MCSim- A Caching MIPS Simulator

Cache Memory is an integral part of modern computer systems, and therefore teaching about the memory hierarchy is a major part of a Computer Organisa-tion course. It is difficult to teach about the performance increases that caching provides, because of the complex calculations that are involved. Through the use of a simulator, we can help students gain a greater understanding of caching. We present a survey of existing machine simulators and the details of MCSim, a caching MIPS simulator designed for use in COMP203, as a replacement for the current courseware. MCSim is implemented using a framework that we believe can be used to develop other machine simulators in the future. Acknowledgments I would like to pass my thanks onto......Dr Pavle Mogin, my supervisor, for all his time, and guidance that he has given me throughout the project. He was very insistent on my completion of this project, and without his encouragement, it may not have been so....Drs Peter Andreae, Ian Welch, and Lindsay Groves, the course coordinators and lectur-ers of the courses I tutored, who allowed me to fit tutoring around the most time-consuming parts of the project....Mark Pritchard and all the contributors to MPSim, their previouswork on the code-base meant that I didn’t need to implement a machine, only a caching extension....My friends in Memphis, for making the Honours year fun and enjoyable no matter the stress. Special thanks to Kim Chirnside, for keeping me off the Xbox whenever he could, and LukeMcCrohon for proof-reading and ensuring I used the right vocabulary even if it meant a major search and replace....My partner Libby Heginbotham, for putting up with the late nights, early mornings, and a horrible tired and exhausted boyfriend....My parents, for supporting me in all my endeavours, and encouraging me to do the best that I can