1. Energy Based Analysis of Cache Design
Shamik Bandyopadhyay Chris R. Baker
CS252 Spring 2005

2. Problem Much of results in computer architecture focus on performance
Power is an increasing concern in today’s designs
Even greater concern in embedded systems domain
Caches can be power hungry
How do cache design decisions affect power or power x performance?
Organization, replacement policies, etc.

3. Methodology Literature survey Simulator: SimpleScalar/Wattch
Benchmarks
Which make sense?
Start with broad analysis of power or power x performance
Narrow focus to particular design characteristic
Ex: replacement policy
Detailed simulation and analysis
Modify SimpleScalar and/or Wattch power models

4. Hope to find…
Cache design characteristic which yields slightly less performance with much better power consumption
Foundation to propose cache designs for energy constrained applications

5. Related Work Many studies on cache for performance
SPEC2000 benchmark analysis for cache replacement policies
Existing studies on cache design for power
Most limited to organization or addition of exotic features

6. References
D. Burger, T. Austin, “The SimpleScalar Tool Set, Version 2.0”.
D. Brooks, et al., “Wattch: A Framework for Architectural-Level Power Analysis and Optimizations”.
H. Al-Zoubi, et al., “Performance Evaluation of Cache Replacement Policies for the Spec CPU2000 Benchmark Suite”.
C-L. Su, A. Despain, “Cache Design Trade-offs for Power and Performance Optimization: A Case Study”.