Abstract
The instrumentation of applications to generate run-time information and statistics is an important enabling technology for the development of tools that support the fast and accurate simulation of computer architectures. In addition, instrumentation tools play an equally important role in the optimization of applications, in the evaluation of new compilation algorithms, and in the analysis of operating system overhead. An instrumentation tool is capable of modifying a program under study so that essential dynamic information of interest is recorded while the program executes. The instrumentation process should not affect the original functionality of the test program, although it will slow down its operation. In a typical situation, a computer architect uses an instrumentation tool to produce an instruction or data trace of an application. The architect then feeds that trace to a trace-driven simulation program. The usefulness of instrumentation tools is obvious from a quick glance at current research publications in the area, where a significant number of authors use traces generated by two of the most popular instrumentation tools: pixie [23] and spixtools [6]. These tools are popular because of their applicability to many architectures and programs, their relatively low overhead, and their simplicity of use.
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Pierce, J., Smith, M.D., Mudge, T. (1995). Instrumentation Tools. In: Conte, T.M., Gimarc, C.E. (eds) Fast Simulation of Computer Architectures. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2361-1_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2361-1_3
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