time in normalized nanoseconds we just got
137 // from the normalized simulation time in nanoseconds that is passed in as
138 // the parameter ns. We return an integer difference, but in reality all of
139 // the mechanisms that cause wall-clock to simuator time drift cause events
140 // to be late. That means that the wall-clock will be higher than the
141 // simulation time and drift will be positive. I would be astonished to
142 // see a negative drift, but the possibility is admitted for other
143 // implementations; and we'll use the ability to report an early result in
144 // DoSynchronize below.
145 //
146  uint64_t nsNow = GetNormalizedRealtime ();
147 
148  if (nsNow > ns)
149  {
150 //
151 // Real time (nsNow) is larger/later than the simulator time (ns). We are
152 // behind real time and the difference (drift) is positive.
153 //
154  return (int64_t)(nsNow - ns);
155  }
156  else
157  {
158 //
159 // Real time (nsNow) is smaller/earlier than the simulator time (ns). We are
160 // ahead of real time and the difference (drift) is negative.
161 //
162  return -(int64_t)(ns - nsNow);
163  }
164 }
165 
166 bool
167 WallClockSynchronizer::DoSynchronize (uint64_t nsCurrent, uint64_t nsDelay)
168 {
169  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << nsCurrent << nsDelay);
170 //
171 // This is the belly of the beast. We have received two parameters from the
172 // simulator proper -- a current simulation time (nsCurrent) and a simulation
173 // time to delay which identifies the time the next event is supposed to fire.
174 //
175 // The first thing we need to do is to (try and) correct for any realtime
176 // drift that has happened in the system. In this implementation, we realize
177 // that all mechanisms for drift will cause the drift to be such that the
178 // realtime is greater than the simulation time. This typically happens when
179 // our process is put to sleep for a given time, but actually sleeps for
180 // longer. So, what we want to do is to "catch up" to realtime and delay for
181 // less time than we are actually asked to delay. DriftCorrect will return a
182 // number from 0 to nsDelay corresponding to the amount of catching-up we
183 // need to do. If we are more than nsDelay behind, we do not wait at all.
184 //
185 // Note that it will be impossible to catch up if the amount of drift is
186 // cumulatively greater than the amount of delay between events. The method
187 // GetDrift () is available to clients of the syncrhonizer to keep track of
188 // the cumulative drift. The client can assert if the drift gets out of
189 // hand, print warning messages, or just ignore the situation and hope it will
190 // go away.
191 //
192  uint64_t ns = DriftCorrect (nsCurrent, nsDelay);
193  NS_LOG_INFO ("Synchronize ns = " << ns);
194 //
195 // Once we've decided on how long we need to delay, we need to split this
196 // time into sleep waits and busy waits. The reason for this is described
197 // in the comments for the constructor where jiffies and jiffy resolution is
198 // explained.
199 //
200 // Here, I'll just say that we need that the jiffy is the minimum resolution
201 // of the system clock. It can only sleep in blocks of time equal to a jiffy.
202 // If we want to be more accurate than a jiffy (we do) then we need to sleep
203 // for some number of jiffies and then busy wait for any leftover time.
204 //
205  uint64_t numberJiffies = ns / m_jiffy;
206  NS_LOG_INFO ("Synchronize numberJiffies = " << numberJiffies);
207 //
208 // This is where the real world interjects its very ugly head. The code
209 // immediately below reflects the fact that a sleep is actually quite probably
210 // going to end up sleeping for some number of jiffies longer than you wanted.
211 // This is because your system is going to be off doing other unimportant
212 // stuff during that extra time like running file systems and networks. What
213 // we want to do is to ask the system to sleep enough less than the requested
214 // delay so that it comes back early most of the time (coming back early is
215 // fine, coming back late is bad). If we can convince the system to come back
216 // early (most of the time), then we can busy-wait until the requested
217 // completion time actually comes around (most of the time).
218 //
219 // The tradeoff here is, of course, that the less time we spend sleeping, the
220 // more accurately we will sync up; but the more CPU time we will spend busy
221 // waiting (doing nothing).
222 //
223 // I'm not really sure about this number -- a boss of mine once said, "pick
224 // a number and it'll be wrong." But this works for now.
225 //
226 // \todo Hardcoded tunable parameter below.
227 //
228  if (numberJiffies > 3)
229  {
230  NS_LOG_INFO ("SleepWait for " << numberJiffies * m_jiffy << " ns");
231  NS_LOG_INFO ("SleepWait until " << nsCurrent + numberJiffies * m_jiffy
232  << " ns");
233 //
234 // SleepWait is interruptible. If it returns true it meant that the sleep
235 // went until the end. If it returns false, it means that the sleep was
236 // interrupted by a Signal. In this case, we need to return and let the
237 // simulator re-evaluate what to do.
