Linux 7.1 merges a significant overhaul of the high resolution timer (HRTIMER) subsystem, authored by Thomas Gleixner. Key improvements include better timer locality decisions, a new RB-tree variant with neighbor links to avoid costly tree walks on timer removal, deferred reprogramming of clock event devices to reduce overhead when the scheduler picks the next task, and direct TSC deadline conversion that eliminates redundant back-and-forth time conversions. The result is that an hrtick-enabled scheduler now delivers the same performance as one running without hrtick, while all other hrtimer users also benefit. The pull request additionally includes clocksource watchdog rewrites and robustness improvements.
Sort: