xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/cpufreq.4 (revision 640235e2c2ba32947f7c59d168437ffa1280f1e6)
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd March 3, 2006
28.Dt CPUFREQ 4
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm cpufreq
32.Nd CPU frequency control framework
33.Sh SYNOPSIS
34.Cd "device cpufreq"
35.Pp
36.In sys/cpu.h
37.Ft int
38.Fn cpufreq_levels "device_t dev" "struct cf_level *levels" "int *count"
39.Ft int
40.Fn cpufreq_set "device_t dev" "const struct cf_level *level" "int priority"
41.Ft int
42.Fn cpufreq_get "device_t dev" "struct cf_level *level"
43.Ft int
44.Fo cpufreq_drv_settings
45.Fa "device_t dev"
46.Fa "struct cf_setting *sets"
47.Fa "int *count"
48.Fc
49.Ft int
50.Fn cpufreq_drv_type "device_t dev" "int *type"
51.Ft int
52.Fn cpufreq_drv_set "device_t dev" "const struct cf_setting *set"
53.Ft int
54.Fn cpufreq_drv_get "device_t dev" "struct cf_setting *set"
55.Sh DESCRIPTION
56The
57.Nm
58driver provides a unified kernel and user interface to CPU frequency
59control drivers.
60It combines multiple drivers offering different settings into a single
61interface of all possible levels.
62Users can access this interface directly via
63.Xr sysctl 8
64or by indicating to
65.Pa /etc/rc.d/power_profile
66that it should switch settings when the AC line state changes via
67.Xr rc.conf 5 .
68.Sh SYSCTL VARIABLES
69These settings may be overridden by kernel drivers requesting alternate
70settings.
71If this occurs, the original values will be restored once the condition
72has passed (e.g., the system has cooled sufficiently).
73If a sysctl cannot be set due to an override condition, it will return
74.Er EPERM .
75.Pp
76The frequency cannot be changed if TSC is in use as the timecounter.
77This is because the timecounter system needs to use a source that has a
78constant rate.
79The timecounter source can be changed with the
80.Pa kern.timecounter.hardware
81sysctl.
82Available modes are in
83.Pa kern.timecounter.choice
84sysctl entry.
85.Bl -tag -width indent
86.It Va dev.cpu.%d.freq
87Current active CPU frequency in MHz.
88.It Va dev.cpu.%d.freq_levels
89Currently available levels for the CPU (frequency/power usage).
90Values are in units of MHz and milliwatts.
91.It Va dev.DEVICE.%d.freq_settings
92Currently available settings for the driver (frequency/power usage).
93Values are in units of MHz and milliwatts.
94This is helpful for understanding which settings are offered by which
95driver for debugging purposes.
96.It Va debug.cpufreq.lowest
97Lowest CPU frequency in MHz to offer to users.
98This setting is also accessible via a tunable with the same name.
99This can be used to disable very low levels that may be unusable on
100some systems.
101.It Va debug.cpufreq.verbose
102Print verbose messages.
103This setting is also accessible via a tunable with the same name.
104.El
105.Sh SUPPORTED DRIVERS
106The following device drivers offer absolute frequency control via the
107.Nm
108interface.
109Usually, only one of these can be active at a time.
110.Pp
111.Bl -tag -compact -width ".Pa acpi_perf"
112.It Pa acpi_perf
113ACPI CPU performance states
114.It Pa est
115Intel Enhanced SpeedStep
116.It Pa ichss
117Intel SpeedStep for ICH
118.It Pa powernow
119AMD PowerNow!\& and Cool'n'Quiet for K7 and K8
120.It Pa smist
121Intel SMI-based SpeedStep for PIIX4
122.El
123.Pp
124The following device drivers offer relative frequency control and
125have an additive effect:
126.Pp
127.Bl -tag -compact -width ".Pa acpi_throttle"
128.It Pa acpi_throttle
129ACPI CPU throttling
130.It Pa p4tcc
131Pentium 4 Thermal Control Circuitry
132.El
133.Sh KERNEL INTERFACE
134Kernel components can query and set CPU frequencies through the
135.Nm
136kernel interface.
137This involves obtaining a
138.Nm
139device, calling
140.Fn cpufreq_levels
141to get the currently available frequency levels,
142checking the current level with
143.Fn cpufreq_get ,
144and setting a new one from the list with
145.Fn cpufreq_set .
146Each level may actually reference more than one
147.Nm
148driver but kernel components do not need to be aware of this.
149The
150.Va total_set
151element of
152.Vt "struct cf_level"
153provides a summary of the frequency and power for this level.