238 //
239  if (SleepWait ((numberJiffies - 3) * m_jiffy) == false)
240  {
241  NS_LOG_INFO ("SleepWait interrupted");
242  return false;
243  }
244  }
245  NS_LOG_INFO ("Done with SleepWait");
246 //
247 // We asked the system to sleep for some number of jiffies, but that doesn't
248 // mean we actually did. Let's re-evaluate what we need to do here. Maybe
249 // we're already late. Probably the "real" delay time left has little to do
250 // with what we would calculate it to be naively.
251 //
252 // We are now at some Realtime. The important question now is not, "what
253 // would we calculate in a mathematicians paradise," it is, "how many
254 // nanoseconds do we need to busy-wait until we get to the Realtime that
255 // corresponds to nsCurrent + nsDelay (in simulation time). We have a handy
256 // function to do just that -- we ask for the time the realtime clock has
257 // drifted away from the simulation clock. That's our answer. If the drift
258 // is negative, we're early and we need to busy wait for that number of
259 // nanoseconds. The place were we want to be is described by the parameters
260 // we were passed by the simulator.
261 //
262  int64_t nsDrift = DoGetDrift (nsCurrent + nsDelay);
263 //
264 // If the drift is positive, we are already late and we need to just bail out
265 // of here as fast as we can. Return true to indicate that the requested time
266 // has, in fact, passed.
267 //
268  if (nsDrift >= 0)
269  {
270  NS_LOG_INFO ("Back from SleepWait: IML8 " << nsDrift);
271  return true;
272  }
273 //
274 // There are some number of nanoseconds left over and we need to wait until
275 // the time defined by nsDrift. We'll do a SpinWait since the usual case
276 // will be that we are doing this Spinwait after we've gotten a rough delay
277 // using the SleepWait above. If SpinWait completes to the end, it will
278 // return true; if it is interrupted by a signal it will return false.
279 //
280  NS_LOG_INFO ("SpinWait until " << nsCurrent + nsDelay);
281  return SpinWait (nsCurrent + nsDelay);
282 }
283 
284 void
286 {
287  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
288 
289  m_condition.SetCondition (true);
290  m_condition.Signal ();
291 }
292 
293 void
295 {
296  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << cond);
297  m_condition.SetCondition (cond);
298 }
299 
300 void
302 {
303  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
305 }
306 
307 uint64_t
309 {
310  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
312 }
313 
314 bool
316 {
317  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << ns);
318 // We just sit here and spin, wasting CPU cycles until we get to the right
319 // time or are told to leave.
320  for (;;)
321  {
322  if (GetNormalizedRealtime () >= ns)
323  {
324  return true;
325  }
326  if (m_condition.GetCondition ())
327  {
328  return false;
329  }
330  }
331 // Quiet compiler
332  return true;
333 }
334 
335 bool
337 {
338  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << ns);
339  return m_condition.TimedWait (ns);
340 }
341 
342 uint64_t
343 WallClockSynchronizer::DriftCorrect (uint64_t nsNow, uint64_t nsDelay)
344 {
345  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << nsNow << nsDelay);
346  int64_t drift = DoGetDrift (nsNow);
347 //
348 // If we're running late, drift will be positive and we need to correct by
349 // delaying for less time. If we're early for some bizarre reason, we don't
350 // do anything since we'll almost instantly self-correct.
351 //
352  if (drift < 0)
353  {
354  return nsDelay;
355  }
356 //
357 // If we've drifted out of sync by less than the requested delay, then just
358 // subtract the drift from the delay and fix up the drift in one go. If we
359 // have more drift than delay, then we just play catch up as fast as possible
360 // by not delaying at all.
361 //
362  uint64_t correction = (uint64_t)drift;
363  if (correction <= nsDelay)
364  {
365  return nsDelay - correction;
366  }
367  else
368  {
369  return 0;
370  }
371 }
372 
373 uint64_t
375 {
376  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
377  struct timeval tvNow;
378  gettimeofday (&tvNow, NULL);
379  return TimevalToNs (&tvNow);
380 }
381 
382 uint64_t
384 {
385  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
386  return GetRealtime () - m_realtimeOriginNano;
387 }
388 
389 void
390 WallClockSynchronizer::NsToTimeval (int64_t ns, struct timeval *tv)
391 {
392  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << ns << tv);
393  NS_ASSERT ((ns % US_PER_NS) == 0);
394  tv->tv_sec = static_cast<long> (ns / NS_PER_SEC);
395  tv->tv_usec = (ns % NS_PER_SEC) / US_PER_NS;
396 }
397 
398 uint64_t
400 {
401  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << tv);
402  uint64_t nsResult = tv->tv_sec * NS_PER_SEC + tv->tv_usec * US_PER_NS;
403  NS_ASSERT ((nsResult % US_PER_NS) == 0);
404  return nsResult;
405 }
406 
407 void
409  struct timeval *tv1,
410  struct timeval *tv2,
411  struct timeval *result)
412 {
413  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << tv1 << tv2 << result);
414  result->tv_sec = tv1->tv_sec + tv2->tv_sec;
415  result->tv_usec = tv1->tv_usec + tv2->tv_usec;
416  if (result->tv_usec > (int64_t)US_PER_SEC)
417  {
418  ++result->tv_sec;
419  result->tv_usec %= US_PER_SEC;
420  }
421 }
422 
423 } // namespace ns3
#define NS_LOG_FUNCTION(parameters)
If log level LOG_FUNCTION is enabled, this macro will output all input parameters separated by "...
