Gabriele LUCULLI's Web Page

Abstract: The design of complex system-on-chip (SOC) requires new methods and tools for the optimization of embedded software which is executed on ever more complex hardware architectures. The tuning of the memory subsystem is particularly difficult due to the many design parameters which are involved and the long time which is required to simulate different design configurations. We propose a very effective mechanism for the simulation of generic memory maps on architectures with instruction and/or data cache memory. ...

Abstract: Industry requires new advanced tools and methodologies for the design of complex system-on-chip platforms. In STMicroelectronics we developed an innovative retargetable technology for the analysis and optimization of embedded software. In this paper we provide an overview of our retargetable tool chain which consists of: a specification reader a disassembler a code analyzer and a functional simulator. Their capabilities, specific features and limitations are described in detail. [PDF]

Abstract: The objective of this research is to create a framework for energy optimization of software programs. In particular, this paper presents algorithms and a tool flow to reduce the computational effort of programs, using value profiling and partial evaluation. Such a reduction translates into both energy savings and performance improvement. Namely, our tool reduces computational effort by specializing a program for highly expected situations. Procedure calls which are frequently executed with same parameter values are defined as highly expected situations (common cases). ...

Abstract: The objective of this work is to create a framework for the optimization of embedded software. We present algorithms and a tool flow to reduce the computational effort of programs, using value profiling and partial evaluation. Such a reduction translates into both energy savings and average-case performance improvement, while preserving a tolerable increase of worst case performance and code size. Our tool reduces the computational effort by specializing frequently executed procedures for the most common values of their parameters. ...

Abstract: The objective of this research is to develop tools and methods for system-level optimization of embedded software that is executed on system-on-chip platforms. In particular, this paper proposes a new instruction-set simulator's tool flow which has been extended with some retargetability features and multiple program representations. We propose an innovative way to improve the simulation speed, that is a key factor for embedded software optimization, by using a synthesis approach. ...

Abstract: We introduce a new approach to performance analysis of DSP-kernel software, based on high-level abstractions, called implicit cache simulation. The method can take into account any kind of instruction cache as well as code allocation effects. We show that no loss of estimation accuracy is implied by the proposed abstractions. Moreover the speed of the method is such that it can be efficiently used as a system-level design tool. We compare implicit cache simulation with the trace-driven simulation approach, commonly used in industry. ...