154Unknown or irrelevant values are set to
155.Dv CPUFREQ_VAL_UNKNOWN .
156.Pp
157The
158.Fn cpufreq_levels
159method takes a
160.Nm
161device and an empty array of
162.Fa levels .
163The
164.Fa count
165value should be set to the number of levels available and after the
166function completes, will be set to the actual number of levels returned.
167If there are more levels than
168.Fa count
169will allow, it should return
170.Er E2BIG .
171.Pp
172The
173.Fn cpufreq_get
174method takes a pointer to space to store a
175.Fa level .
176After successful completion, the output will be the current active level
177and is equal to one of the levels returned by
178.Fn cpufreq_levels .
179.Pp
180The
181.Fn cpufreq_set
182method takes a pointer a
183.Fa level
184and attempts to activate it.
185The
186.Fa priority
187(i.e.,
188.Dv CPUFREQ_PRIO_KERN )
189tells
190.Nm
191whether to override previous settings while activating this level.
192If
193.Fa priority
194is higher than the current active level, that level will be saved and
195overridden with the new level.
196If a level is already saved, the new level is set without overwriting
197the older saved level.
198If
199.Fn cpufreq_set
200is called with a
201.Dv NULL
202.Fa level ,
203the saved level will be restored.
204If there is no saved level,
205.Fn cpufreq_set
206will return
207.Er ENXIO .
208If
209.Fa priority
210is lower than the current active level's priority, this method returns
211.Er EPERM .
212.Sh DRIVER INTERFACE
213Kernel drivers offering hardware-specific CPU frequency control export
214their individual settings through the
215.Nm
216driver interface.
217This involves implementing these methods:
218.Fn cpufreq_drv_settings ,
219.Fn cpufreq_drv_type ,
220.Fn cpufreq_drv_set ,
221and
222.Fn cpufreq_drv_get .
223Additionally, the driver must attach a device as a child of a CPU
224device so that these methods can be called by the
225.Nm
226framework.
227.Pp
228The
229.Fn cpufreq_drv_settings
230method returns an array of currently available settings, each of type
231.Vt "struct cf_setting" .
232The driver should set unknown or irrelevant values to
233.Dv CPUFREQ_VAL_UNKNOWN .
234All the following elements for each setting should be returned:
235.Bd -literal
236struct cf_setting {
237	int	freq;	/* CPU clock in MHz or 100ths of a percent. */
238	int	volts;	/* Voltage in mV. */
239	int	power;	/* Power consumed in mW. */
240	int	lat;	/* Transition latency in us. */
241	device_t dev;	/* Driver providing this setting. */
242};
243.Ed
244.Pp
245On entry to this method,
246.Fa count
247contains the number of settings that can be returned.
248On successful completion, the driver sets it to the actual number of
249settings returned.
250If the driver offers more settings than
251.Fa count
252will allow, it should return
253.Er E2BIG .
254.Pp
255The
256.Fn cpufreq_drv_type
257method indicates the type of settings it offers, either
258.Dv CPUFREQ_TYPE_ABSOLUTE
259or
260.Dv CPUFREQ_TYPE_RELATIVE .
261Additionally, the driver may set the
262.Dv CPUFREQ_FLAG_INFO_ONLY
263flag if the settings it provides are information for other drivers only
264and cannot be passed to
265.Fn cpufreq_drv_set
266to activate them.
267.Pp
268The
269.Fn cpufreq_drv_set
270method takes a driver setting and makes it active.
271If the setting is invalid or not currently available, it should return
272.Er EINVAL .
273.Pp
274The
275.Fn cpufreq_drv_get
276method returns the currently-active driver setting.
277The
278.Vt "struct cf_setting"
279returned must be valid for passing to
280.Fn cpufreq_drv_set ,
281including all elements being filled out correctly.
282If the driver cannot infer the current setting
283(even by estimating it with
284.Fn cpu_est_clockrate )
285then it should set all elements to
286.Dv CPUFREQ_VAL_UNKNOWN .
287.Sh SEE ALSO
288.Xr acpi 4 ,
289.Xr est 4 ,
290.Xr timecounters 4 ,
291.Xr powerd 8 ,
292.Xr sysctl 8
293.Sh AUTHORS
294.An Nate Lawson
295.An Bruno Ducrot
296contributed the
297.Pa powernow
298driver.
299.Sh BUGS
300The following drivers have not yet been converted to the
301.Nm
302interface:
303.Xr longrun 4 .
304.Pp
305Notification of CPU and bus frequency changes is not implemented yet.
306.Pp
307When multiple CPUs offer frequency control, they cannot be set to different
308levels and must all offer the same frequency settings.
309