Three fundamental properties of timers are precision, width and accuracy.
Examples of precision are millisecond, a cycle of a 32kHz clock, and -microseconds. All precisions are in "binary" units with respect to -one second. That is, one second contains 1024 binary milliseconds, -32768 32kHz ticks, or 1048576 microseconds. This TEP emphasizes -millisecond and 32kHz tick precisions while reasonably accommodating -other precisions.
+microseconds. All precisions presented in this TEP are in "binary" +units with respect to one second. That is, one second contains 1024 +binary milliseconds, 32768 32kHz ticks, or 1048576 microseconds. +This TEP emphasizes millisecond and 32kHz tick precisions while +reasonably accommodating other precisions. The use of "binary" units +is motivated by the common availability of hardware clocks driven +by a 32768Hz crystal.Examples of widths are 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit. The width -for timer interfaces and components SHOULD be 32-bits. That is, for -lack of a good reason, timer interfaces should expose a 32-bit -interface. In a number of circumstances there are good reasons not -to expose a 32-bit interface. This TEP emphasizes 32-bit widths -while reasonably accommodating other widths.
+for timer interfaces and components SHOULD be 32-bits. This TEP +emphasizes 32-bit widths while reasonably accommodating other widths - +a particular platform may have good reasons not to expose a 32-bit +interface.Accuracy reflects how closely a component conforms to the precision it claims to provide. Accuracy is affected by issues such as clock drift (much higher for internal vs crystal oscillators) and hardware limitations. As an example of hardware limitations, a mica2 clocked at 7.37MHz cannot offer an -exact microsecond timer -- the closest it can come is 7.37MHz/8. Rather +exact binary microsecond timer -- the closest it can come is 7.37MHz/8. Rather than introduce a plethora of precisions, we believe it is often best to pick the existing precision closest to what can be provided, along with appropriate documentation. However, the accuracy MUST remain reasonable: @@ -394,12 +382,12 @@ interfaces with different precision or width mutually incompatible. It also allows user code to clearly express and understand the precision and width for a given timer interface. Accuracy is not reflected in the interface type.
-Precision is expressed as an empty type -- TMilli, T32khz, and +
Precision is expressed as a dummy type -- TMilli, T32khz, and TMicro -- written in the standard Timer.h header like this:
-typedef struct { } TMilli;
-typedef struct { } T32khz;
-typedef struct { } TMicro;
+typedef struct { int notUsed; } TMilli; // 1024 ticks per second
+typedef struct { int notUsed; } T32khz; // 32768 ticks per second
+typedef struct { int notUsed; } TMicro; // 1048576 ticks per second
Note that the precision names are expressed as either frequency or period, whichever is convenient.
@@ -421,11 +409,7 @@ advanced user components.A Counter component will increase the width of a low-level hardware timer -by wrapping the overflow event and incrementing its higher order bits. -These higher order bits are considered extra state over the HPL register -layer, and therefore qualify all Counters as HAL components. -The Counter interface returns the current time and provides commands +
The Counter interface returns the current time and provides commands and an event for managing overflow conditions. These overflow commands and events are necessary for properly deriving larger width Counters from smaller widths.
@@ -442,10 +426,12 @@ interface Counter<precision_tag,size_type>Alarm components are extensions of Counters that signal an event -when their Compare register detects the alarm time has been hit. +when their compare register detects the alarm time has been hit. All commands and events of the Alarm interface are asynchronous (or in "interrupt context"). The Alarm interface provides a set of "basic" commands for common usage and provides a set of "extended" @@ -482,28 +468,43 @@ stop.
startAt(t0,dt)
+++cancel any previously running alarm and set to fire at time t1 = +t0+dt. This form allows a delay to be anchored to some time t0 taken +before the invocation of startAt. The timer subsystem uses this form +internally, to be able to use of the full width of an alarm while also +detecting when a short alarm elapses prematurely.
+The time t0 is always assumed to be in the past. A value of t0 +numerically greater than the current time (returned by getNow()) +represents a time from before the last wraparound.
+
The BusyWait interface replaces the TOSH_uwait macro from TinyOS -1.x.
+The BusyWait interface allows for very short synchronous delays. +BusyWait should be used sparingly and when an Alarm would not be +reasonably efficient or accurate. The BusyWait interface replaces +the TOSH_uwait macro from TinyOS 1.x.
+BusyWait blocks for no less than the specified amount of time. No +explicit upper bound is imposed on the enacted delay, though it is +expected that the underlying implementation spins in a busy loop until +the specified amount of time has elapsed.
interface BusyWait<precision_tag,size_type>
{
@@ -512,7 +513,7 @@ interface BusyWait<precision_tag,size_type>
cancel any previously running timer and set to fire at time t1 = t0+dt. The timer will fire periodically every dt time units until -stopped.
As with alarms, the time t0 is always assumed to be in the past. A +value of t0 numerically greater than the current time (returned by +getNow()) represents a time from before the last wraparound.
+cancel any previously running timer and set to fire at time t1 = +t0+dt. The timer will fire once then stop.
+t0 is as in startPeriodicAt.
+Platforms typically select a clocking option for each of their -hardware counters, based on their hardware design (e.g., the mica -family of motes all run their hardware timer 0 at 32kHz, and the micaz -mote runs its timer 1 at cpu frequency/256). Platforms SHOULD expose -the timing functionality of these timers using the Alarm and Counter -interfaces, in the fashion described below. Platforms MAY expose the -same hardware timer with different frequencies - use of conflicting -frequences in the same program SHOULD produce compile-time -errors.
-A hardware timer with precision P and width W SHOULD be exposed as a -several components:
+Platforms SHOULD expose their relevant timing capabilities using +standard Alarm and Counter interfaces. The design pattern presented +here defines a component naming convention to allow platform +independent access to particular Alarms and Counters if they exist +and to cause compile errors if they do not.
+A platform specific hardware timer with precision ${P} and width +${W} SHOULD be exposed as these two conventional Counter and Alarm +components:
-configuration CounterPWC {
- provides interface Counter<TP, uintW_t>;
-} ...
-generic configuration AlarmPWC {
- provides interface Alarm<TP,uintW_t>;
-} ...
+configuration Counter${P}${W}C
+{
+ provides interface Counter< T${P}, uint${W}_t >;
+}
+
+generic configuration Alarm${P}${W}C()
+{
+ provides interface Alarm< T${P}, uint${W}_t >;
+}
-and, except if W is 32:
+Instantiating an Alarm${P}${W}C component provides a new and independent +Alarm. If the platform presents a limited number of Alarm resources, +then allocating more Alarms in an application than are available for the +platform SHOULD produce a compile-time error. See Appendices B and C +for an example of how to make allocatable Alarms that are each +implemented on independent hardware timers.
+For example, if a platform has an 8-bit 32kHz counter and three +8-bit 32kHz alarms, then the Counter and Alarm interfaces for +${P}=32khz and ${W}=16 are:
-configuration CounterP32C {
- provides interface Counter<TP, uint32_t>;
-} ...
-generic configuration AlarmP32C {
- provides interface Alarm<TP,uint32_t>;
-} ...
+configuration Counter32khz8C
+{
+ provides interface Counter< T32khz, uint8_t >;
+}
+
+generic configuration Alarm32khz8C()
+{
+ provides interface Alarm< T32khz, uint8_t >;
+}
-Instantiating the Alarm... components provides a new Alarm independent -of all prior instantiations. Instantiating such a component "consumes" -a compare register from the corresponding hardware timer; when no more -compare registers are available, instantiation SHOULD produce a -compile-time error (see Appendix B for an example of how to achieve -this).
-For example, the micaz platform includes an AlarmMilli8C and -AlarmMilli32C components for timer 0 (one instantiation allowed), and -Alarm32kHz16C and Alarm32kHz32C for timer 1 (three instantiations -allowed).
