94 lines
6 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
6 KiB
Markdown
# Shared timer prescaler phase
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## Result and scope
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All four timers now derive independent-clock ticks from one free-running system-clock divider.
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Enabling, disabling, restarting, or changing a timer's clock source does not reset that divider.
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This replaces the previous per-timer phase, which restarted on enable or clock-source changes.
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The correction covers divider ownership and edge selection in the current immediate-write timer model.
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It does **not** add hardware startup delays, delayed register writes, or IRQ synchronization delays.
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Those behaviors need separate edge tests; adding a fixed startup delay alone would be incomplete.
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No physical-hardware measurement or external-emulator differential run was performed locally.
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## Evidence reviewed
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- [Jgenesis timers at fab6e2cc](https://github.com/jsgroth/jgenesis/blob/fab6e2ccc60e492dd68b7f1e927b0829a6d80195/backend/gba-core/src/timers.rs) derive ticks from absolute clock values shifted by the selected divisor.
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Pending register writes and newly enabled reloads have separate handling.
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- [NanoBoyAdvance timers at 55b5cf0a](https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/55b5cf0ae3d929582ac5bfd486558173502b8354/src/nba/src/hw/timer/timer.cc) derive prescaler alignment from the scheduler timestamp.
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Its [channel definitions](https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/55b5cf0ae3d929582ac5bfd486558173502b8354/src/nba/src/hw/timer/timer.hh) separate pending writes from active timer control.
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The implementation also handles a possible overflow from an old `0xffff` counter during enable/reload timing.
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Both implementations use a common clock origin rather than a private period restarted for each timer.
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Their startup handling also shows why divider phase and enable delay must be treated separately.
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The current correction uses the shared-clock rule without claiming their complete transition behavior.
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No implementation code was imported.
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Search also identified a [VBA-M prescaler change](https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m/commit/92154dcd2ef7fca8c8afa8fced2f350ad2d2452a)
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and the [mGBA timer suite](https://github.com/mgba-emu/suite/blob/04ada216ee13c56d786e54636ac980a71d791145/src/timers.c).
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These remain follow-up leads, not local test passes or implementation oracles.
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## Implemented divider
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Synthetic reset starts the shared phase at zero.
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Only the low ten system-clock bits are needed for divisors 1, 64, 256, and 1024.
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The phase advances with emulated time even when all timers are disabled or cascaded.
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It does not depend on host wall time or display-frame position.
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For an interval from clock `start` to clock `end`, an independently clocked timer receives:
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```text
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ticks = floor(end / divisor) - floor(start / divisor)
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```
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This counts divider edges after the starting timestamp and through the ending timestamp.
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An enable at an already completed edge does not replay that edge.
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A clock-source change selects another output of the same divider, not a new clock origin.
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Leaving cascade mode resumes from that existing divider position.
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Cascade mode still counts predecessor overflows and ignores the prescaler selection field.
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The core counts ticks and overflow pulses in bulk without iterating once per cycle.
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Wide arithmetic handles maximum `u32` clock batches before retaining the low divider bits.
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Overflow scheduling subtracts the current shared remainder, so HALT can stop at the next actual divider edge.
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For example, under the current immediate-enable policy, a /64 timer enabled at clock 63 ticks at clock 64.
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The old private-phase model incorrectly waited until clock 127.
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This example defines the implemented no-delay subset, not a claim about an enable write adjacent to a hardware startup edge.
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## Clock ownership and rollback
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The divider belongs to the timer bank, not an individual timer.
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Each machine `TimerStep` copies the shared phase with the counters and timer IF bits.
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CPU and DMA bus phases advance that copy. Success commits it; a failed step discards it.
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Other devices' bulk updates do not advance the committed divider again.
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Host clock advances and HALT idle periods advance the same divider.
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STOP freezes it, and keypad wake resumes the retained phase.
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Host register access and CPU-only stepping do not advance time or reset the divider.
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See [ordered timer accesses](ordered-timer-access.md) for transaction and API ownership.
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## Original regression coverage
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Tests exercise every low-ten-bit phase and all divider selections, including zero-cycle advances and completed-edge enables.
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Staggered timer starts verify shared edges. Clock-source changes, restarts, and cascade transitions preserve the common origin.
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A literal cycle-by-cycle reference checks randomized control, reload, acknowledgement, and clock sequences.
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It uses absolute edge tests, not the implementation's phase accumulator or bulk overflow division.
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Maximum-size batches check bounded progress and divider wrap.
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Machine tests cross a shared edge during CPU stores, timer loads, and DMA source/destination phases.
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Failed CPU and DMA steps must not consume that edge or retain its IRQ request.
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HALT after a machine timer start must use the committed phase for its next-event bound.
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STOP/keypad tests verify that stopped time does not move the divider.
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## Validation and remaining work
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Workspace/core/demo tests pass in debug and release on Darwin arm64.
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Formatting, clippy, rustdoc, Python tests, native ROM windows, and all graphics smoke modes pass.
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The release executable remains native Mach-O arm64.
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Public ARM, Thumb, memory, and BIOS reports remain byte-identical to the preceding ordered-timer change.
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The timer demo trace and both profiles of the cancellation probe are unchanged.
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The probe still matches all its published observations, but it uses divisor one and does not validate prescaler startup edges.
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Next, use independent timer-edge observations to define delayed reload/control writes and enable behavior.
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Include overflow from the previous counter, cascade transitions, same-cycle reads, and IRQ timing before adding startup delays.
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Full-buffer prefetch restart and page-boundary validation remain separate work.
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