Difference between revisions of "The Sniper Multi-Core Simulator"

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'''June 3rd:''' [[Releases|Sniper 6.0 released]] with detailed core model supporting in-order, out-of-order and SMT cores
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Version 7.3 of [[Releases|Sniper has been released]]. It has support for Ubuntu 18.04, GCC 7, Pin 3.10+, and [https://carrv.github.io/2018/papers/CARRV_2018_paper_7.pdf initial support for RISC-V].
  
'''February 10th:''' The FOSDEM 2014 video of the Sniper tutorial is [[FOSDEM_2014|now available to view]].
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An initial implementation of [https://github.com/trevorcarlson/barrierpoint BarrierPoint] had been released.
  
'''December 16th:''' SPEC CPU2006 PinPoint and Whole-program pinballs in Pinplay version 1.1 format are now available to [[Pinballs|download]]
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[https://sites.google.com/site/pinpointstutorialisca14 PinPoints Tutorial at ISCA] with Sniper. Learn about PinPoints or [[Pinballs|download SPEC CPU2006 pinballs]]
  
'''September 22nd:''' [[Tutorial:IISWC_2013_Sniper|Sniper tutorial at IISWC]]
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The FOSDEM 2014 video of the Sniper tutorial is [[FOSDEM_2014|now available to view]]
  
'''April 23rd:''' Our [[Paper:Ispass2013Carlson|recent work on multi-threaded sampled simulation]] ([http://www.exascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Carlson-Sampled-simulation.pdf paper]|[http://www.snipersim.org/documents/presentations/2013-04-22%20ISPASS%20Multi-threaded%20Sampling.pdf presentation]) won the [http://ispass.org/ispass2013 ISPASS 2013 Best Paper Award]
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[[Tutorial:IISWC_2013_Sniper|Sniper tutorial at IISWC]]
  
 
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a next generation parallel, high-speed and accurate
 
a next generation parallel, high-speed and accurate
 
x86 simulator.  This multi-core simulator is
 
x86 simulator.  This multi-core simulator is
based on the [[Interval Simulation|interval core model]] and the [http://groups.csail.mit.edu/carbon/graphite Graphite] simulation
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based on the [[Interval Simulation|interval core model]] and the [https://github.com/mit-carbon/Graphite Graphite] simulation
 
infrastructure, allowing for fast and accurate simulation and for
 
infrastructure, allowing for fast and accurate simulation and for
 
trading off simulation speed for accuracy to allow a range of flexible
 
trading off simulation speed for accuracy to allow a range of flexible
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set of some of the recently added features:
 
set of some of the recently added features:
 
* [[Interval Simulation|Interval core model]]
 
* [[Interval Simulation|Interval core model]]
* Instruction-Window Centric core model, supporting in-order, out-of-order and SMT cores
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* [[Paper:Taco2014Carlson|Instruction-Window Centric core model, supporting in-order, out-of-order and SMT cores]]
* Multi-threaded application sampling support
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* [[Paper:Ispass2013Carlson|Multi-threaded application sampling support]]
 
* [[CPI Stacks]] and [http://snipersim.org/viz/fft-tiny-4/ advanced visualization support] to gain insight into lost cycles
 
* [[CPI Stacks]] and [http://snipersim.org/viz/fft-tiny-4/ advanced visualization support] to gain insight into lost cycles
 
* Parallel, multi-threaded simulator
 
* Parallel, multi-threaded simulator
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* Full DVFS support
 
* Full DVFS support
 
* Shared and private caches
 
* Shared and private caches
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* Prefetchers
 
* Scheduling support
 
* Scheduling support
 
* [[Heterogeneous Configuration|Heterogeneous configuration support]]
 
* [[Heterogeneous Configuration|Heterogeneous configuration support]]
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* SimAPI and Python interfaces for monitoring and controlling the simulator's behavior at runtime
 
* SimAPI and Python interfaces for monitoring and controlling the simulator's behavior at runtime
 
* Single-option debugging of simulator or the application itself
 
* Single-option debugging of simulator or the application itself
* Modern Linux-OS support (Redhat EL 5,6/Debian Lenny+/Ubuntu 10.04-12.10+/etc.)
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* Modern Linux-OS support (Redhat EL 5,6/Debian Lenny+/Ubuntu 10.04-15.04+/etc.)
 
* Open source software, [[License|licensed]] under the MIT and the Interval Academic License
 
* Open source software, [[License|licensed]] under the MIT and the Interval Academic License
 
* [[Sniper Features|Additional features]]
 
* [[Sniper Features|Additional features]]
  
You can find additional information on the simulator and its components in our [[Paper:Sc2011Carlson|SC'11 paper]].
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You can find additional information on the simulator and its components in our [[Paper:Taco2014Carlson|TACO]] or [[Paper:Sc2011Carlson|SC'11 paper]].
  
