PCMCsim: An Accurate Phase-Change Memory Controller Simulator and its Performance Analysis

Hyokeun Lee, Hyungsuk Kim, Seokbo Shim, Seungyong Lee, Dosun Hong, Hyuk Jae Lee, Hyun Kim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

With the growing demand for technology scaling and storage capacity in data centers, phase-change memory (PCM) has garnered attention as a next-generation nonvolatile memory (NVM). However, an accurate simulator that includes the necessary hardware features for PCM is not available, lagging behind current PCM technology. In this study, a functional and cycle-accurate PCM controller simulator, called PCMCsim, is presented to revitalize the related research. The proposed simulator incorporates necessary features for current PCM products and the latest DDR5 specifications. Based on rigorous performance analysis, this study characterizes bottlenecks of the PCM subsystem by sweeping hardware parameters, providing important takeaway messages to designers. Furthermore, the latency is significantly reduced by introducing a dedicated prefetcher into the address translation module. The proposed simulator is validated against a command trace made by a PCM product developer. We release our simulator as open-source software, except for industry-confidential features.11https://github.com/harrylee365/pcmcsim-pub1ic

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, ISPASS 2022
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages300-310
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781665459549
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event2022 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, ISPASS 2022 - Singapore, Singapore
Duration: 22 May 202224 May 2022

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, ISPASS 2022

Conference

Conference2022 IEEE International Symposium on Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, ISPASS 2022
Country/TerritorySingapore
CitySingapore
Period22/05/2224/05/22

Keywords

  • address indirection table
  • performance analysis
  • Phase change memory
  • simulator

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