Efficient event-driven simulation of parallel processor architectures

Abstract

In this paper we present a new approach for generating high-speed optimized event-driven instruction set level simulators for adaptive massively parallel processor architectures. The simulator generator is part of a methodology for the systematic mapping, evaluation, and exploration of massively parallel processor architectures that are designed for special purpose applications in the world of embedded computers. The generation of high-speed cycle-accurate simulators is of utmost importance here, because they are directly used both for parallel processor architecture debugging and evaluation purposes, as well as during time-consuming architecture/compiler co-exploration. We developed a modeling environment which automatically generates a C++ simulation model either from a graphical input or directly from an XML-based architecture description. Here, we focus on the underlying event-driven simulation model and present our modeling environment, in particular the features of the graphical parallel processor architecture editor and the automatic instruction set level simulator generator. Finally, in a case-study, we demonstrate the pertinence of our approach by simulating different processor arrays. The superior performance of the generated simulators compared to existing simulators and simulator generation approaches is shown.