PACT: Priority-Aware Phase-Based Cache Tuning for Embedded Systems

Abstract

Due to the cache's significant impact on an embedded system, much research has focused on cache optimizations, such as reduced energy consumption or improved performance. However, throughout an embedded system's lifetime, the system may have different optimization priorities, due to variable operating conditions and requirements. Variable optimization priorities, embedded systems' stringent design constraints, and the fact that applications typically have execution phases with varying runtime resource requirements, necessitate new robust optimization techniques that can dynamically adapt to different optimization goals. In this paper, we present priority-aware phase-based cache tuning (PACT), which tunes an embedded system's cache at runtime in order to dynamically adhere the cache configurations to varying optimization goals (specifically EDP, energy, and execution time), application execution phases, and operating conditions, while accruing minimal runtime overheads.