NPTEL Online Certification Course

Multicore Architecture: Storage and Interconnects

gem5 practice assignment
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

* Build ALPHA ISA with gem5.opt binary by invoking RUBY module and
MESI Two Level coherence
protocol.
* Simulate in syscall emulation mode using se.py

Base Configuration:
Number of cores/CPUs : 1
L1-I cache (size / associativity) : 16 kB / 2-way
L1-D cache (size / associativity) : 16 kB / 2-way
L2 cache (size / associativity) : 256 kB / 4-way
Cache-line / Cache-block size : 32 B
Main memory size : 1 GB
Benchmark : bzip2
Instruction count : 100000

1. In base configuration, change the Cache-line/Cache-block size to 64B. What will

be the L1-I
cache MPKI?
a) 2.95 - 3.15 b) 1.95 - 2.15 c) 4.80 - 5.00 d) 2.75 - 2.90
Correct answer: (a)
Detailed solution:
./build/ALPHA/gem5.opt configs/example/se.py --ruby --num-cpus=1 --
l1i_size=16kB --
l1d_size=16kB --l1i_assoc=2 --l1d_assoc=2 --l2_size=256kB --l2_assoc=4 --
cacheline_size=64
--mem-size=1GB --bench=bzip2 –maxinsts=100000
system.ruby.l1_cntrl0.L1Icache.demand_misses 306
L1-I mpki(miss per kilo instructions)= (306/100000)*1000 = 3.06 (3.06 is exact
answer)

2. In base configuration, change the L2 cache size to 512kB and benchmark to namd.
What will be
the L2 cache MPKI?
a) 20.5 - 22.5 b) 14.5 - 16 c) 284 - 287 d) 12.5 -13.5
Correct answer: (b)
Detailed solution:
./build/ALPHA/gem5.opt configs/example/se.py --ruby --num-cpus=1 --
l1i_size=16kB --
l1d_size=16kB --l1i_assoc=2 --l1d_assoc=2 --l2_size=512kB --l2_assoc=4 --
cacheline_size=32 --
mem-size=1GB --bench=namd –maxinsts=100000
system.ruby.l2_cntrl0.L2cache.demand_misses 1487
L2-mpki= (1487/100000)*1000= 14.87 (14.87 is exact answer)

3. In base configuration, change number of cpus to 2, L2 cache to 1MB/ 8-way,

cache line to 128B,
benchmark to namd-leslie3d and maximum instructions to 200000.
Find the value of:
(No. of L1-I cache misses in core-1) / (No. of L1-I cache misses in core-2)
a) 1.15 – 1.25 b) 1.25 -1.35 c) 1.35 – 1.45 d) 1.45-1.55
Correct answer: (a)
Detailed solution:
./build/ALPHA/gem5.opt configs/example/se.py --ruby --num-cpus=2 --
l1i_size=16kB --
l1d_size=16kB --l1i_assoc=2 --l1d_assoc=2 --l2_size=1MB --l2_assoc=8 --
cacheline_size=128 --
mem-size=1GB --bench=namd-leslie3d –maxinsts=200000
system.ruby.l1_cntrl0.L1Icache.demand_misses 2535
system.ruby.l1_cntrl1.L1Icache.demand_misses 2092
So, 2535/2092= 1.21 (1.21 is exact answer)

4. In base configuration, change number of cpus to 4, L2 cache to 1MB/ 8-way,

cache line to 64B,
benchmark to namd-leslie3d-bzip2-lbm and maximum instructions to 200000. Find
the value of:
(No. of L1-I cache misses in core-1 + No. of L1-I cache misses in core-2)/ (No. of
L1-I cache
misses in core-3 + No. of L1-I cache misses in core-4)
a) 8.95 – 9.15 b) 7.25 -7.45 c) 8.35 – 8.55 d) 6.95-7.15
Correct answer: (d)
Detailed solution:
./build/ALPHA/gem5.opt configs/example/se.py --ruby --num-cpus=4 --
l1i_size=16kB --
l1d_size=16kB --l1i_assoc=2 --l1d_assoc=2 --l2_size=1MB --l2_assoc=8 --
cacheline_size=64 --
mem-size=1GB --bench=namd-leslie3d-bzip2-lbm --maxinsts=200000
system.ruby.l1_cntrl0.L1Icache.demand_misses 2948
system.ruby.l1_cntrl1.L1Icache.demand_misses 2502
system.ruby.l1_cntrl2.L1Icache.demand_misses 306
system.ruby.l1_cntrl3.L1Icache.demand_misses 466
So, (2948+2502) / (306+466) = 7.059 (7.059 is exact answer)