centos man page for function::get_cycles

FUNCTION::GET_CYCLES(3stap)					Timestamp Functions				       FUNCTION::GET_CYCLES(3stap)

NAME
       function::get_cycles - Processor cycle count

SYNOPSIS
	   get_cycles:long()

ARGUMENTS
       None

DESCRIPTION
       This function returns the processor cycle counter value if available, else it returns zero. The cycle counter is free running and
       unsynchronized on each processor. Thus, the order of events cannot determined by comparing the results of the get_cycles function on
       different processors.

SystemTap Tapset Reference					     June 2014					       FUNCTION::GET_CYCLES(3stap)