Y-Chart Based System Level Performance Analysis: An M-JPEG Case Study

In the Artemis project an architecture workbench is being developed. One of the inputs for defining this workbench is the SPADE methodology. SPADE (System level Performance Analysis and Design space Exploration) follows the Y-chart approach; application and architecture are modeled separately, and the mapping of the application onto the architecture is an explicit design step. As an advantage we can easily modify the application, architecture, or mapping, resulting in a quick turnaround time to explore alternative system implementations. In this paper we introduce and evaluate SPADE through an illustrative case study. In this case study we start from a modified M-JPEG application and map this application onto a shared memory multi-processor architecture. The example system is also used in the Artemis project as a driver and case study for the design and evaluation of the workbench. We define the application as a Kahn Process Network. The architecture and mapping are specified using Spade architecture and mapping languages. We present results of simulations for alternative architecture instances and mappings. Keywords—system level design, M-JPEG, design space exploration, signal processing, application modeling, architecture modeling