Empirical performance assessment using softcore processors on reconfigurable hardware

Simulation has been the de facto standard method for per-formance evaluation of newly proposed ideas in computer architecture for many years. While simulation allows for theoretically arbitrary delity (at least to the level of cycle accuracy) as well as the ability to monitor the architecture without perturbing the execution itself, it suers from low eective delity and long execution times. We (and others) have advocated the use of empirical ex-perimentation on recongurable hardware for computer ar-chitecture performance assessment. In this paper, we de-scribe an empirical performance assessment subsystem im-plemented in recongurable hardware and illustrate its use. Results are presented that demonstrate the need for the types of performance assessment that recongurable hard-ware can provide