Written for an advanced-level course in digital systems design, DIGITAL SYSTEMS DESIGN USING VHDL integrates the use of the industry-standard hardware description language VHDL into the digital design process. Following a review of basic concepts of logic design in Chapter 1, the author introduces the basics of VHDL in Chapter 2, and then incorporates more coverage of VHDL topics as needed, with advanced topics covered in Chapter 8. Rather than simply teach VHDL as a programming language, this book emphasizes the practical use of VHDL in the digital design process. For example, in Chapter 9, the author develops VHDL models for a RAM memory and a microprocessor bus interface; he then uses a VHDL simulation to verify that timing specifications for the interface between the memory and microprocessor bus are satisfied. The book also covers the use of CAD tools to synthesize digital logic from a VHDL description (in Chapter 8), and stresses the use of programmable logic devices, including programmable gate arrays. Chapter 10 introduces methods for testing digital systems including boundary scan and a built-in self-test.

The formal study of program behavior has become an essential ingredient in guiding the design of new computer architectures. Accurate characterization of applications leads to efficient design of high performing architectures. Quantitative and analytical characterization of workloads is important to understand and exploit the interesting features of workloads. This book includes ten chapters on various aspects of workload characterizati on. File caching characteristics of the industry-standard web-serving benchmark SPECweb99 are presented by Keller et al. in Chapter 1, while value locality of SPECJVM98 benchmarks are characterized by Rychlik et al. in Chapter 2. SPECJVM98 benchmarks are visited again in Chapter 3, where Tao et al. study the operating system activity in Java programs. In Chapter 4, KleinOsowski et al. describe how the SPEC2000 CPU benchmark suite may be adapted for computer architecture research and present the small, representative input data sets they created to reduce simulation time without compromising on accuracy. Their research has been recognized by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) and is listed on the official SPEC website, http://www. spec. org/osg/cpu2000/research/umnl. The main contribution of Chapter 5 is the proposal of a new measure called locality surface to characterize locality of reference in programs. Sorenson et al. describe how a three-dimensional surface can be used to represent both of programs. In Chapter 6, Thornock et al.

The advent of the world-wide web and web-based applications have dramatically changed the nature of computer applications. Computer system design, in the light of these changes, involves understanding these modem workloads, identifying bottlenecks during their execution, and appropriately tailoring microprocessors, memory systems, and the overall system to minimize bottlenecks. This book contains ten chapters dealing with several contemporary programming paradigms including Java, web server and database workloads. The first two chapters concentrate on Java. While Barisone et al.'s characterization in Chapter 1 deals with instruction set usage of Java applications, Kim et al.'s analysis in Chapter 2 focuses on memory referencing behavior of Java workloads. Several applications including the SPECjvm98 suite are studied using interpreter and Just-In-Time (TIT) compilers. Barisone et al.'s work includes an analytical model to compute the utilization of various functional units. Kim et al. present information on locality, live-range of objects, object lifetime distribution, etc. Studying database workloads has been a challenge to research groups, due to the difficulty in accessing standard benchmarks. Configuring hardware and software for database benchmarks such as those from the Transactions Processing Council (TPC) requires extensive effort. In Chapter 3, Keeton and Patterson present a simplified workload (microbenchmark) that approximates the characteristics of complex standardized benchmarks.

Computer and microprocessor architectures are advancing at an astounding pace. However, increasing demands on performance coupled with a wide variety of specialized operating environments act to slow this pace by complicating the performance evaluation process. Carefully balancing efficiency and accuracy is key to avoid slowdowns, and such a balance can be achieved with an in-depth understanding of the available evaluation methodologies. Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking outlines a variety of evaluation methods and benchmark suites, considering their strengths, weaknesses, and when each is appropriate to use. Following a general overview of important performance analysis techniques, the book surveys contemporary benchmark suites for specific areas, such as Java, embedded systems, CPUs, and Web servers. Subsequent chapters explain how to choose appropriate averages for reporting metrics and provide a detailed treatment of statistical methods, including a summary of statistics, how to apply statistical sampling for simulation, how to apply SimPoint, and a comprehensive overview of statistical simulation. The discussion then turns to benchmark subsetting methodologies and the fundamentals of analytical modeling, including queuing models and Petri nets. Three chapters devoted to hardware performance counters conclude the book. Supplying abundant illustrations, examples, and case studies, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking offers a firm foundation in evaluation methods along with up-to-date techniques that are necessary to develop next-generation architectures.

The formal study of program behavior has become an essential ingredient in guiding the design of new computer architectures. Accurate characterization of applications leads to efficient design of high performing architectures. Quantitative and analytical characterization of workloads is important to understand and exploit the interesting features of workloads. This book includes ten chapters on various aspects of workload characterizati on. File caching characteristics of the industry-standard web-serving benchmark SPECweb99 are presented by Keller et al. in Chapter 1, while value locality of SPECJVM98 benchmarks are characterized by Rychlik et al. in Chapter 2. SPECJVM98 benchmarks are visited again in Chapter 3, where Tao et al. study the operating system activity in Java programs. In Chapter 4, KleinOsowski et al. describe how the SPEC2000 CPU benchmark suite may be adapted for computer architecture research and present the small, representative input data sets they created to reduce simulation time without compromising on accuracy. Their research has been recognized by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) and is listed on the official SPEC website, http: //www. spec. org/osg/cpu2000/research/umnl. The main contribution of Chapter 5 is the proposal of a new measure called locality surface to characterize locality of reference in programs. Sorenson et al. describe how a three-dimensional surface can be used to represent both of programs. In Chapter 6, Thornock et al

The advent of the world-wide web and web-based applications have dramatically changed the nature of computer applications. Computer system design, in the light of these changes, involves understanding these modem workloads, identifying bottlenecks during their execution, and appropriately tailoring microprocessors, memory systems, and the overall system to minimize bottlenecks. This book contains ten chapters dealing with several contemporary programming paradigms including Java, web server and database workloads. The first two chapters concentrate on Java. While Barisone et al.'s characterization in Chapter 1 deals with instruction set usage of Java applications, Kim et al.'s analysis in Chapter 2 focuses on memory referencing behavior of Java workloads. Several applications including the SPECjvm98 suite are studied using interpreter and Just-In-Time (TIT) compilers. Barisone et al.'s work includes an analytical model to compute the utilization of various functional units. Kim et al. present information on locality, live-range of objects, object lifetime distribution, etc. Studying database workloads has been a challenge to research groups, due to the difficulty in accessing standard benchmarks. Configuring hardware and software for database benchmarks such as those from the Transactions Processing Council (TPC) requires extensive effort. In Chapter 3, Keeton and Patterson present a simplified workload (microbenchmark) that approximates the characteristics of complex standardized benchmarks.