A Flexible Simulation Framework for Graphics Architectures
Graphics Hardware, August 2004
Jeremy W. Sheaffer, David Luebke, Kevin Skadron
Abstract
In this paper we describe a multipurpose tool for analysis of the performance characteristics of computer
graphics hardware and software. We are developing Qsilver, a highly congurable micro-architectural simulator
of the GPU that uses the Chromium system's ability to intercept and redirect an OpenGL stream. The simulator
produces an annotated trace of graphics commands using Chromium, then runs the trace through a cycle-timer
model to evaluate time-dependent behaviors of the various functional units. We demonstrate the use of Qsilver on
a simple hypothetical architecture to analyze performance bottlenecks, to explore new GPU microarchitectures,
and to model power and leakage properties. One innovation we explore is the use of dynamic voltage scaling
across multiple clock domains to achieve signicant energy savings at almost negligible performance cost.
Finally, we discuss how other architectural features and experiments might be incorporated into the Qsilver
framework.