Struct ThreadLifecycleSource 

pub struct ThreadLifecycleSource;

Harvests timing jitter from thread creation and destruction.

What it measures

Nanosecond timing of the full pthread_create + pthread_join cycle, with variable per-thread workloads.

Why it’s entropic

Each thread lifecycle exercises deep kernel scheduling paths:

• Mach thread port allocation from the kernel IPC port name space
• Zone allocator allocation for the kernel thread structure
• CPU core selection — P-core vs E-core, influenced by ALL threads
• Stack page allocation via vm_allocate
• TLS setup including dyld per-thread state
• Context switch on join — depends on current runqueue state
• Core migration — new thread may run on a different core

What makes it unique

Thread lifecycle timing is a previously untapped entropy source. The combination of kernel memory allocation, scheduling decisions, and cross-core communication produces 89 unique LSB values — the richest of any frontier source.

Configuration

No configuration needed — this source has no tunable parameters.

Trait Implementations

impl EntropySource for ThreadLifecycleSource

fn info(&self) -> &SourceInfo

Source metadata.

fn is_available(&self) -> bool

Check if this source can operate on the current machine.

fn collect(&self, n_samples: usize) -> Vec<u8>

Collect raw entropy samples. Returns a Vec<u8> of up to n_samples bytes.

fn name(&self) -> &'static str

Convenience: name from info.