+This pattern MAY be used to define components for the platform that +are mutually incompatible in a single application. Incompatible +components SHOULD produce compile-time errors when compiled +together.
The following component MUST be provided on all platforms
++HilTimerMilliC +BusyWaitMicroC ++
Both of these components use "binary" units, i.e., 1/1024s for +HilTimerMilliC and 1/1048576s for BusyWaitMicroC. Components using +other precisions (e.g., regular, non-binary milliseconds) MAY also be +provided.
-#define TIMERMILLIC_SERVICE ...
-configuration TimerMilliC
+configuration HilTimerMilliC
{
provides interface Init;
- provides interface Timer<TMilli>[uint8_t num];
+ provides interface Timer<TMilli> as TimerMilli[ uint8_t num ];
provides interface LocalTime<TMilli>;
}
-A timer is allocated using unique(TIMERMILLIC_SERVICE) to obtain a new -unique timer number. This timer number is used to index the TimerMilli -parameterised interface.
+A new timer is allocated using unique(UQ_TIMER_MILLI) to obtain a +new unique timer number. This timer number is used to index the +TimerMilli parameterised interface. UQ_TIMER_MILLI is defined in +Timer.h. HilTimerMilliC is used by the LocalTimeMilliC component and the +TimerMilliC generic component, both found in tos/system/
BusyWaitMicroC allows applications to busy-wait for a number of -microseconds. It's use should be restricted to situations where the +microseconds. Its use should be restricted to situations where the delay is small and setting a timer or alarm would be impractical, inefficient or insufficiently precise.
new TransformAlarmC( TMilli, uint32_t, T32khz, uint16_t, 5 )+
It is the exclusive responsibility of the developer using +TransformAlarmC to ensure that all five of its arguments are self +consistent. No compile errors are generated if the parameters +passed to TransformAlarmC are inconsistent.
to_precision_tag and to_size_type describe the final precision and final width for the provided Counter. from_precision_tag and from_size_type describe the precision and width for the source -AlarmFrom. bit_shift_right describes the bit-shift necessary to +CounterFrom. bit_shift_right describes the bit-shift necessary to convert from the used precision to the provided precision. upper_count_type describes the numeric type used to store the additional counter bits. upper_count_type MUST be a type with width @@ -795,13 +816,88 @@ generic component VirtualizeTimerC( typedef precision_tag, int max_timers )
The definition of the HIL interfaces are found in tinyos-2.x/tos/lib/timer:
++++
+- Alarm.nc
+- BusyWait.nc
+- Counter.nc
+- LocalTime.nc
+- Timer.h defines precision tags and strings for unique()
+- Timer.nc
+
The implementation of the utility components are also found in +tinyos-2.x/tos/lib/timer:
++++
+- AlarmToTimerC.nc
+- BusyWaitCounterC.nc
+- CounterToLocalTimeC.nc
+- TransformAlarmC.nc
+- TransformCounterC.nc
+- VirtualizeAlarmC.nc
+- VirtualizeTimerC.nc
+
The implementation of timers for the MSP430 is in +tinyos-2.x/tos/chips/msp430/timer:
++++
+- Alarm32khz16C.nc is generic and provides a new Alarm<T32khz,uint16_t>
+- Alarm32khz32C.nc is generic and provides a new Alarm<T32khz,uint32_t>
+- AlarmMilli16C.nc is generic and provides a new Alarm<TMilli,uint16_t>
+- AlarmMilli32C.nc is generic and provides a new Alarm<TMilli,uint32_t>
+- BusyWait32khzC.nc provides BusyWait<T32khz,uint16_t>
+- BusyWaitMicroC.nc provides BusyWait<TMicro,uint16_t>
+- Counter32khz16C.nc provides Counter<T32khz,uint16_t>
+- Counter32khz32C.nc provides Counter<T32khz,uint32_t>
+- CounterMilli16C.nc provides Counter<TMilli,uint16_t>
