最简单的方法：

#include <pthread.h>

void *do_smth_periodically(void *data)
{
  int interval = *(int *)data;
  for (;;) {
    do_smth();
    usleep(interval);
  }
}

int main()
{
  pthread_t thread;
  int interval = 5000;

  pthread_create(&thread, NULL, do_smth_periodically, &interval)

  ...
}