Computer architects have long relied on software simulation to measure dynamic performance metrics (e.g. CPI) of a proposed design. Unfortunately, with the ever-growing size and com­plexity of modern microprocessors, detailed software simulators have become four or more orders of mag­nitude slower than their hardware counterparts. The low simulation throughput is especially prohibitive for large-scale multiprocessor systems because the simulation turnaround for these systems grows at least lin­early with the number of processors. Slow simulation has barred researchers from attempting complete benchmarks and input sets or realistic system sizes on detailed simulators. The SimFlex project targets fast, accurate and flexible simulation of large-scale systems.

SimFlex is proceeding along two synergistic fronts:

• Flexus is a powerful and flexible simulator framework that allows full-system simulation that relies heavily on well-defined component interface models to facilitate both model integration and compile-time simulator optimization.

• SMARTS applies rigorous statistical sampling the­ory to reduce simulation turnaround by several orders of magnitude, while achieving high accuracy and confidence in estimates.