[Click] Problem with Timers

[Angelo Colucci]

Hello,
Sorry in advance for my english.
I'm making for my thesis a module in click at the kernel level which
implements the link managment process,
according to the draft 802.11s.
This process associates a link instance for each link that each mesh STA
wants to establish/close with its peer.
This process allocate (remove) a link instance when it receives (sends ) an
open (close) frame from (to) its peer.
Each link instance is protected with a timer.
I write a test code in which a Machine element mantains MyNullEntry vector
(in the future LinkInstanceEntry).
Each MyNullEntry allocate its timer which, when expires, must invoke a
Machine method that handles the event.

 At the userlevel I incountered this problem (produced inside
reschedule_after() method):

click: ../lib/timer.cc:236: void Timer::schedule_at(const Timestamp&):
Assertion `_router && initialized()'   failed.
Aborted


I have installed Ubuntu with 2.6.19.2, executed in VirtualBox, for Kernel
test. At this level, even if  reschedule_after() is commented,
click_chatter output  doesn't appear and the O.S goes in deadloak.


//machine.hh

typedef Vector<MyNullEntry*> vector;
typedef vector::iterator mc_iter;

class Machine : public Element {
    vector _vector;
    int32_t _n_entry;
    int32_t _count;
    bool _started_timers;

public: ...
};

//machine.cc

int Machine::initialize(ErrorHandler* errh){
    click_chatter("initialize machine: _n_entry = %d\n", _n_entry);
    for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++){
        click_chatter("initialize %d\n", i);
        MyNullEntry *pnue = 0;

        pnue = new MyNullEntry();
        if(!pnue){
            click_chatter("MyNullEntry: new error\n");
            return -1;
        }
        pnue->set_state(ACTIVE);
        pnue->set_timerType(RTRY);
        pnue->set_element_ptr(this);
        pnue->initialize(errh);
        add_entry(pnue);   //this method invokes _vector.push_back(pnue);
    }
    return 0;
}


void Machine::push(int, Packet* p){
    click_chatter("start push\n");
    if(!_started_timers){
        for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++){
            Timer* pt = _vector.at(i)->get_timer();
            pt->reschedule_after_sec(3);
            //_vector.at(i)->run_timer(pt);
        }
        _started_timers = true;
    }
    output(0).push(p);
    _count++;
    click_chatter("end push\n");

}

//mynullentry.hh

enum timer_set{
    RTRY,
    CNF,
    HLD
};

enum state {ACTIVE, INACTIVE};
class MyNullEntry : public Element {
private:
    state  _state;
    Timer* _timer;
    MyNullEntry* _me;
    Machine* _mc;            //points to my container
    timer_set _timer_type;
    MyNullEntry(const MyNullEntry&);
public: ...
};

//mynullentry.cc


MyNullEntry::MyNullEntry(){
    _timer = 0;
    _me = this;
}

int MyNullEntry::initialize(ErrorHandler* errh){
    click_chatter("initialize MyNullEntry\n");
    _timer = new Timer(this);
    if(!_timer){
        click_chatter("Timer: new error\n");
        return -1;
    }
    _timer->initialize(this);
    return 0;
}

void MyNullEntry::run_timer(Timer* timer){
    click_chatter("run_timer\n");
    assert(timer == _timer);
    // don't run if the timer is scheduled (an upstream queue went empty but
we
    // don't care)
    if(_timer->scheduled())
        return;
    switch(_timer_type){
        case(RTRY):
            expire_r();
            break;
        case(CNF):
            expire_c();
            break;
        case(HLD):
            expire_h();
            break;
        default:
            assert(0);
        }
    //_timer->schedule_after_msec(2500);

}

void MyNullEntry::expire_r(){
    click_chatter("Retry Timer\n");
   //s a stupid tentative to verify that each link instance
   //can communicate the event to Machine
    _mc->print_table();
 }


Anyone can advice me if this use of Timer is wrong in any case?
Someone may suggest an alternative?


Thanks in advance for any kind of help.
Angelo