X-on-X: Distributed Parallel Virtual Platforms for Heterogeneous Systems

Euromicro Conference on Digital System Design (DSD), vol. 55, pp. 142–148

Abstract

The complexity of modern heterogeneous systems leads to simulation performance problems. We show how heterogeneous system verification can be accelerated using a heterogeneous simulator architecture, by distributing simulations amongst different hosts with a novel SystemC TLM-compliant method. Hosts are combined via a high-speed network to leverage their specific advantages when executing simulation segments. To avoid timing causality problems, a conservative, asynchronous parallel discrete event simulation approach is used. We analyze a machine learning task on an embedded Linux system using an ARMv8 virtual platform containing a commercial deep learning accelerator. There, our approach enables speedups of up to 3.9x.

Authors 3

1. Lukas Jünger Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

2. Simon Winther Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

3. Rainer Leupers Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University