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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+Delay and sleep mechanisms
+==========================
+
+This document seeks to answer the common question: "What is the
+RightWay (TM) to insert a delay?"
+
+This question is most often faced by driver writers who have to
+deal with hardware delays and who may not be the most intimately
+familiar with the inner workings of the Linux Kernel.
+
+The following table gives a rough overview about the existing function
+'families' and their limitations. This overview table does not replace the
+reading of the function description before usage!
+
+.. list-table::
+ :widths: 20 20 20 20 20
+ :header-rows: 2
+
+ * -
+ - `*delay()`
+ - `usleep_range*()`
+ - `*sleep()`
+ - `fsleep()`
+ * -
+ - busy-wait loop
+ - hrtimers based
+ - timer list timers based
+ - combines the others
+ * - Usage in atomic Context
+ - yes
+ - no
+ - no
+ - no
+ * - precise on "short intervals"
+ - yes
+ - yes
+ - depends
+ - yes
+ * - precise on "long intervals"
+ - Do not use!
+ - yes
+ - max 12.5% slack
+ - yes
+ * - interruptible variant
+ - no
+ - yes
+ - yes
+ - no
+
+A generic advice for non atomic contexts could be:
+
+#. Use `fsleep()` whenever unsure (as it combines all the advantages of the
+ others)
+#. Use `*sleep()` whenever possible
+#. Use `usleep_range*()` whenever accuracy of `*sleep()` is not sufficient
+#. Use `*delay()` for very, very short delays
+
+Find some more detailed information about the function 'families' in the next
+sections.
+
+`*delay()` family of functions
+------------------------------
+
+These functions use the jiffy estimation of clock speed and will busy wait for
+enough loop cycles to achieve the desired delay. udelay() is the basic
+implementation and ndelay() as well as mdelay() are variants.
+
+These functions are mainly used to add a delay in atomic context. Please make
+sure to ask yourself before adding a delay in atomic context: Is this really
+required?
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/asm-generic/delay.h
+ :identifiers: udelay ndelay
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/delay.h
+ :identifiers: mdelay
+
+
+`usleep_range*()` and `*sleep()` family of functions
+----------------------------------------------------
+
+These functions use hrtimers or timer list timers to provide the requested
+sleeping duration. In order to decide which function is the right one to use,
+take some basic information into account:
+
+#. hrtimers are more expensive as they are using an rb-tree (instead of hashing)
+#. hrtimers are more expensive when the requested sleeping duration is the first
+ timer which means real hardware has to be programmed
+#. timer list timers always provide some sort of slack as they are jiffy based
+
+The generic advice is repeated here:
+
+#. Use `fsleep()` whenever unsure (as it combines all the advantages of the
+ others)
+#. Use `*sleep()` whenever possible
+#. Use `usleep_range*()` whenever accuracy of `*sleep()` is not sufficient
+
+First check fsleep() function description and to learn more about accuracy,
+please check msleep() function description.
+
+
+`usleep_range*()`
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/delay.h
+ :identifiers: usleep_range usleep_range_idle
+
+.. kernel-doc:: kernel/time/sleep_timeout.c
+ :identifiers: usleep_range_state
+
+
+`*sleep()`
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. kernel-doc:: kernel/time/sleep_timeout.c
+ :identifiers: msleep msleep_interruptible
+
+.. kernel-doc:: include/linux/delay.h
+ :identifiers: ssleep fsleep