+- CounterMilli32C.nc provides Counter<TMilli,uint32_t>
+- GpioCaptureC.nc
+- HilTimerMilliC.nc provides LocalTime<TMilli> and +Timer<TMilli> as TimerMilli[uint8_t num]
+- Msp430AlarmC.nc is generic and converts an MSP430 timer to a 16-bit Alarm
+- Msp430Capture.nc HPL interface definition for MSP430 timer captures
+- Msp430ClockC.nc exposes MSP430 hardware clock initialization
+- Msp430ClockInit.nc HPL interface definition for hardware clock initialization
+- Msp430ClockP.nc implements MSP430 hardware clock initialization and +calibration and startup
+- Msp430Compare.nc HPL interface definition for MSP430 timer compares
+- Msp430Counter32khzC.nc provides Counter<T32khz,uint16_t> based on +MSP430 TimerB
+- Msp430CounterC.nc is generic and converts an Msp430Timer to a Counter
+- Msp430CounterMicroC.nc provides Counter<TMicro,uint16_t> based on +MSP430 TimerA
+- Msp430Timer.h defines additional MSP430 timer bitmasks and structs
+- Msp430Timer.nc HPL interface definition
+- Msp430Timer32khzC.nc is generic and allocates a new 32khz hardware timer
+- Msp430Timer32khzMapC.nc exposes the MSP430 hardware timers as a +parameterized interface allocatable using Msp430Timer32khzC
+- Msp430TimerC.nc exposes the MSP430 hardware timers
+- Msp430TimerCapComP.nc is generic and implements the HPL for MSP430 +capture/compare special function registers
+- Msp430TimerCommonP.nc maps the MSP430 timer interrupts to Msp430TimerEvents
+- Msp430TimerControl.nc HPL interface definition
+- Msp430TimerEvent.nc HPL interface definition
+- Msp430TimerP.nc is generic and implements the HPL for MSP430 timer +special function registers
+
Implementation of timers for the ATmega128 and PXA27x may be found in +tinyos-2.x/tos/chips/atm128/timer and +tinyos-2.x/tos/chips/pxa27x/timer respectively.
+These interfaces are provided by four components, corresponding to -each hardware timer: HplAtm128Timer0C through HplAtm128Timer3C.
+These interfaces are provided by four components, corresponding to each +hardware timer: HplAtm128Timer0AsyncC, and HplAtm128Timer0C through +HplAtm128Timer3C. Timers 1 and 3 have three compare registers, so offer +a parameterised HplAtm128Compare interface:
+
+configuration HplAtm128Timer1C
+{
+ provides {
+ // 16-bit Timers
+ interface HplAtm128Timer<uint16_t> as Timer;
+ interface HplAtm128TimerCtrl16 as TimerCtrl;
+ interface HplAtm128Capture<uint16_t> as Capture;
+ interface HplAtm128Compare<uint16_t> as Compare[uint8_t id];
+ }
+}
+...
+
+where the id corresponds to the compare register number. The parameterised +interface is only connected for id equal to 0, 1 or 2. Attempts to use +another value cause a compile-time error. This is achieved as follows (code +from the implementation of HplAtm128Timer1C)
++Compare[0] = HplAtm128Timer1P.CompareA; +Compare[1] = HplAtm128Timer1P.CompareB; +Compare[2] = HplAtm128Timer1P.CompareC; +
The Atmega128 chip components do not define a HAL, as the timer configuration choices (frequencies, use of input capture or compare output, etc) are platform-specific. Instead, it provides a few generic components @@ -998,6 +1118,20 @@ generic module Atm128CounterC(typedef frequency_tag, uses interface HplTimer<timer_size> as Timer; } ... +
As a result of issues arising from using timer 0 in asynchronous mode, +the HAL also offers the following component:
+
+generic configuration Atm128AlarmAsyncC(typedef precision, int divider) {
+ provides {
+ interface Init @atleastonce();
+ interface Alarm<precision, uint32_t>;
+ interface Counter<precision, uint32_t>;
+ }
+}
+...
+
+which builds a 32-bit alarm and timer over timer 0. divider is used +to initialise the timer0 scaling factor.
The mica family configures its four timers in part based on the value of this MHZ symbol:
Timer 0: divides the external 32768Hz crystal by 32 to build AlarmMilli8C -and AlarmMilli32C (see Section 3). As timer 0 has a single compare -register, these can only be instantiated once. -Timing accuracy is as good as the external crystal.
+Timer 0: uses Atm128AlarmAsyncC to divide the external 32768Hz crystal +by 32, creating a 32-bit alarm and counter. This alarm and counter is +used to build HilTimerMilliC, using the AlarmToTimerC, +VirtualizeTimerC and CounterToLocalTimeC utility components.
+Timing accuracy is as good as the external crystal.
Timer 1: the 16-bit hardware timer 1 is set to run at 1MHz if possible. However, the set of dividers for timer 1 is limited to 1, 8, @@ -1026,9 +1161,10 @@ selected and timer 1 runs at 2 or 4MHz. To reflect this fact, the HAL components exposing timer 1 are named CounterOne16C and AlarmOne16C (rather than the CounterMicro16C AlarmMicro16C as suggested in Section 3).
-When building the 32-bit counter and 32-bit alarms, the rate of -timer 1 is adjusted in software to 1MHz. Thus the 32-bit HAL components -for timer are named CounterMicro32C and AlarmMicro32C.
+32-bit microsecond Counters and Alarms, named CounterMicro32C and +AlarmMicro32C, are created from CounterOne16C and +AlarmOne16C using the TransformAlarmC and TransformCounterC +utility components.
Three compare registers are available on timer1, so up to three instances of AlarmOne16C and/or AlarmMicro32C can be created. The timing accuracy depends on how the mote is clocked:
@@ -1044,8 +1180,8 @@ accuracy depends on how the mote is clocked: 32768Hz, if possible. As with timer 1, the limited set of dividers makes this impossible at some clock frequencies, so the 16-bit timer 3 HAL components are named CounterThree16C and AlarmThree16C. As -with timer 1, the rate of timer 3 is adjusted in software when -building the 32-bit counter and 32-bit alarms, giving components +with timer 1, the rate of timer 3 is adjusted in software to +build 32-bit counter and 32-bit alarms, giving components Counter32khz32C and Alarm32khz32C. As with timer 1, three compare registers, hence up to three instances of Alarm32khz32C and/or AlarmThree16C are available. @@ -1054,6 +1190,31 @@ at 31.25kHz (plus clock rate inaccuracy). At 7.37MHz, they run at ~28.8kHz.The automatic allocation of compare registers to alarms (and +corresponding compile-time error when too many compare registers are +used) is achieved as follows. The implementations of AlarmOne16C +and AlarmThree16C use the Atm128AlarmC generic component and +wire it, using unique, to one of the compare registers offered by +HplAtm128Timer1C and HplAtm128Timer3C:
+
+generic configuration AlarmOne16C()
+{
+ provides interface Alarm<TOne, uint16_t>;
+}
+implementation
+{
+ components HplAtm128Timer1C, InitOneP,
+ new Atm128AlarmC(TOne, uint16_t, 3) as NAlarm;
+
+ Alarm = NAlarm;
+ NAlarm.HplAtm128Timer -> HplAtm128Timer1C.Timer;
+ NAlarm.HplAtm128Compare -> HplAtm128Timer1C.Compare[unique(UQ_TIMER1_COMPARE)];
+}
+
+On the fourth creation of an AlarmOne16C, unique(UQ_TIMER1_COMPARE) +will return 3, causing a compile-time error as discussed in Appendix B +(HplAtm128Timer1C's Compare interface is only defined for values +from 0 to 2).
When an Atmega128 is in any power-saving mode, hardware timers 1, 2 and 3 stop counting. The default Atmega128 power management will enter these power-saving modes even when timers 1 and 3 are enabled, so time as @@ -1062,8 +1223,7 @@ alarms built on timers 1 or 3 are active, the Atmega128 power management will not enter power-saving modes.
The mica family HIL components are built as follows: