A Fast, Cycle-Accurate Computer System Technology

该项目的目标是研究一个完整的系统，周期精确的计算机模拟器，其运行速度比目前最快的类似精度的模拟器快大约三个数量级。这种性能是通过对模拟器进行仔细的划分来实现的，这种划分允许在可重构硬件中有效地实现计算最密集的组件。这种划分还简化和抽象了模拟器，使它们更容易制作得更完整和准确。例如，早期的原型引导未修改的Linux。该项目的目标是：(i)构建和评估此类模拟器的实例，（ii）完善构建和使用此类模拟器的工具，使其可以用于高级本科课程，（iii）通过改进分区接口和实现策略进一步优化此类模拟器的性能。由于所得到的模拟器同时精确、快速和全系统，我们预计所有周期精确计算机模拟器的用户，从学生到设计计算机的架构师，到开发计算机的工程师，再到希望为特定计算机调整应用程序的高级最终用户，最终都会使用这种模拟器的一种形式。共享相同的基础设施可能会导致这些组之间更好的通信，从而产生更好的计算机系统。我们希望主要通过一个允许用户指定模拟器并在我们网站上运行的网络界面来传播模拟器和工具的版本。

The goal of this project is to research a full-system, cycle-accurate computer simulator that runs approximately three orders of magnitude faster than the fastest current simulators of similar accuracy. Such performance is achieved by a careful partitioning of the simulator that permits the most computationally intensive component to be efficiently implemented in reconfigurable hardware. This partitioning also simplifies and abstracts the simulators, making them easier to make more complete and accurate. For example, an early prototype boots unmodified Linux. The goals of this project are to (i) build and evaluate instances of such simulators, (ii) refine tools to build and use such simulators to the point that they could be used in an advanced undergraduate class and (iii) to further optimize the performance of such simulators by improving the partition interface and implementation strategies. Since the resulting simulators are simultaneously accurate, fast and full-system, we anticipate that all users of cycle-accurate computer simulators, ranging from students to architects designing computers to engineers developing the computers to advanced end-users who wish to tune their applications for a particular computer, will eventually use a form of such a simulator.Sharing the same infrastructure will likely lead to better communication between these groups, resulting in better computer systems overall. We expect to disseminate versions of the simulators and tools primarily through a web interface that will allow users to specify a simulator and run it over the web at our site.