Distance-in-time versus distance-in-space

Abstract

Cache behavior is one of the major factors that influence the performance of applications. Most of the existing compiler techniques that target cache memories focus exclusively on reducing data reuse distances in time (DIT). However, current manycore systems employ distributed on-chip caches that are connected using an on-chip network. As a result, a reused data element/block needs to travel over this on-chip network, and the distance to be traveled -- reuse distance in space (DIS) -- can be as influential in dictating application performance as reuse DIT. This paper represents the first attempt at defining a compiler framework that accommodates both DIT and DIS. Specifically, it first classifies data reuses into four groups: G1: (low DIT, low DIS), G2: (high DIT, low DIS), G3: (low DIT, high DIS), and G4: (high DIT, high DIS). Then, observing that reuses in G1 represent the ideal case and there is nothing much to be done in computations in G4, it proposes a "reuse transfer" strategy that transfers select reuses between G2 and G3, eventually, transforming each reuse to either G1 or G4. Finally, it evaluates the proposed strategy using a set of 10 multithreaded applications. The collected results reveal that the proposed strategy reduces parallel execution times of the tested applications between 19.3% and 33.3%.