You are cordially invited by the COE/ICS, to attend a Graduate Seminar, on the above given title, by Mr. Ayman Hroub, PhD Student, CSE, on Tuesday, 14th May, 2013, at 02:30 PM, in Building 22, Room 132.
Abstract: Simulation is the de facto standard tool for computer architecture space exploration. A good simulator should be fast, accurate, easy to develop and easy to use. Traditionally, software-based simulators were used to model and simulate computer architectures. However, in the multi/many-core era, software-based simulators are too slow in simulating accurate models of this era’s processors because they contain many cores, complex cache hierarchy and interconnection network. In the last few years, researchers have paid more attention to exploit the fine/coarse-grained parallelism in Field Programmable Gate Arrays FPGAs to accelerate computer architecture simulation. A Multi/many-core processor architecture exhibits massive fine/coarse-grained parallelism. Mapping the model of these parallel structures to FPGA allows having accurate and fast simulators. In this work, I have surveyed existing FPGA-based computer architecture simulation techniques. I have also surveyed the possible technologies to develop computer architecture performance models that can be synthesized on FPGA. In the light of this study, a hybrid HW/SW computer architecture modeling and simulation framework is being proposed. This framework has two components: software-based frontend that performs functional simulation and hardware-based backend that performs timing simulation. Additionally, we concluded that Bluespec SystemVerilog BSV is the best technology to develop performance models of computer architecture on FPGAs.
About the speaker: Ayman Hroub is a PhD student and lecturer-B at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). His research interests are computer architecture, reconfigurable computing and parallel programming. In addition to these research areas, Ayman Hroub has a great interest and experience in software industry. He worked as a software application developer with Equiom MENA. Ayman received his MS degree in Computer Engineering from KFUPM in 2011 and the bachelor degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Birzeit University in 2008.