Analysis of the performance of a portion of a data processing system

摘要

The present invention provides a system and method for controlling a simulator to run a software simulation of a data processing system in order to generate simulated timing data indicative of performance of an unmodelled portion of the data processing system not modelled by the software simulation. The software simulation provides a timing accurate model of those parts of the data processing system other than the unmodelled portion. The method of the invention comprises inputting to a controller of the simulator real trace data obtained from execution of a program by the data processing system, the real trace data identifying the sequence of instructions executed by the data processing system, and associated timing data. The method then involves running the software simulation under the control of the controller, the controller determining from the real trace data the sequence of instructions executed by the data processing system and controlling the software simulation to ensure that the same sequence of instructions is executed within the software simulation. Then simulated timing data is generated resulting from execution of the sequence of instructions within the software simulation, whereby the performance of the unmodelled portion of the data processing system is derivable from a comparison of the real trace data and the simulated timing data. This technique provides a particularly efficient technique for obtaining performance information about a portion of a data processing system which is not modelled within a software simulation.