[Hwcert-announce-list] Change in "cpuscaling" test requirements for processors with hardware p-state support

[Engineering Partner Management]

Greetings Red Hat Partners,

Intel has debuted a new CPU feature in their most recent processors
called "hardware p-states" (HWP) which allows CPUs to determine the
most efficient speed at which to run based on environmental parameters
such as heat and power usage. The autonomous behavior of this feature
lead to our hardware certification CPU frequency scaling test
reporting failures as it expects the CPU to behave exactly as
requested when told to select a specific speed. Rather than running at
700MHz when instructed to do so, the HWP feature could, for example,
determine that running at 900MHz is more efficient with the current
thermal and electrical loads and choose that speed instead. The
inability to attain the requested speed would be interpreted by our
test as a failure.

After thoroughly researching the topic and working with Red Hat's CPU
frequency experts to determine the appropriate testing for these CPUs,
the certification team will update the certification policy and test
suite to no longer fail certification due to a failure of the minimum
speed portion of the test if the CPU has HWP enabled. Starting today,
certifications will no longer be blocked for a failure to meet the
low-speed portion of the current cpuscaling test if they meet this
criteria. A manual review of the cpuscaling test result will be
performed to override the failure and provide credit when appropriate
until the updated test suite is made available.

We value your ongoing participation in Red Hat software development,
testing, and certification efforts. Thank you for your continued
partnership. If you have any questions or comments, please do not
hesitate to contact your Partner Manager or Engineering Account
Manager.

Regards,

The Red Hat Certification Team