Trace driven simulation is a very commonly used technique for evaluating different machine design options. For faster simulations, one often needs to significantly reduce the size of the trace input. This paper proposes a new technique, referred to as, profile-driven sampling for obtaining a representative reduced size trace. This technique results in a reduced trace that is more representative of the original full trace, than those obtained without the profile feedback. Predicted performance inaccuracies, using previously published periodic time-based sampling technique, are reduced on an average by over 50 percent, using the profile driven sampling technique. Also, the periodic window based trace sampling techniques can be quite sensitive to sampling parameters such as, the sample size and the inter-sample interval. Such sensitivities are not applicable to the proposed profile driven sampling technique. This significantly simplifies the trace generation process.
By: Pradeep K. Dubey and Ravi Nair
Published in: RC20041 in 1995
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