SimCell: A Processor Simulator for Multi-Core Architecture Research

Abstract

We developed a new open source multi-core processor simulator SimCell from scratch. SimCell is modeled around the Cell Broadband Engine. In this paper, we describe the advantages of the functional level simulator SimCell. From the verification of the simulation speed, we confirm that SimCell achieves a practical simulation speed. And, we show the features of a cycle-accurate version of SimCell called SimCell/CA (CA stands for cycle accurate). The gap of execution cycles between SimCell/CA and IBM simulator is 0.8% on average. Through a real case study using SimCell, we clarify the usefulness of SimCell for processor architecture research.