 
=== Getting started ===
 
=== Getting started ===
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* Review the [http://snipersim.org/documents/2013-01-22%20Sniper%20HiPEAC%20Tutorial.pdf slides from our latest tutorial]
 
* Review the [http://snipersim.org/documents/2013-01-22%20Sniper%20HiPEAC%20Tutorial.pdf slides from our latest tutorial]
 
* View our most recent [[Releases|simulator updates]]
 
* View our most recent [[Releases|simulator updates]]
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* If you are using a modern version of Sniper, please cite our [[Paper:Taco2014Carlson|TACO paper (bibtex)]]
  
 
=== Discussion list ===
 
=== Discussion list ===
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   <b>Subscribe to the Snipersim mailing list</b>
 
   <b>Subscribe to the Snipersim mailing list</b>
 
   </td></tr>
 
   </td></tr>
   <form action="http://groups.google.com/group/snipersim/boxsubscribe">
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   <form action="https://groups.google.com/group/snipersim/boxsubscribe">
 
   <tr><td style="padding-left: 5px;">
 
   <tr><td style="padding-left: 5px;">
 
   Email: <input type=text name=email>
 
   Email: <input type=text name=email>
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=== Team Members ===
 
=== Team Members ===
* [http://www.elis.ugent.be/~tcarlson Trevor E. Carlson] with the [http://exascience.com Intel ExaScience Lab] and [http://www.ugent.be Ghent University]
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* [https://comp.nus.edu.sg/~tcarlson Trevor E. Carlson] with [http://nus.edu.sg National University of Singapore]
* [http://www.elis.ugent.be/~wheirman Wim Heirman] with the [http://exascience.com Intel ExaScience Lab] and [http://www.ugent.be Ghent University]
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* [http://www.elis.ugent.be/~wheirman Wim Heirman] with the [http://exascience.com Intel ExaScience Lab]
* Kenzo Van Craeynest with [http://www.ugent.be Ghent University]
 
 
* [http://www.elis.ugent.be/~leeckhou Lieven Eeckhout] with [http://www.ugent.be Ghent University]
 
* [http://www.elis.ugent.be/~leeckhou Lieven Eeckhout] with [http://www.ugent.be Ghent University]
* [mailto:ibrahim.hur@intel.com Ibrahim Hur] with Intel
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* [mailto:ibrahim.hur@intel.com Ibrahim Hur] with the [http://exascience.com Intel ExaScience Lab]
  
 
=== More information ===
 
=== More information ===
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* [[Sniper Tutorials]]
 
* [[Sniper Tutorials]]
  
<meta name="keywords" content="Sniper Simulator,Sniper,simulator,computer architecture,multicore,multi core,multi-core,manycore,many core,many-core,micro-architecture,microarchitecture,ExaScience Lab,exascience,exascale,SC11,supercomputers,super-computing,computers,Ghent University,Universiteit Gent"/>
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<metadesc>Sniper Simulator,Sniper,simulator,computer architecture,multicore,multi core,multi-core,manycore,many core,many-core,micro-architecture,microarchitecture,ExaScience Lab,exascience,exascale,SC11,supercomputers,super-computing,computers,Ghent University,Universiteit Gent</metadesc>
  
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__

Revision as of 02:04, 21 July 2020

Version 7.3 of Sniper has been released. It has support for Ubuntu 18.04, GCC 7, Pin 3.10+, and initial support for RISC-V.

An initial implementation of BarrierPoint had been released.

PinPoints Tutorial at ISCA with Sniper. Learn about PinPoints or download SPEC CPU2006 pinballs

The FOSDEM 2014 video of the Sniper tutorial is now available to view

Sniper tutorial at IISWC

Sniper is a next generation parallel, high-speed and accurate x86 simulator. This multi-core 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 homogeneous and heterogeneous multi-core architectures.

The Sniper simulator allows one to perform timing simulations for both multi-program workloads and 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 interval simulation, a fast mechanistic core model. Interval simulation raises the level of abstraction in architectural simulation which allows for faster simulator development and evaluation times; it does so by 'jumping' between miss events, called intervals. Sniper has been validated against multi-socket Intel Core2 and Nehalem systems and provides average performance prediction errors within 25% at a simulation speed of up to several MIPS.

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, but for which cycle-accurate simulators are too slow to allow workloads of meaningful sizes to be simulated. As an added benefit, the interval core model allows the generation of CPI stacks, which show the number of cycles lost due to different characteristics of the system, like the cache hierarchy or branch predictor, and leads to a better understanding of each component's effect on total system performance. This extends the use for Sniper to application characterization and hardware/software co-design.

Features

CPI stack visualization in Sniper 4.1
IPC visualization in Sniper 4.1

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:

You can find additional information on the simulator and its components in our TACO or SC'11 paper.

Getting started

Discussion list

Subscribe to the Snipersim mailing list
Email:

Please send any questions or comments to: snipersim [at] googlegroups [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

More information