diff --git a/include/uapi/sound/asound.h b/include/uapi/sound/asound.h
index 8bf7e8a0eb6f..4cd513215bcd 100644
--- a/include/uapi/sound/asound.h
+++ b/include/uapi/sound/asound.h
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ struct snd_ump_block_info {
  *  Timer section - /dev/snd/timer
  */
 
-#define SNDRV_TIMER_VERSION		SNDRV_PROTOCOL_VERSION(2, 0, 7)
+#define SNDRV_TIMER_VERSION		SNDRV_PROTOCOL_VERSION(2, 0, 8)
 
 enum {
 	SNDRV_TIMER_CLASS_NONE = -1,
@@ -894,6 +894,7 @@ enum {
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_RTC		1	/* unused */
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_HPET		2
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_HRTIMER	3
+#define SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_UDRIVEN	4
 
 /* info flags */
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_FLG_SLAVE		(1<<0)	/* cannot be controlled */
@@ -974,6 +975,18 @@ struct snd_timer_status {
 };
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * This structure describes the userspace-driven timer. Such timers are purely virtual,
+ * and can only be triggered from software (for instance, by userspace application).
+ */
+struct snd_timer_uinfo {
+	/* To pretend being a normal timer, we need to know the resolution in ns. */
+	__u64 resolution;
+	int fd;
+	unsigned int id;
+	unsigned char reserved[16];
+};
+
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PVERSION	_IOR('T', 0x00, int)
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_NEXT_DEVICE	_IOWR('T', 0x01, struct snd_timer_id)
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TREAD_OLD	_IOW('T', 0x02, int)
@@ -990,6 +1003,8 @@ struct snd_timer_status {
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CONTINUE	_IO('T', 0xa2)
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PAUSE		_IO('T', 0xa3)
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TREAD64	_IOW('T', 0xa4, int)
+#define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE	_IOWR('T', 0xa5, struct snd_timer_uinfo)
+#define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER	_IO('T', 0xa6)
 
 #if __BITS_PER_LONG == 64
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TREAD SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TREAD_OLD
diff --git a/sound/core/Kconfig b/sound/core/Kconfig
index b970a1734647..670b26cf3065 100644
--- a/sound/core/Kconfig
+++ b/sound/core/Kconfig
@@ -251,6 +251,16 @@ config SND_JACK_INJECTION_DEBUG
 	  Say Y if you are debugging via jack injection interface.
 	  If unsure select "N".
 
+config SND_UTIMER
+	bool "Enable support for userspace-controlled virtual timers"
+	depends on SND_TIMER
+	help
+	  Say Y to enable the support of userspace-controlled timers. These
+	  timers are purely virtual, and they are supposed to be triggered
+	  from userspace. They could be quite useful when synchronizing the
+	  sound timing with userspace applications (for instance, when sending
+	  data through snd-aloop).
+
 config SND_VMASTER
 	bool
 
diff --git a/sound/core/timer.c b/sound/core/timer.c
index d104adc75a8b..ccbed2520ac8 100644
--- a/sound/core/timer.c
+++ b/sound/core/timer.c
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/string.h>
 #include <linux/sched/signal.h>
+#include <linux/anon_inodes.h>
+#include <linux/idr.h>
 #include <sound/core.h>
 #include <sound/timer.h>
 #include <sound/control.h>
@@ -109,6 +111,16 @@ struct snd_timer_status64 {
 	unsigned char reserved[64];	/* reserved */
 };
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_SND_UTIMER
+#define SNDRV_UTIMERS_MAX_COUNT 128
+/* Internal data structure for keeping the state of the userspace-driven timer */
+struct snd_utimer {
+	char *name;
+	struct snd_timer *timer;
+	unsigned int id;
+};
+#endif
+
 #define SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_STATUS64	_IOR('T', 0x14, struct snd_timer_status64)
 
 /* list of timers */
@@ -2009,6 +2021,217 @@ enum {
 	SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PAUSE_OLD = _IO('T', 0x23),
 };
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_SND_UTIMER
+/*
+ * Since userspace-driven timers are passed to userspace, we need to have an identifier
+ * which will allow us to use them (basically, the subdevice number of udriven timer).
+ */
+static DEFINE_IDA(snd_utimer_ids);
+
+static void snd_utimer_put_id(struct snd_utimer *utimer)
+{
+	int timer_id = utimer->id;
+
+	snd_BUG_ON(timer_id < 0 || timer_id >= SNDRV_UTIMERS_MAX_COUNT);
+	ida_free(&snd_utimer_ids, timer_id);
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_take_id(void)
+{
+	return ida_alloc_max(&snd_utimer_ids, SNDRV_UTIMERS_MAX_COUNT - 1, GFP_KERNEL);
+}
+
+static void snd_utimer_free(struct snd_utimer *utimer)
+{
+	snd_timer_free(utimer->timer);
+	snd_utimer_put_id(utimer);
+	kfree(utimer->name);
+	kfree(utimer);
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
+{
+	struct snd_utimer *utimer = (struct snd_utimer *)file->private_data;
+
+	snd_utimer_free(utimer);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_trigger(struct file *file)
+{
+	struct snd_utimer *utimer = (struct snd_utimer *)file->private_data;
+
+	snd_timer_interrupt(utimer->timer, utimer->timer->sticks);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static long snd_utimer_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int ioctl, unsigned long arg)
+{
+	switch (ioctl) {
+	case SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_TRIGGER:
+		return snd_utimer_trigger(file);
+	}
+
+	return -ENOTTY;
+}
+
+static const struct file_operations snd_utimer_fops = {
+	.llseek = noop_llseek,
+	.release = snd_utimer_release,
+	.unlocked_ioctl = snd_utimer_ioctl,
+};
+
+static int snd_utimer_start(struct snd_timer *t)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_stop(struct snd_timer *t)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_open(struct snd_timer *t)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_close(struct snd_timer *t)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static const struct snd_timer_hardware timer_hw = {
+	.flags = SNDRV_TIMER_HW_AUTO | SNDRV_TIMER_HW_WORK,
+	.open = snd_utimer_open,
+	.close = snd_utimer_close,
+	.start = snd_utimer_start,
+	.stop = snd_utimer_stop,
+};
+
+static int snd_utimer_create(struct snd_timer_uinfo *utimer_info,
+			     struct snd_utimer **r_utimer)
+{
+	struct snd_utimer *utimer;
+	struct snd_timer *timer;
+	struct snd_timer_id tid;
+	int utimer_id;
+	int err = 0;
+
+	if (!utimer_info || utimer_info->resolution == 0)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	utimer = kzalloc(sizeof(*utimer), GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!utimer)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	/* We hold the ioctl lock here so we won't get a race condition when allocating id */
+	utimer_id = snd_utimer_take_id();
+	if (utimer_id < 0) {
+		err = utimer_id;
+		goto err_take_id;
+	}
+
+	utimer->name = kasprintf(GFP_KERNEL, "snd-utimer%d", utimer_id);
+	if (!utimer->name) {
+		err = -ENOMEM;
+		goto err_get_name;
+	}
+
+	utimer->id = utimer_id;
+
+	tid.dev_sclass = SNDRV_TIMER_SCLASS_APPLICATION;
+	tid.dev_class = SNDRV_TIMER_CLASS_GLOBAL;
+	tid.card = -1;
+	tid.device = SNDRV_TIMER_GLOBAL_UDRIVEN;
+	tid.subdevice = utimer_id;
+
+	err = snd_timer_new(NULL, utimer->name, &tid, &timer);
+	if (err < 0) {
+		pr_err("Can't create userspace-driven timer\n");
+		goto err_timer_new;
+	}
+
+	timer->module = THIS_MODULE;
+	timer->hw = timer_hw;
+	timer->hw.resolution = utimer_info->resolution;
+	timer->hw.ticks = 1;
+	timer->max_instances = MAX_SLAVE_INSTANCES;
+
+	utimer->timer = timer;
+
+	err = snd_timer_global_register(timer);
+	if (err < 0) {
+		pr_err("Can't register a userspace-driven timer\n");
+		goto err_timer_reg;
+	}
+
+	*r_utimer = utimer;
+	return 0;
+
+err_timer_reg:
+	snd_timer_free(timer);
+err_timer_new:
+	kfree(utimer->name);
+err_get_name:
+	snd_utimer_put_id(utimer);
+err_take_id:
+	kfree(utimer);
+
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int snd_utimer_ioctl_create(struct file *file,
+				   struct snd_timer_uinfo __user *_utimer_info)
+{
+	struct snd_utimer *utimer;
+	struct snd_timer_uinfo *utimer_info __free(kfree) = NULL;
+	int err, timer_fd;
+
+	utimer_info = memdup_user(_utimer_info, sizeof(*utimer_info));
+	if (IS_ERR(utimer_info))
+		return PTR_ERR(no_free_ptr(utimer_info));
+
+	err = snd_utimer_create(utimer_info, &utimer);
+	if (err < 0)
+		return err;
+
+	utimer_info->id = utimer->id;
+
+	timer_fd = anon_inode_getfd(utimer->name, &snd_utimer_fops, utimer, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
+	if (timer_fd < 0) {
+		snd_utimer_free(utimer);
+		return timer_fd;
+	}
+
+	utimer_info->fd = timer_fd;
+
+	err = copy_to_user(_utimer_info, utimer_info, sizeof(*utimer_info));
+	if (err) {
+		/*
+		 * "Leak" the fd, as there is nothing we can do about it.
+		 * It might have been closed already since anon_inode_getfd
+		 * makes it available for userspace.
+		 *
+		 * We have to rely on the process exit path to do any
+		 * necessary cleanup (e.g. releasing the file).
+		 */
+		return -EFAULT;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+#else
+
+static int snd_utimer_ioctl_create(struct file *file,
+				   struct snd_timer_uinfo __user *_utimer_info)
+{
+	return -ENOTTY;
+}
+
+#endif
+
 static long __snd_timer_user_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd,
 				 unsigned long arg, bool compat)
 {
@@ -2053,6 +2276,8 @@ static long __snd_timer_user_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd,
 	case SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PAUSE:
 	case SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_PAUSE_OLD:
 		return snd_timer_user_pause(file);
+	case SNDRV_TIMER_IOCTL_CREATE:
+		return snd_utimer_ioctl_create(file, argp);
 	}
 	return -ENOTTY;
 }
