Analysis of Memory Interference in Multiprocessors

Abstract

This paper presents Markov chain models for analyzing the extent of memory interference in multiprocessor systems with a crosspoint switch for processor-memory communication. Processor behavior is simplified to an ordered sequence of a memory request followed by a certain amount of processing time. The results predicted by the model are compared with some simulation results and some actual measurements on C.mmp, a multiprocessor system being built at Carnegie-Mellon University.