Software Optimizes Multi-Core Platforms

Overview

The document titled "Optimal Configuration and Deployment of Software on Multi-Core Processing Architectures" is a final technical report published by Lockheed Martin Corporation in July 2008. It addresses the challenges faced by military embedded systems in providing sufficient processing capacity within limited power and space constraints. The report highlights the increasing demands of next-generation war-fighting applications on computational throughput, particularly in the context of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Vehicle Management Computer (VMC) application.

To tackle these challenges, the report introduces Perseus, a suite of tools designed to optimize existing x86-based software for commodity multi-core platforms. The Perseus solution employs dynamic binary instrumentation to modify deployed code and insert probes, while utilizing genetic-algorithm-based searches to identify optimal configurations for performance and power consumption. This approach aims to enhance both computational efficiency and energy management by adjusting core frequency and voltage according to workload requirements.

The report summarizes the success of various technology elements within the project, indicating that most expectations were met, except for the extraction of temporal memory maps from probed binaries, which faced scalability issues. An alternative data collection approach was proposed to address this limitation.

The document is structured into several sections, including an executive summary, background information on multi-core processing, problem definitions, solution overviews, detailed system designs, experimental results, and conclusions. It emphasizes the importance of maximizing performance while minimizing power consumption in multi-core contexts, discussing specific techniques such as cache management and behavioral analysis.

Experimental results are presented, showcasing the effectiveness of the tools developed under the Perseus program. The report concludes with insights into the potential for future applications of the technology and the importance of continued research in optimizing software for multi-core architectures.

Overall, this report serves as a comprehensive resource for understanding the advancements in software optimization for multi-core processing systems, particularly in military applications, and highlights the ongoing need for innovative solutions to meet the evolving demands of modern computing environments.