Mirabilis Design recently announced the immediate release of its VisualSim Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Processor Generator for performance analysis and architecture exploration of System-on-Chip (SoC) and Embedded Systems.
The generated model is pipeline-accurate and has port integration with standard buses and memories. This processor model is used to compare different processor families, optimize the specification and identify system bottlenecks. The AI Processor Generator currently supports the entire ARM and PowerPC processor families. Additional support is planned for DSP and x86 architectures. The generator will be available for viewing and experimenting at the ARM Techcon on October 17-18, 2018 in San Jose, CA.
“Selecting the right processor, configuring multi-cores and establishing the right topology is very challenging for the new breed of systems,” said Deepak Shankar, Founder, Mirabilis Design. “Acquiring boards and loading software on each processor instance is expensive; emulators, RTL and cycle-accurate models take a long time to simulate and are not easily available; virtual prototypes do not provide timing accuracy; while analytical models cannot handle the complex traffic patterns. AI technology has evolved and enabled us to take a spreadsheet input and generate a processor model that is fast, accurate and visual.”
Mirabilis Design has used Artificial Intelligence to identify patterns in over 100 processors. Using these patterns, VisualSim AI Processor Generator has created a unique input spreadsheet. Using this input and the learning algorithm database loaded into the generator, existing and future processors models are generated. Data for the input spreadsheet is available in the vendor datasheet. The generated model supports variable processor pipelines, SIMD/MIMD, multi-thread, multi-level cache hierarchy, coherency, heterogeneous execution units, buffers and bus interfaces. The generated model has over 150 statistics for cache hit-ratio, stalls and utilization. The processor has probes to trace pipeline execution sequence, prefetch requests, interrupts and preemption.
Mirabilis Design has generated models for more than 45 processors.
VisualSim Artificial Intelligence-driven Processor Generator has been available for the last six months to a limited number of current Mirabilis Design users. Commercial shipment will start in late October. The AI processor generator is available as an add-on to VisualSim Architect 18.3, the modeling and simulation platform.
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh