SEESMA: A Simulation and Evaluation Environment for Shared-memory Multiprocessor Architecture

We have constructed a simulation environment called SEESMA (a Simulation and Evaluation Environment for Shared-memory Multiprocessor Architecture). It is a program-driven simulator consisting of a memory reference generator and a target system simulator. SEESMA aids in the investigation of shared-memory multiprocessor architecture through a user friendly interface. It is a software platform with a modular structure suitable for educational and research purposes. To achieve the design objectives, SEESMA supports the following simulation environment for various important design spaces: (1) two types of processing element architectures; (2) a two-level cache structure with write cache; (3) five types of memory consistency models; (4) five types of cache coherence protocols; (5) three types of directory structures; (6) interconnection networks, and other related issues. Each sub-environment provides many options for investigating the interactions between different options. Meanwhile, we have also developed an X-window interface to specify system architectures and benchmarks in addition to friendly on-line help. We can determine the setup values of architectural parameters in a status region by moving the cursor around the graph of each architecture component. The architecture graph is changed each time the user modifies the simulation options. In addition, SEESMA can automatically collect data from several simulation results and display a comparison using either a bar graph or a curve graph. So far, many design issues and important performance gains for high performance multiprocessor systems can be evaluated and explored using this platform.