rajiv@im4u.UUCP (Rajiv N. Patel) (12/29/87)
Lots of performance results have been posted for various processors in this newsgroup. Most of them, I suppose assume some size of cache for there performance evaluations. I am looking for some programs, benchmarks used to evaluate cache performance rather than CPU performance. I understand it is impossible to separate the evaluations of the Cache and CPU totally but still, I was wondering if any one has been involved in doing performance evaluations for caches with regard to some CPU architecture. If so what programs did they use? I am involved in a computer architecture project and am responsible for the cache design (mainly instruction cache). As every CPU architecture generally lends some of its effects on the cache set/block sizes and fetch/replacement policies , my goal is cache design simulation for this architecture. Is the CPU performance benchmarks sufficient to be used for cache evaluations? Also what type of programs are best suited for this evaluation procedures, especially for RISC type architectures. I understand small programs like Dhrystone are no good because any reasonable cache would be able to save the entire program during its execution. I would appreciate programs based on C language though any other language is fine. Thanks in advance. Rajiv. (rajiv@im4u.utexas.edu)
viggy@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Viggy Mokkarala) (12/30/87)
>I am looking for some programs, >benchmarks used to evaluate cache performance rather than CPU performance. >Rajiv. >(rajiv@im4u.utexas.edu) Try the following papers: 1. Cache Memories by Alan Jay Smith, Computing Surveys, Vol. 14, No. 3, September 1982. You may find that this paper does not talk of very large caches like the ones you can expect to find today. However, it is an excellent paper to give you a good idea of the trends in performance as a function of the various cache parameters. 2. Mark Hill's PhD thesis, or recent papers of his. Mark Hill did similar work at UC, Berkeley. His work involves the study of very large caches. I do not have any accurate references, unfortunately. Good luck! Viggy Mokkarala (hpda!viggy)