ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a methodology for SystemC-based performance analysis of embedded systems. This methodology is based on a cycle-accurate simulation approach for the embedded software that also allows the integration of abstract SystemC models. Compared to existing simulation-based approaches, a hybrid method is presented that resolves performance issues
by combining the advantages of simulation-based and analytical approaches. In the first step, cycle-accurate static execution time analysis is applied at each basic block of a cross-compiled binary program using static processor models. After that, the determined timing information is back-annotated into SystemC for a fast simulation of all effects that cannot be resolved statically. This allows the consideration of data dependencies during runtime, and the incorporation of branch prediction and cache models by efficient source-code instrumentation. The major benefit of our approach is that the generated code can be executed very efficiently on the simulation host with approximately 90% of the speed of the untimed software without any code instrumentation.
