[PATCH v8 16/17] KVM: x86: Simplify and comment kvm_get_time_scale()

Sean Christopherson <[email protected]> Tue, 4 Aug 2026 16:39:20 -0700
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.kvm,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
From: David Woodhouse <[email protected]>

The kvm_get_time_scale() function was entirely opaque. Add comments
explaining what it does: compute a fixed-point multiplier and shift for
converting TSC ticks to nanoseconds via pvclock_scale_delta().

Rename the local variables from the cryptic tps64/tps32/scaled64 to
base_hz_u64/base32/scaled_hz_u64 to make the code self-documenting.
The "tps32" name stood for "Ticks Per Second" but was misleading since
it held the shifted base frequency, not a tick count.

No functional change.

Signed-off-by: David Woodhouse <[email protected]>
Reviewed-by: Paul Durrant <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <[email protected]>
---
 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 40 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
index cd438d06e4cc..02c389523f52 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
@@ -938,32 +938,57 @@ static uint32_t div_frac(uint32_t dividend, uint32_t divisor)
 	return dividend;
 }
 
-static void kvm_get_time_scale(uint64_t scaled_hz, uint64_t base_hz,
+static void kvm_get_time_scale(u64 scaled_hz, u64 base_hz,
 			       s8 *pshift, u32 *pmultiplier)
 {
-	uint64_t scaled64;
-	int32_t  shift = 0;
-	uint64_t tps64;
-	uint32_t tps32;
+	u64 scaled_hz_u64 = scaled_hz;
+	s32 shift = 0;
+	u64 base_hz_u64;
+	u32 base32;
 
-	tps64 = base_hz;
-	scaled64 = scaled_hz;
-	while (tps64 > scaled64*2 || tps64 & 0xffffffff00000000ULL) {
-		tps64 >>= 1;
+	/*
+	 * This function calculates a fixed-point multiplier and shift such
+	 * that:
+	 *   time_ns = (tsc_cycles << shift) * multiplier >> 32
+	 *
+	 * Where tsc_cycles tick at base_hz, and time_ns should count at
+	 * scaled_hz (typically NSEC_PER_SEC for a TSC→nanoseconds conversion).
+	 *
+	 * The multiplier is: (scaled_hz << 32) / base_hz, adjusted by shift
+	 * to keep everything in range.
+	 */
+
+	base_hz_u64 = base_hz;
+
+	/*
+	 * Start by shifting base_hz right until it fits in 32 bits, and
+	 * is lower than double the target rate. This introduces a negative
+	 * shift value which would result in pvclock_scale_delta() shifting
+	 * the actual tick count right before performing the multiplication.
+	 */
+	while (base_hz_u64 > scaled_hz_u64 * 2 || base_hz_u64 >> 32) {
+		base_hz_u64 >>= 1;
 		shift--;
 	}
 
-	tps32 = (uint32_t)tps64;
-	while (tps32 <= scaled64 || scaled64 & 0xffffffff00000000ULL) {
-		if (scaled64 & 0xffffffff00000000ULL || tps32 & 0x80000000)
-			scaled64 >>= 1;
+	/* Now the shifted base_hz fits in 32 bits. */
+	base32 = (u32)base_hz_u64;
+
+	/*
+	 * Next, shift scaled_hz right until it fits in 32 bits, and ensure
+	 * that the shifted base_hz is strictly larger (so that the result of the
+	 * final division also fits in 32 bits).
+	 */
+	while (base32 <= scaled_hz_u64 || scaled_hz_u64 >> 32) {
+		if (scaled_hz_u64 >> 32 || base32 & BIT(31))
+			scaled_hz_u64 >>= 1;
 		else
-			tps32 <<= 1;
+			base32 <<= 1;
 		shift++;
 	}
 
 	*pshift = shift;
-	*pmultiplier = div_frac(scaled64, tps32);
+	*pmultiplier = div_frac(scaled_hz_u64, base32);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_X86_64
-- 
2.55.0.571.g244d577d93-goog