uint64_t m_jiffy
Size of the system clock tick, as reported by clock_getres, in ns.
#define NS_OBJECT_ENSURE_REGISTERED(type)
Register an Object subclass with the TypeId system.
Definition: object-base.h:45
#define NS_ASSERT(condition)
At runtime, in debugging builds, if this condition is not true, the program prints the source file...
Definition: assert.h:67
#define NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE(name)
Define a Log component with a specific name.
Definition: log.h:205
ns3::SystemCondition declaration.
uint64_t TimevalToNs(struct timeval *tv)
Convert a timeval to absolute time, in ns.
#define NS_LOG_INFO(msg)
Use NS_LOG to output a message of level LOG_INFO.
Definition: log.h:281
static const uint64_t NS_PER_SEC
Conversion constant between ns and s.
uint64_t m_nsEventStart
Time recorded by DoEventStart.
void Signal(void)
Release one thread if waiting for the condition to be true.
bool SleepWait(uint64_t ns)
Put our process to sleep for some number of nanoseconds.
static const uint64_t US_PER_NS
Conversion constant between μs and ns.
uint64_t GetRealtime(void)
Get the current absolute real time (in ns since the epoch).
virtual int64_t DoGetDrift(uint64_t ns)
Get the drift between the real time clock used to synchronize the simulation and the current simulati...
virtual bool DoRealtime(void)
Return true if this synchronizer is actually synchronizing to a realtime clock.
ns3::WallClockSynchronizer declaration.
void SetCondition(bool condition)
Set the value of the underlying condition.
virtual uint64_t DoGetCurrentRealtime(void)
Retrieve the value of the origin of the underlying normalized wall clock time in Time resolution unit...
virtual bool DoSynchronize(uint64_t nsCurrent, uint64_t nsDelay)
Wait until the real time is in sync with the specified simulation time.
bool GetCondition(void)
Get the value of the underlying condition.
Every class exported by the ns3 library is enclosed in the ns3 namespace.
virtual ~WallClockSynchronizer()
Destructor.
Base class used for synchronizing the simulation events to some real time "wall clock.".
Definition: synchronizer.h:51
bool TimedWait(uint64_t ns)
Wait a maximum of ns nanoseconds for the condition to be true.
virtual void DoSetOrigin(uint64_t ns)
Establish a correspondence between a simulation time and a wall-clock (real) time.
static const uint64_t US_PER_SEC
Conversion constant between μs and seconds.
uint64_t m_realtimeOriginNano
The real time, in ns, when SetOrigin was called.
Definition: synchronizer.h:314
virtual void DoEventStart(void)
Record the normalized real time at which the current event is starting execution. ...
virtual void DoSetCondition(bool cond)
Set the condition variable to tell a possible simulator thread waiting in the Synchronize method that...
void NsToTimeval(int64_t ns, struct timeval *tv)
Convert an absolute time in ns to a timeval.
static TypeId GetTypeId(void)
Get the registered TypeId for this class.
void TimevalAdd(struct timeval *tv1, struct timeval *tv2, struct timeval *result)
Add two timeval.
SystemCondition m_condition
Thread synchronizer.
Debug message logging.
a unique identifier for an interface.
Definition: type-id.h:58
uint64_t GetNormalizedRealtime(void)
Get the current normalized real time, in ns.
TypeId SetParent(TypeId tid)
Set the parent TypeId.
Definition: type-id.cc:923
bool SpinWait(uint64_t ns)
Do a busy-wait until the normalized realtime equals the argument or the condition variable becomes tr...
virtual void DoSignal(void)
Tell a possible simulator thread waiting in the DoSynchronize method that an event has happened which...
virtual uint64_t DoEventEnd(void)
Return the amount of real time elapsed since the last call to EventStart.
uint64_t DriftCorrect(uint64_t nsNow, uint64_t nsDelay)
Compute a correction to the nominal delay to account for realtime drift since the last DoSynchronize...