Fast and Modular Transaction-Level-Modeling and Simulation of Power and Temperature

How to cite this report: @techreport {, title = {Fast and Modular Transaction-Level-Modeling and Simulation of Power and Temperature}, author = {Claude Helmstetter, Tayeb Bouhadiba, Matthieu Moy and Florence Maraninchi}, institution = {{Verimag} Research Report}, number = {}, year = {} } stimating power consumption and temperature of systems-on-a-chip has become a key point. Early estimations require high-level models and sufficiently fast simulations. We consider the approach called Transaction-Level Modeling (TLM), implemented with the standard SystemC. It enables the execution of the actual embedded software on a simulated hardware. The hardware model mimicks its functional behavior, and can be instrumented to provide timing and consumption estimations. Temperature estimation can be obtained by coupling this SystemC/TLM model with a temperature model. All this allows capturing the effects of the software on power consumption and temperature, e.g., when the power and temperature management policy of the chip is implemented in software (reading temperature sensors, and acting dynamically on the voltage and frequency). Following existing proposals on the modeling of power in SystemC models, we provide libraries for a systematic, easy, and fast instrumentation of SystemC/TLM approximately-timed models. We adapt the existing instrumentation principles in order to benefit from SystemC/TLM optimizations like temporal decoupling and direct-memory-interface, which are compulsory in industrial-size models. We evaluate our approach on several use cases, showing that after a simple integration, the software developer can easily distinguish an ill-founded from a correct software in terms of power consumption or temperature control.