Simulating the DASH Architecture in HASE
L. M. Williams and R. N. Ibbett
Computer Systems Group
Department of Computer Science
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
Abstract
HASE is a Hierarchical computer Architecture design and Simulation
Environment which allows for the rapid development and exploration
of computer architectures at multiple levels of abstraction,
encompassing both hardware and software. The user interacts with
HASE via an X-Windows/Motif graphical interface, and one of the main
forms of output is an animation of the design window.
The DASH architecture was designed to prove the feasibility of
building a scaleable high performance machine with multiple coherent
caches and a single address space. The HASE simulation therefore
concentrates on implementing the cache coherency protocols, and the
animator has been used to check that the simulation conforms to the
architecture. Future work will involve performance checks of the
simulator, and thence possible architectural enhancements.
This paper was presented at the 29th Annual Simulation Symposium,
New Orleans on the 12th of April 1996.