Measuring And Analyzing SoC Performance With Verdi Performance Analyzer

SoC performance is a key competitive advantage in the marketplace. The choice and configuration of SoC components—protocol IP and interconnects, is geared towards maximizing overall SoC performance. A case in point is the use of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) technology and controllers. Currently in its third generation, HBM boasts high-performance while using less power in a substantially smaller form factor than DDR. It is a JEDEC-defined standard and is integrated with an SoC using a fine-pitch interposer. HBM’s low speed-per-pin and input/output capacitance reduce power consumption and increase power efficiency. In order to ensure that the HBM IP is tuned to achieve the desired performance-power balance, both performance and power consumption need to be measured. Measuring performance entails complex design calculations such as bandwidth/transfer rate per instance/channel, latency for different commands, page-hit/miss scenarios, etc. Protocol performance analysis and debug tools like Verdi Performance Analyzer can help designers easily visualize these important performance metrics, and also set min. and max. constraints on each metric and have the tool automatically identify violations of these constraints. Through direct integration with Verdi Protocol Analyzer, root cause of the offending transactions can be quickly identified.

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