85 lines
3.5 KiB
Plaintext
85 lines
3.5 KiB
Plaintext
# Test a timer implementations variance and long term drift
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Records and calculates statistical values against a timer validating that.
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1. Timer variance and standard deviation is below defined acceptable values.
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2. Periodic timers do not drift in either direction from expected total time.
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Timers are meant to be precise and accurate. This test validates an implementation is both.
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External tool testing
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It's also possible to use an external tool, such as a logic analyzer, to
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collect samples. The "kernel.timer.timer_behavior_external" test will toggle a
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GPIO pin on every cycle - first cycle will be a rising edge. This test expects
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a Python module to interface with the external tool, which will provide the
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necessary statistics that the test will use to assert the test status.
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GPIO pin
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To enable external tool testing on a board, it must provide the compatible
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"test-kernel-timer-behavior-external", with property "timeout-gpios" being the
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GPIO pin that will be toggled each period.
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External tool interface
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In order to get data from the external tool, the test expects a Python module,
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named on testcase.yaml, with the following interface:
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run(seconds: float, options: str) -> {}
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The `seconds` parameter defines for how long the data collection is expected
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to run; `options` is a string defined on testcase.yaml with options known to
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the external tool helper module. It should return a dictionary with the
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following statistics, in seconds:
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'mean': Mean time of each period
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'stddev': Standard deviation from the mean time
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'var': Variance from the mean time
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'min': Minimum period registered
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'max': Maximum period registered
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'total_time': Total time, between first and last period.
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Note that the collection may need to go a bit after the "seconds" parameter,
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to account for expected drift in the test and between the DUT and the external
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tool.
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One can check `pytest/saleae_logic2.py` file as a sample of external tool
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helper module.
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Twister
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For Twister execute the external tool testing, the fixture "gpio_timerout"
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must be available on the device. Also, testcase.yaml
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"harness_config/pytest_args" from "kernel.timer.timer_behavior_external" must
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have parameters "tool", with the name of a loadable Python module and
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"tool-options", a string with options passed to the Python module helper.
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Check testcase.yaml for an example using the saleae_logic2 module.
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Configuration options
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At its heart, the external testing is actually comparing two clocks: one on
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the board under test and one at the external tool (Zephyr implementation of
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the timer also plays a role, and it's the real target of the test, but it
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depends on the board's clock). Different clocks run at different speeds, so
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they tend to drift. To be able to account for this drift, the external test
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doesn't reuse CONFIG_TIMER_TEST_MAX_DRIFT and
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CONFIG_TIMER_TEST_PERIOD_MAX_DRIFT_PERCENT, instead introducing
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CONFIG_TIMER_EXTERNAL_TEST_MAX_DRIFT_PPM and
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CONFIG_TIMER_EXTERNAL_TEST_PERIOD_MAX_DRIFT_PPM, that can be more finely tuned
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for the hardware in question.
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Also, CONFIG_TIMER_EXTERNAL_TEST_SYNC_DELAY is used to set a delay before a
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test cycle starts, so that the external tool can be set up.
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Dependencies
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The external tool interface may have its own dependencies. For instance,
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the saleae_logic2 module ones are listed at pytest/requirements-saleae.txt.
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One can install them with pip (possibly in some virtual environment):
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pip install -r pytest/requirements-saleae.txt
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