Computer architecture: a quantitative approach
Computer architecture: a quantitative approach
A Measurement Study of Memory Transaction Characteristics on a PowerPC Based Macintosh
COMPCON '96 Proceedings of the 41st IEEE International Computer Conference
NStrace: a bus-driven instruction trace tool for PowerPC microprocessors
IBM Journal of Research and Development - Special issue: performance analysis and its impact on design
Analyzing Component-Based Systems Using the Self-Organizing Map
EUROMICRO '05 Proceedings of the 31st EUROMICRO Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications
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Trace-driven processor modeling is a well established performance analysis method. The quality of the end product is reflected in the reality of the trace suite used while developing the microarchitecture of the processor. In this paper, Apple's requirements for a suite of traces is outlined, concentrating on the characteristics of the applications and data sets traced. Some of the alternatives in trace collection methods are discussed and contrasted. A hardware based address collection utility is described in combination with analysis software for generating traces of Macintosh behaviour. The traced applications are discussed and the characteristics of the traces are presented. Some system-level performance issues are discussed illustrating the use of the traces. Finally, future directions and improvements in the trace suite, trace capture hardware, and analysis software is proposed.