Microbenchmark battery to analyze a CPUs front-end performance

uarch_bench/Makefile

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+CC = gcc
+CFLAGS = -O3 -Wall -Wextra
+
+CUDA_ROOT_DIR=/usr/local/cuda-12.8
+CUDA_ARCH=sm_100
+
+CUDA_LIB_DIR=-L$(CUDA_ROOT_DIR)/lib/cuda-12.8
+CUDA_INC_DIR=-I$(CUDA_ROOT_DIR)/include
+NVCC = $(CUDA_ROOT_DIR)/bin/nvcc
+NVCCFLAGS = -O3 -arch=$(CUDA_ARCH) $(CUDA_INC_DIR) $(CUDA_LIB_DIR) -Xcompiler "-Wall -Wextra"
+
+TARGET = frontend_study
+CUDA_TARGET = fe_study_cuda
+THROUGHPUT_TARGET = instr_throughput
+BTB_TARGET = btb_estimate
+BTB_CALLS_TARGET = btb_estimate_calls
+OBJS = utils.o
+
+all: $(TARGET) $(CUDA_TARGET) $(THROUGHPUT_TARGET) $(BTB_TARGET) $(BTB_CALLS_TARGET)
+
+$(TARGET): frontend_study.c $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(TARGET) frontend_study.c $(OBJS)
+
+$(CUDA_TARGET): fe_study_cuda.cu $(OBJS)
+	$(NVCC) $(NVCCFLAGS) -o $(CUDA_TARGET) fe_study_cuda.cu $(OBJS)
+
+$(THROUGHPUT_TARGET): instr_throughput.c $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(THROUGHPUT_TARGET) instr_throughput.c $(OBJS)
+
+$(BTB_TARGET): btb_estimate.c $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(BTB_TARGET) btb_estimate.c $(OBJS)
+
+$(BTB_CALLS_TARGET): btb_estimate_calls.c $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(BTB_CALLS_TARGET) btb_estimate_calls.c $(OBJS)
+
+utils.o: utils.c utils.h
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c utils.c
+
+clean:
+	rm -f $(TARGET) $(CUDA_TARGET) $(THROUGHPUT_TARGET) $(BTB_TARGET) $(BTB_CALLS_TARGET) $(THROUGHPUT_DYNAMIC_TARGET) $(OBJS)
+
+.PHONY: all clean

uarch_bench/README.md

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+# Microarchitecture Benchmark Suite
+
+This directory contains a suite of microbenchmarks designed to measure CPU microarchitectural properties, with a focus on instruction frontend (fetch/decode) behavior, cache hierarchies, and branch prediction characteristics.
+
+## Overview
+
+These benchmarks help characterize processor behavior by executing synthetic workloads and collecting performance counter data via Linux perf. The suite supports multiple architectures (x86-64, ARM64). One microbenchmarks is specific to NVIDIA GPUs
+and measures performance counters for kernel launches.
+
+## Microbenchmarks
+
+### 1. frontend_study
+
+**File:** `frontend_study.c`
+
+**Purpose:** Measure instruction frontend performance and cache behavior with configurable code layout.
+
+**What it measures:**
+- iTLB misses (Instruction Translation Lookaside Buffer)
+- L1I cache misses (Level 1 Instruction cache)
+- Branch prediction misses
+- L2 cache loads
+- Cycles and instructions executed
+
+**Key features:**
+- Creates multiple dynamically allocated memory regions containing function copies
+- Functions are filled with architecture-specific NOPs (4-byte instructions)
+- Adjustable function sizes: 16, 64, 256, 1024, 4096, 8192 bytes
+- Two access patterns:
+  - **Sequential**: Calls functions in order modulo divisor
+  - **Random**: Uses PRNG for random function selection
+
+**Command-line parameters:**
+```
+-d <divisor>          : Number of different functions to cycle through
+-i <iterations>       : Total iterations of measurement loop
+-b <buffer_size_MB>   : Size of allocated memory regions (MB)
+-n <num_buffers>      : Number of separate memory regions
+-s <page_KB>          : Page size for function alignment (KB)
+-f <func_nops>        : Function size in NOPs (16/64/256/1024/4096/8192)
+-r <random_jumps>     : 0=sequential, 1=random function selection
+```
+
+**Example usage:**
+```bash
+./frontend_study -d 10 -i 1000000 -b 32 -n 256 -s 64 -f 1024 -r 0
+```
+
+### 2. instr_throughput
+
+**File:** `instr_throughput.c`
+
+**Purpose:** Measure instruction fetch and decode throughput across varying code size ranges.
+
+**What it measures:**
+- Cycles and instructions for code execution
+- L1I cache misses
+- iTLB misses
+- L2 cache loads
+- DRAM reads (LL cache misses)
+- Bytes per cycle (throughput metric)
+
+**Key features:**
+- Tests 19 different code sizes from 1KB to 1MB
+- Dynamically generates executable code buffers filled with NOP instructions
+- Per-iteration metric collection
+- Auto-scales iterations based on code size (larger code = fewer iterations)
+
+**Typical test sizes:** 1K, 4K, 8K, 16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, 192K, 256K, 512K, 1M
+
+**Output:** Throughput metrics per iteration for each code size
+
+### 3. btb_estimate
+
+**File:** `btb_estimate.c`
+
+**Purpose:** Estimate Branch Target Buffer (BTB) capacity and behavior by measuring branch prediction performance.
+
+**What it measures:**
+- Branch misses
+- Instructions executed
+- Misses per instruction, per iteration, per buffer entry
+
+**Key features:**
+- Tests with buffer sizes from 256 to 262,144 entries (13 sizes)
+- Buffer contains random 0s and 1s
+- Based on buffer value, executes 1023 or 1024 NOPs (single-bit difference)
+- Tracks when branch prediction fails
+- Helps determine BTB capacity on the processor
+
+**Logic:** Larger buffer sizes that cause more misses indicate exceeding BTB capacity.
+
+### 4. btb_estimate_calls
+
+**File:** `btb_estimate_calls.c`
+
+**Purpose:** Estimate BTB capacity using indirect function calls instead of conditional branches.
+
+**What it measures:**
+- Branch misses from call instructions
+- Instructions executed
+- Misses per iteration and per function pointer
+
+**Key features:**
+- Allocates 128 to 4096 function pointers
+- Each function pointer stored on a separate 64KB page
+- All functions are identical (1024 NOPs + return)
+- Measures branch prediction misses when calling through these pointers
+- Random offsets within pages prevent trivial prediction
+
+**Pages tested:** 128 to 4096 pages (21 sizes)
+
+**Output:** Branch miss metrics as function count increases (identifies BTB saturation point)
+
+### 5. fe_study_cuda
+
+**File:** `fe_study_cuda.cu`
+
+**Purpose:** Study instruction frontend behavior on NVIDIA GPUs.
+
+**What it measures:**
+- GPU cycles and instructions
+- L1I cache misses on GPU
+- Function-specific overhead measurement
+- GPU instruction issue patterns
+
+**Features:**
+- CUDA kernel compilation (sm_90 for x86-64, sm_100 for ARM)
+- NOP-based synthetic workloads
+- Profiles flush overhead for L1I cache
+
+**Target architecture:** NVIDIA GPUs
+
+## Supporting Files
+
+### utils.c / utils.h
+
+Provides common functionality for all benchmarks:
+- **Perf counter abstraction**: Wraps Linux `perf_event_open` syscall
+- **Counter sets**: iTLB, L1I, Branch, L2, DRAM reads
+- **CPU frequency detection**: Reads from `/sys/devices/system/cpu/` or `/proc/cpuinfo`
+- **Measurement results aggregation**: Structures for storing multi-counter data
+- **LCG random number generator**: Deterministic RNG (`my_rand()`)
+
+### run_benchmark.sh
+
+Test harness for batch execution:
+- Reads input configuration from a file
+- Executes benchmarks with multiple parameter combinations
+- Outputs results in CSV format
+
+### full_run_input.txt
+
+Sample configuration parameters for `frontend_study`:
+- Tests varying divisors (16-512), iterations (10M-100M)
+- Memory configurations: 1-512MB buffers with 64KB pages
+- Function sizes: 16-8192 NOPs
+
+**Example row:** `10000000,100000000,32,256,64,16,0`
+- Divisor=10M, Iterations=100M, Buffer=32MB, Buffers=256, Page=64KB, Function=16 NOPs, No random
+
+## Building
+
+```bash
+make
+```
+
+The Makefile creates these executables:
+1. `frontend_study` - CPU frontend study (gcc)
+2. `fe_study_cuda` - CUDA version (nvcc)
+3. `instr_throughput` - Throughput benchmark
+4. `btb_estimate` - BTB sizing (branches)
+5. `btb_estimate_calls` - BTB sizing (calls)
+
+Build configuration:
+- Uses `gcc` for C benchmarks with `-O2` optimization
+- Uses `nvcc` for CUDA benchmarks with architecture-specific targets
+- Supports both x86-64 and ARM64 architectures
+
+## Usage Examples
+
+**Individual benchmark:**
+```bash
+./frontend_study -d 10 -i 1000000 -b 32 -n 256 -s 64 -f 1024 -r 0
+```
+
+**Batch execution with script:**
+```bash
+./run_benchmark.sh full_run_input.txt > results.csv
+```
+
+**Run instruction throughput tests:**
+```bash
+./instr_throughput
+```
+
+**Estimate BTB capacity:**
+```bash
+./btb_estimate
+./btb_estimate_calls
+```
+
+## Measurement Focus Areas
+
+| Benchmark | Primary Focus | Architecture | Key Metrics |
+|-----------|--------------|--------------|-------------|
+| frontend_study | Frontend/cache behavior | x86-64, ARM64 | iTLB, L1I, L2, Branch misses |
+| instr_throughput | Code size scaling | x86-64, ARM64 | Throughput, cache misses |
+| btb_estimate | BTB capacity (branches) | x86-64, ARM64 | Branch misses vs buffer size |
+| btb_estimate_calls | BTB capacity (calls) | x86-64, ARM64 | Call misses vs function count |
+| ARM BTB events | ARM64 | fe_study_cuda | GPU frontend | CUDA | GPU-specific patterns |
+
+## Performance Counter Requirements
+
+These benchmarks require access to Linux perf events. You may need to adjust perf_event_paranoid settings:
+
+```bash
+# Check current setting
+cat /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
+
+# Allow user access to performance counters (may require sudo)
+echo 1 | sudo tee /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid
+```
+
+## Use Cases
+
+This benchmark suite is useful for:
+- Characterizing CPU microarchitecture behavior
+- Identifying performance bottlenecks in instruction fetch and decode
+- Understanding cache hierarchy characteristics
+- Measuring branch prediction capabilities and BTB capacity
+- Comparing performance across different processor generations
+- GPU instruction frontend analysis