Ideal machine simulator with infinite resources to predict processor design performance

摘要

A method of evaluating the performance of an application on a processor includes simulating an ideal processor having infinite resources and executing an existing application on this ideal processor. The method advantageously allows determination of bottlenecks in the application on an existing architecture based upon the performance of the application on the ideal processor. Additionally by compiling an application for an ideal processor and executing the application on the ideal processor, performance improvement opportunities may be identified and evaluated. Such a system assists in determining which parts of an application, even with infinite processor resources, do not use all the resources of a processor. By identifying the used resources, the application then can be configured to optimize these resources and thus to obtain a maximum possible performance for the application. Determining the maximum performance obtainable using the infinite resources as a baseline, processor and application architects can now design an architecture based on constraints such as cost, time, signal, power, chip area, etc.