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MMU description » History » Version 43

Alexander Kamkin, 02/19/2013 12:21 PM

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h1. MMU Description
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A _memory management unit_ (_MMU_) is known to be one of the most complex and error-prone components of a modern microprocessor. MicroTESK has a special subsystem, called _MMU subsystem_, intended for (1) specifying memory devices and (2) deriving testing knowledge from such specifications. The subsystem provides unified facilities for describing memory buffers (like _L1_ and _L2 caches_, _translation look-aside buffers_ (_TLBs_), etc.) as well as a means for connecting several buffers into a memory hierarchy.
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h2. Address Description
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A buffer is accessed by an _address_, which is typically a _bit vector_ of a fixed length (width). Different buffers are allowed to have a common address space (e.g., L1 and L2 are usually both addressed by physical addresses). However, in general case, each buffer has its own domain.
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An address space is described using a construct *address*. A couple of examples are given below.
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<pre>
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address Void { width = 0  }
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address PA   { width = 40 }
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</pre>
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The code above defines two address spaces: (1) a single-element space @void@ and (2) a space @PA@ consisting of 40-bit addresses (_PA_ usually stands for _physical address_).
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h2. Buffer Description
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For instance, this is an example of the buffer below:
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<pre>
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buffer L1 
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{
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	sets = 4
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	lines = 128
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	line = (tag:30 data:256)
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	index(addr:PA) = addr<9**8> 
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	match(addr:PA) = line.tag == addr<39**10>	
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	policy =  lru
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}
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</pre>
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_Description of each constructor_ in the buffer example is below:
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h3. ''address'' 
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<pre>
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  gives the width of the field occupied in bytes;
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  ''address'' has a name; ''PA''(Physical Address) in our case; it also can be virtual (VA);
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</pre>
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h3. ''buffer''
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<pre>
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  has a name, ''L1'' in pur example; it can have names ''L2'' and ''TLB'' also;
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  ''buffer'' can be described by different parameters, such sets, lines, index, match, policy, and so on, which number is infixed;
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</pre>
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h3.  ''set'' 
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<pre>
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  is an associativity of a buffer; it returns the number of lines in a one set;
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</pre>
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h3.  ''lines''
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<pre>
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  is the number of lines in a given buffer;
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</pre>
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h3.  ''line''
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<pre>
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  designates the specific line in which the necessary data will be looking for; 
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  ''line'' includes its own parameters in the braces: ''tag'' and ''data'', each of them has an appropriate width of the fields kept in bytes;
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  in our example ''line'' has only two parameters, but in general case it can include more;
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</pre>
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h3.  ''index''
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<pre>
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   returns the initial and the final points of the field kept in bytes; they are marked in a three-cornered brackets, after ''addr'';
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  ''index'' depends on an ''address'', which is ''physical'' (PA) in our case; the type of an address is set in the braces after ''index''; 
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</pre>
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h3.  ''match'' 
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<pre>
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  returns ''true'' or ''false'' depending on if the data required is in the given line or not; 
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  it returns ''true'' if there is a ''hit'' in the line, and returns ''false'' otherwise;
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  ''match'' description contains the the initial and the final points of the address field in the triangle brackets after ''addr''; 
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  as ''index'' in the round braces ''match'' also has the type of the address used; ''PA'' in our case;
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</pre>
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h3.  ''policy''
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<pre>
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  sets a policy which will be applied to our buffer, ''lru'' (Least Recently Used) in our example;
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  policy also can be ''plru'' (Pseudo LRU) and ''fifo'' (First Input First Out).
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</pre>
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h2. Code Structure
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The MMU grammar is in ru.ispras.microtesk.translator.mmu.grammar folder. It contains Lexer, Parser and TreeWalker files. These files can be compiled by build.xml file (microtesk++/build.xml). The files generated (MMULexer.java, MMUParser.java, MMUTreeWalker.java) are in microtesk++.gen.ru.ispras.microtesk.translator.mmu.grammar folder. 
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The folders ru.ispras.microtesk.translator.mmu.ir.* contain the inner representation of the MMU hierarchy of one buffer.  
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MMU translator is in the ru.ispras.microtesk.translator.mmu.translator folder. 
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Files in ru.ispras.microtesk.model.api.mmu folder contain different policies of cache. Folder ru.ispras.microtesk.model.api.mmu.buffer contains the model of MMU - the files which describe Buffer, Set, Line, Address expressions.  
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After grammar files being generated the file ''BufferExample'' can be loaded to the translator.