Evaluating hardware models having resource contention
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsJonathan C. Hardwick, Efstathios Papaefstathiou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A performance prediction simulator gives effect to the resource contention among multiple resources in a simulated system by adjusting event durations appropriately. A resource topology tree defining the resource configuration of the system is input to the simulator. The simulator includes an evaluation engine that determines the amount of resource used during each simulation interval of the simulation and records the resource usage in a resource contention timeline, which can be displayed to a user. The amount of resource used during a simulation is also used to adjust the event duration calculations of the hardware models associated with each event.
Claims17
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that when executed by a computer system configures that computer system to create a computer process for determining an amount of a resource consumed during a simulation interval in a performance prediction simulation of a system including software and hardware elements, the computer process comprising:
- calculating by the computer system an aggregate resource requirement associated with the resource in a simulation interval;
- calculating by the computer system a system event horizon for the simulation interval based on a resource usage state change in the system;
- and
- adjusting the aggregate resource requirement based on the system event horizon to provide an adjusted aggregate resource requirement for the resource, wherein the adjusted aggregate resource requirement represents the amount of the resource consumed during the simulation interval;
- receiving one or more resource requirement contributions from one or more hardware models, each hardware model representing a resource associated with a resource contention timeline;
- and combining the resource requirement contributions from the one or more hardware models to provide the aggregate resource requirement.
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
- instantiating an instance of a data structure for recording resource contention of a system under simulation the data structure comprising elements representing a plurality data fields, the data fields comprising:
- the identification of system with which the data structure is associated;
- a resource associated with the system;
- a start time for a simulation interval;
- an amount of the resource utilized during a simulation interval;
- and
- an event horizon for the simulation interval;
- maintaining the data structure on a computer readable storage media for subsequent population of the data fields;
- calculating a system event horizon for the simulation interval based on a resource usage state change in the system;
- and
- writing the system event horizon to the computer readable storage medium in the event horizon data field of the data structure;
- wherein the data structure further comprises a data field containing the duration that the amount of resource used is valid, relative to the start time, during the simulation.
A method of determining by a computing device an amount of a resource consumed during a simulation interval in a performance prediction simulation of a system, the method comprising:
- defining a resource configuration on the computing device of the system to include a resource;
- associating the resource with a resource contention timeline;
- calculating with the computing device an amount of the resource used during the simulation interval of the performance prediction simulation;
- calculating with the computing device an aggregate resource used during the simulation interval by (1) receiving one or more resource requirement contributions from one or more hardware models, each hardware model representing a resource associated with the resource contention timeline, and (2) combining the resource requirement contributions from the one or more hardware models to provide a value of the aggregate resource used;
- calculating by the computer system a system event horizon for the simulation interval based on a resource usage state change in the system;
- adjusting the value of the aggregate resource used based on the system event horizon to provide an adjusted aggregate resource requirement for the resource, wherein the adjusted aggregate resource requirement represents the amount of the resource consumed during the simulation interval;
- and
- inserting a resource contention timeline entry for the simulation interval into the resource contention timeline, the resource contention timeline entry specifying the adjusted aggregate resource requirement for the simulation interval associated with the resource contention timeline entry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.