Index: kernel/arch/sparc64/include/drivers/tick.h
===================================================================
--- kernel/arch/sparc64/include/drivers/tick.h	(revision b3f8fb771f871e7f2bb35ce9339717639e8f86d6)
+++ kernel/arch/sparc64/include/drivers/tick.h	(revision 26d3ae2d56cbdf7eaecdc582b53cef8f6ebf6f7c)
@@ -36,8 +36,20 @@
 #define KERN_sparc64_TICK_H_
 
+#include <arch/asm.h>
 #include <arch/interrupt.h>
+
+/* mask of the "counter" field of the Tick register */
+#define TICK_COUNTER_MASK	(~(1l << 63))
 
 extern void tick_init(void);
 extern void tick_interrupt(int n, istate_t *istate);
+
+/**
+ * Reads the Tick register counter.
+ */
+static inline uint64_t tick_counter_read(void)
+{
+	return TICK_COUNTER_MASK & tick_read();
+}
 
 #endif