Accurately timed transaction level models for virtual prototyping at high abstraction level

Transaction level modeling (TLM) improves the simulation performance by raising the abstraction level. In the TLM 2.0 standard based on OSCI SystemC, a single transaction can transfer a large data block. Due to such high abstraction, a great amount of information becomes invisible and thus timing accuracy can be degraded heavily. We present a methodology to accurately time such block transactions and achieve high simulation performance at the same time. First, before abstraction, a profiling process is performed on an instruction set simulator (ISS). Driver functions that implement the transfer of the data blocks are simulated. Several techniques are employed to trace the exact start and end of the driver functions as well as HW usages. Thus, a profile library of those driver functions can be constructed. Then, the application programs are host-compiled and use a single transaction to transfer a data block. A strategy is presented that efficiently estimates the timing of block transactions based on the profile library. It is the first method that takes into account caching effects that influence the timing of block transactions. Moreover, it ensures overall timing accuracy when integrated in other SW timing tools for full system simulation. Experimental results show that the block transactions are accurately timed, with average error less than 1%. At the same time, the simulation gain can be up to three orders of magnitude.