warner@arrayb.uucp (Dave Warner) (02/05/91)
In <45540@mips.mips.COM> rnovak@mips.COM (Robert E. Novak) writes: >1) Whenever possible, SPEC tries to use real applications, not >synthetically created benchmarks. >2) To date, SPEC has not yet awarded contracts to write benchmarks on >'spec'. >3) If you have live applications, then please, please, please submit your >code to SPEC! If you can't locate anyplace else, please send it to me and >I will forward it to the right folks. In my experience (IMHE?) benchmarking for embedded real time is quite a bit different than for workstations or other "general purpose" applications. To run a "real" embedded application benchmark I have to totally develop the hardware platform and then run the real code - that defeats the purpose. Note that the performance of the hardware platform is sensitive to much more that just the processing engine. What I want to do (and am currently involved in) is use something to assist is selecting a processor for an embedded application. My approach is to use simulators/emulators and, hopefully, evaluation boards provided by the various vendors as platforms and run "meaningful code fragments", "standard" benchmarks (of which rhealstones would be only one), somewhat pathological cache thrashers and TLB flushers for worst cases, etc... In addition, I am using DineroIII and Tycho for cache simulation, as well as application specific analytic and simulation models. My point is that ALL of these are of necessity "synthetic" in the sense that they are only analogs of my as yet undeveloped real application. If anyone has a better or more comprehensive way to do this please, please let me know. Dave PS to the net: I've also heard that a SPEC subcommittee is developing an I/O benchmark - I'd like to find out more about this. Any pointers? -- _____________________________________________________________________ | Dave Warner | e-mail address: warner@intellistor.com | | Intellistor, Inc. | USmail address: 2402 Clover Basin Dr. | | (303)682-6555 | Longmont, CO 80503 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------