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DRAMSys/README.md
2015-06-23 16:31:19 +02:00

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de.uni-kl.ems.dram.vp.system
============================
Generic DRAM controller simulator **DRAMSys** [1] and related tools.
## Basic Setup
Open a terminal window, go to your home directory, create a directory for your
projects and change to it.
``` bash
$ cd
$ mkdir projects
$ cd projects
```
Clone the repository.
``` bash
$ git clone --recursive https://<user>@git.rhrk.uni-kl.de/EIT-Wehn/dram.vp.system.git
```
The *--recursive* flag tells git to initialize all submodules within the
repository. **DRAMPower** [2] and **tinyxml** are examples third party
repositories that were embedded within the source tree as submodules.
It is possible to work with a **fork** of the official codebase. In that case,
after pushing changes into your fork you should create a **pull request** in
order to get your changes merged into to the official codebase.
``` bash
$ git clone --recursive https://<user>@git.rhrk.uni-kl.de/<user>/dram.vp.system.git
```
After cloning go to the project directory.
``` bash
$ cd dram.vp.system
```
When working with a fork, the official repository must be added as a remote for
your fork.
``` bash
$ git remote add upstream https://<user>@git.rhrk.uni-kl.de/EIT-Wehn/dram.vp.system.git
$ git remote -v
```
Also, after a pull request being accepted and merged into the official
repository you should get your fork updated.
``` bash
$ git fetch upstream
$ git checkout master
$ git merge upstream/master
$ git push origin HEAD
```
### Buiding with QTCreator
Execute the *QTCreator*.
``` bash
$ qtcreator &
```
Use the menu bar and open the DRAMSys project.
**File -> Open Project -> dram.vp.system/DRAMSys/dram.vp.system.pro**
When you open the project for the first time a configuration window pops-up.
Then click in **Configure Project** and after that **Build** the project.
To speedup the building process one can use the additional **make** option
**-j[jobs]**. The command line below returns a good number to be passed to
make as the number of jobs that can run simultaneously to improve the building
time.
``` bash
$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor | wc -l
```
In the left bar go to **Projects -> Build & Run -> Build Steps -> Make**.
Click in **Details** then **Make arguments** and add **-j** followed by the
number you got.
### Building without QTCreator
In case you prefer a command line interface to the QTCreator GUI you can also
use **qmake** to generate a Makefile and then compile the project.
``` bash
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ qmake ../DRAMSys/dram.vp.system.pro
$ make
```
The compilation generates executable binary files **dramSys** and
**traceAnalyzer** that can be found inside sub-directories.
From the build directory use the commands below to execute DRAMSys.
``` bash
$ cd dramSys
$ ./dramSys
```
From the build directory use the commands below to execute the traceAnalyzer.
``` bash
$ cd analyzer
$ ./traceAnalyzer
```
### DRAMSys Configuration
The **dramSys** executable supports one argument which is a XML file that
contains configurable aspects of the desired simulation. If no argument is
passed through the command line a default configuration file will be loaded.
The XML code below shows a typic configuration:
``` xml
<simulation>
<!-- Simulator Configuration -->
<simconfig>
<Debug value="1"/>
<DatabaseRecording value="1"/>
<PowerAnalysis value="1"/>
<NumberOfTracePlayers value="5"/>
<NumberOfMemChannels value="1"/>
</simconfig>
<!-- Memory Specifications -->
<memspecs>
<memspec src="../../DRAMSys/dramSys/resources/configs/memspecs/WideIO.xml"></memspec>
</memspecs>
<!-- Address Mappings -->
<addressmappings>
<addressmapping src="../../DRAMSys/dramSys/resources/configs/amconfigs/am_wideio.xml"></addressmapping>
</addressmappings>
<!-- Memory Configurations -->
<memconfigs>
<memconfig src="../../DRAMSys/dramSys/resources/configs/memconfigs/fifo.xml"/>
</memconfigs>
<!-- Trace Setups -->
<tracesetups>
<!-- Multiple trace setups are allowed for the same simulation setup -->
<tracesetup id="fifo">
<!--
Specify here a trace file for each of the trace players. Trace
players without a file will not generate transactions.
It is also possible to choose "cklMhz" and the "bl" for every
player.
-->
<device clkMhz="200">voco2.stl</device>
<device clkMhz="200">voco2.stl</device>
<device clkMhz="200">voco2.stl</device>
</tracesetup>
</tracesetups>
</simulation>
```
Some configuration fields reference other XML files which contain more
specialized chunks of the configuration like memory specification, address
mapping and memory configurations.
The XML configuration files are parsed by the program and the configuration
details extracted are assigned to the correspondent attributes of the internal
configuration structure.
#### Simulation Setups
Every possible combination of memory specification, address mapping and memory
configuration corresponds to a **simulation setup**.
DRAMSys executes all the **trace setups** listed in the configuration file for
each of the simulation setups.
A single **trace setup** is composed of an id string and one or more
**devices**.
The **device** configuration consists of two configuration fields - clkMhz
(operation frequency for this device) and bl (burst length) - and a
**trace file**.
A **trace file** is a pre-recorded file containing memory transactions. Each
memory transaction has a timestamp that tells the simulator when it shall
happen, a transaction type (e.g. read, write) and a memory address.
A **trace player** is **equivalent** to a bus master **device** (i.e. a device
that locks a bus and generates memory transactions). By adding device elements
into the trace setup section one can specify the operation frequency, the
burst length and the trace file to be used by trace players.
Trace players without a corresponding device configuration do not generate
transactions.
**DRAMSys** executes all the simulation setups within the configuration file
providing **flexibility** for **exhaustive explorations.**
#### Configuration File Sections
The main configuration file is divided into self-contained sections, each of
these sections is a set of logically related configuration aspects for the
simulation.
Below are listed the configuration sections and configuration fields.
- **Simulator configuration**
- *Debug* (boolean)
- "1": enables debug output on console
- "0": disables debug output
- *DatabaseRecording* (boolean)
- "1": enables trace file recording for the trace analyser tool
- "0": disables trace file recording
- *PowerAnalysis* (boolean)
- "1": enables live power analysis with the DRAMPower tool
- "0": disables power analysis
- *NumberOfTracePlayers* (unsigned int)
- Number of trace players
- *NumberOfMemChannels* (unsigned int)
- Number of memory channels
- **Memory specification**
A file with memory specifications. This information comes from datasheet and
usually does not change.
- **Address Mapping**
XML files describe the address mapping to be used in the simulation.
The file [am_wideio.xml](DRAMSys/dramSys/resources/configs/amconfigs/am_wideio.xml) is
a good example.
``` xml
<addressmapping>
<channel from="27" to="28"/>
<row from="14" to="26"/>
<column from="7" to="13"/>
<bank from="4" to="6" />
<bytes from="0" to="3" />
</addressmapping>
```
![Address Mapping Sample 1](DRAMSys/docs/images/am_sample1.png)
``` xml
<addressmapping>
<channel from="27" to="28"/>
<column from="20" to="26"/>
<row from="7" to="19"/>
<bank from="4" to="6" />
<bytes from="0" to="3" />
</addressmapping>
```
![Address Mapping Sample 2](DRAMSys/docs/images/am_sample2.png)
- **Memory Configuration**
The content of [fifo.xml](DRAMSys/dramSys/resources/configs/memconfigs/fifo.xml) is
presented below as an example.
``` xml
<memconfig>
<BankwiseLogic value="0"/>
<OpenPagePolicy value="1"/>
<MaxNrOfTransactions value="8"/>
<Scheduler value="FIFO_STRICT"/>
<Capsize value="5"/>
<PowerDownMode value="TimeoutSREF"/>
<PowerDownTimeout value="100"/>
<!-- Error Modelling -->
<ErrorChipSeed value="42"/>
<ErrorCSVFile value="../src/error/error_new.csv"/>
<ErrorStoreMode value="NoStorage"/>
</memconfig>
```
- *BankwiseLogic* (boolean)
- "1": perform bankwise-refresh [3] and bankwise-powerdown [4]
- "0": do not perform bankwise operations
- *OpenPagePolicy* (boolean)
- "1": use open page precharge policy
- "0": do not use open page precharge policy
- *MaxNrOfTransactions* (unsigned int)
- Maximum number of transactions.
- *Scheduler* (string)
- "FIFO": first in, first out
- "FIFO_STRICT": out-of-order treatment of queue elements not allowed
- "FR_FCFS": first-come, first-served
- *Capsize* (unsigned int)
- Capacitor cell size.
- *PowerDownMode* (enum EPowerDownMode)
- "NoPowerDown": no power down mode (active idle)
- "Staggered": staggered power down policy [5]
- "TimeoutPDN": precharge idle
- "TimeoutSREF": self refresh
- *Buswidth* (unsigned int)
- Bus width in bits.
- *ReadWriteGrouping* (boolean)
- "1": enable read writing grouping
- "0": disable read writing grouping
- *ReorderBuffer* (boolean)
- "1": use reordering buffer
- "0": do not use reordering buffer
- *ErrorChipSeed* (unsigned int)
- Seed to initialize the random error generator.
- *ErrorCSVFile* (string)
- CSV file with error injection information.
- *ErrorStoreMode* (enum ErrorStorageMode)
- "NoStorage": no storage
- "Store": store data without error model
- "ErrorModel": store data with error model [6]
- **Trace setups**
- *id* (string)
- Trace setup id. Two files are generated by DRAMSys: an SQLite database
file (.tdb) and a text file (.txt) containing the program output. The
name of these files comes from this field.
- *clkMhz* (unsigned int)
- Speed of the trace player
- *bl* (unsigned int)
- Burst length
- *trace file*
- A pre-recorded file containing memory transactions to be executed by a
trace player.
Some attributes are self-explanatory while others require some previous
knowhow of memory technologies.
Resources of the simulator are available inside of the **resources** directory
and its sub-directories.
``` bash
$ cd DRAMSys/dramSys/resources
```
A description of the content each directory follows.
- **resources**
- **configs**: XML files used for configure specific details of the simulation.
- am_configs: address mapping configuration
- memconfigs: memory configuration
- memspecs: configuration related to the memory technology
- **scripts**: useful tools like address scrambler, trace analyser, database
creator, etc.
- **simulations**: global configuration
- **traces**: trace files for simulations. They contain accesses to memory
in certain known scenarios.
#### References
[1] TLM Modelling of 3D Stacked Wide I/O DRAM Subsystems, A Virtual Platform for Memory Controller Design Space Exploration
M. Jung, C. Weis, N. Wehn, K. Chandrasekar. International Conference on High-Performance and Embedded Architectures and Compilers 2013 (HiPEAC), Workshop on: Rapid Simulation and Performance Evaluation: Methods and Tools (RAPIDO), January, 2013, Berlin.
[2] DRAMPower: Open-source DRAM Power & Energy Estimation Tool
Karthik Chandrasekar, Christian Weis, Yonghui Li, Sven Goossens, Matthias Jung, Omar Naji, Benny Akesson, Norbert Wehn, and Kees Goossens
URL: http://www.drampower.info
[3] Energy Optimization in 3D MPSoCs with Wide-I/O DRAM
M. Sadri, M. Jung, C. Weis, N. Wehn, L. Benini. Conference Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE), March, 2014, Dresden, Germany.
[4] DRAMSys: A flexible DRAM Subsystem Design Space Exploration Framework
M. Jung, C. Weis, N. Wehn. Accepted for publication, IPSJ Transactions on System LSI Design Methodology (T-SLDM), October, 2015.
[5] Optimized Active and Power-Down Mode Refresh Control in 3D-DRAMs
M. Jung, M. Sadri, C. Weis, N. Wehn, L. Benini., VLSI-SoC, October, 2014, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
[6] Retention Time Measurements and Modelling of Bit Error Rates of WIDE-I/O DRAM in MPSoCs
C. Weis, M. Jung, P. Ehses, C. Santos, P. Vivet, S. Goossens, M. Koedam, N. Wehn. Accepted for publication, IEEE Conference Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE), March, 2015, Grenoble, France
[7] http://www.uni-kl.de/3d-dram/publications/