1. Tracing and Performance Analysis Tools for Heterogeneous Multicore System
by Soon Thean Siew

2. Goals
Collection profiles and traces on heterogeneous multicore platform, targets on Cell B.E architecture.
Performance analysis and simulation based on the profiles and traces.
Performance tuning based on the result of analysis/simulation.
Performance visualization.
System architecture evaluation based on trace-driven simulation.
A trace-driven simulation produces a trace of memory references (for data and instructions).
The trace can be used to model memory system performance & to model an instruction pipeline
evaluate the performance of a specific multiprocessor with respect to a given workload, if traces concerning this workload are available

3. Trace Collecting Handler Library
Tool Overview
Preprocessing
Runtime Trace Collection
Post-processing and Visualization
Source
Code
Instrumented
Trace
API
Visualization
Tools
Report
Executable
Profile
Instrumentation
Tool
Trace Collecting Handler Library
Converter
Compiler
Architecture Dependent
Trace-driven
Simulation

4. Components Trace API Trace Collecting Handler Library Converter
Serves as a protocol between runtime trace collection and post-processing
Trace Collecting Handler Library
A set of analysis routines which allocate collecting data into proper predefined structures
Converter
Transforms collecting trace into suitable format which is to be fed into visualization tools

5. Progress I
Literature research on current available performance analysis tools for Cell BE:
No robust tool that is capable for collecting computation and communication traces simultaneously.
PDT mainly focus on SPE/communication specific problem
Oprofile supports profiling on the PPU events and SPU time profiling (Fedora 7 only)

6. Progress II
Literature research on solving code size problem on SPE local storage:
Partition Manager from University of Delaware (overlay + software cache)
Dynamic code loading

7. Progress III Set up and familiarize with instrumentation tool. CIL
TAU (tau_instrumentor + Program Database Toolkit)