MicroLib: A Case for the Quantitative Comparison of Micro-ArchitectureMechanisms

While most research papers on computer architectures include some performance measurements, these performance numbers tend to be distrusted. Up to the point that, after so many research articles on data cache architectures, for instance, few researchers have a clear view of what are the best data cache mechanisms. To illustrate the usefulness of a fair quantitative comparison, we have picked a target architecture component for which lots of optimizations have been proposed (data caches), and we have implemented most of the hardware data cache optimizations of the past 4 years in top conferences. Then we have ranked the different mechanisms, or more precisely, we have examined the impact of benchmark selection, process model precision,. . . on ranking, and obtained some surprising results. This study is part of a broader effort, called MicroLib, aimed at promoting the disclosure and sharing of simulator models