nanosleep

NANOSLEEP(2)               Linux Programmer's Manual              NANOSLEEP(2)



NAME
       nanosleep - pause execution for a specified time

SYNOPSIS
       #include <time.h>

       int nanosleep(const struct timespec *req, struct timespec *rem);

DESCRIPTION
       nanosleep  delays  the  execution  of the program for at least the time
       specified in *req.  The function can return earlier  if  a  signal  has
       been  delivered to the process. In this case, it returns -1, sets errno
       to EINTR, and writes the remaining time into the structure  pointed  to
       by  rem unless rem is NULL.  The value of *rem can then be used to call
       nanosleep again and complete the specified pause.

       The structure timespec is  used  to  specify  intervals  of  time  with
       nanosecond precision. It is specified in <time.h> and has the form

              struct timespec
              {
                      time_t  tv_sec;         /* seconds */
                      long    tv_nsec;        /* nanoseconds */
              };

       The  value  of  the nanoseconds field must be in the range 0 to 999 999
       999.

       Compared to sleep(3) and usleep(3), nanosleep has the advantage of  not
       affecting  any signals, it is standardized by POSIX, it provides higher
       timing resolution, and it allows to continue  a  sleep  that  has  been
       interrupted by a signal more easily.

ERRORS
       In  case of an error or exception, the nanosleep system call returns -1
       instead of 0 and sets errno to one of the following values:

       EINTR  The pause has been interrupted by a non-blocked signal that  was
              delivered  to  the  process.  The  remaining sleep time has been
              written into *rem so that the process can easily call  nanosleep
              again and continue with the pause.

       EINVAL The  value  in  the  tv_nsec  field  was  not  in the range 0 to
              999 999 999 or tv_sec was negative.

BUGS
       The current implementation of nanosleep is based on the  normal  kernel
       timer  mechanism,  which  has  a  resolution  of  1/HZ s (i.e, 10 ms on
       Linux/i386 and  1 ms  on  Linux/Alpha).   Therefore,  nanosleep  pauses
       always for at least the specified time, however it can take up to 10 ms
       longer than specified until the process becomes runnable again. For the
       same  reason,  the value returned in case of a delivered signal in *rem
       is usually rounded to the next larger multiple of 1/HZ s.

       As some applications require much more precise pauses (e.g.,  in  order
       to  control  some time-critical hardware), nanosleep is also capable of
       short high-precision pauses. If the process is scheduled under a  real-
       time policy like SCHED_FIFO or SCHED_RR, then pauses of up to 2 ms will
       be performed as busy waits with microsecond precision.

CONFORMING TO
       POSIX.1b (formerly POSIX.4).

SEE ALSO
       sleep(3), usleep(3), sched_setscheduler(2), timer_create(2)



Linux 1.3.85                      1996-04-10                      NANOSLEEP(2)