Time to Measure the Pi
Peter Membrey, Darryl Veitch, Rocky K. C. Chang · 2016
The Raspberry Pi platform is increasingly being used for network measurement due to its low cost, ease of deployment, and ability to run Linux. Timestamps are a critical part of measurement data, yet the suitability of the Pi for timing has not been established. We use reference hardware to characterize the Pi's STC hardware counter, and to evaluate its performance when paired with a low cost yet powerful GPS 'hat'. We find that the platform can support timing adequate for most measurement purposes, but with some caveats.