Difference between revisions of "The Sniper Multi-Core Simulator"
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a next generation multi-threaded, high-speed and accurate | a next generation multi-threaded, high-speed and accurate | ||
| − | simulator, called [http://www.exascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sc2011carlson-final.pdf Sniper]. This microarchitectural simulator is | + | x86-64 simulator, called [http://www.exascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sc2011carlson-final.pdf Sniper]. This microarchitectural simulator is |
based on the [[Interval Simulation|interval core model]] and the [http://groups.csail.mit.edu/carbon/graphite Graphite] simulation | based on the [[Interval Simulation|interval core model]] and the [http://groups.csail.mit.edu/carbon/graphite Graphite] simulation | ||
infrastructure, allowing for fast and accurate simulation and for | infrastructure, allowing for fast and accurate simulation and for | ||
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simulation options when exploring different micro-architectures. | simulation options when exploring different micro-architectures. | ||
Using this methodology, we are able to achieve good | Using this methodology, we are able to achieve good | ||
| − | accuracy against hardware for 16-thread applications, with a speed of | + | accuracy against hardware for 16-thread applications., with a speed of |
| − | up to | + | up to 3 MIPS. |
The Sniper simulator allows one to perform timing simulations for | The Sniper simulator allows one to perform timing simulations for | ||
Revision as of 06:07, 5 December 2011
Sniper is a next generation multi-threaded, high-speed and accurate x86-64 simulator, called Sniper. This microarchitectural simulator is based on the interval core model and the Graphite simulation infrastructure, allowing for fast and accurate simulation and for trading off simulation speed for accuracy to allow a range of flexible simulation options when exploring different micro-architectures. Using this methodology, we are able to achieve good accuracy against hardware for 16-thread applications., with a speed of up to 3 MIPS.
The Sniper simulator allows one to perform timing simulations for multi-threaded, shared-memory applications with 10s to 100+ cores, at a high speed when compared to existing simulators. The main feature of the simulator is its core model which is based on the interval core model, a fast mechanistic core model. The interval model allows for faster simulations that typical cycle-accurate simulators by jumping past regions when the core is idle because of long-latency operations.
This simulator, and the interval core model, is useful for uncore and system-level studies that require more detail than the typical one-IPC models. As an added benefit, the interval core model allows the generation of CPI stacks, which shows the number of cycles lost due to different characteristics of the system, like the cache hierarchy or branch predictor, to be easily understood.
Features
In addition to the main features mentioned above, we have updated the base simulation infrastructure to allow for simulating a larger set of workloads on more recent simulated hardware. Here is the full set of some of the recently added features:
- Interval core model
- CPI Stacks to gain insight into lost cycles
- Multithreaded, x86-64, SSE2
- Validated against the Intel Core 2 and Nehalem/Westmere microarchitectures
- Full DVFS support
- Shared and private caches
- Modern branch predictor
- Supports parallel applications using pthreads, OpenMP, TBB, OpenCL
- Runs SPLASH-2, Rodinia, SPEC OpenMP and most of PARSEC
- SimAPI and Python interfaces for monitoring and controlling the simulator's behavior at runtime
- Easy debugging of applications and the simulator
- Multiple Linux-OS support (Redhat/Debian/Ubuntu/etc.)
- Open source software, licensed under the MIT and the Interval Academic License
- Additional features
You can find additional information on the simulator and its components in our recently accepted SC2011 paper [ pdf ].
Getting started
- Download the Sniper source code
- Follow the Getting Started instructions
Discussion list
|
| Subscribe to Sniper simulator |
| Email: |
| Visit this group |
Please send any questions or comments to: snipersim [at] groups [dot] google [dot] com . You can also visit our Google Groups page to subscribe to the list and search through the archive of previous messages.
Team Members
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