Locality as a visualization tool

Abstract

This brief contribution introduces a method of quantifying the locality in a given reference sequence and visually representing it as a three dimensional surface. We explore some of the properties of this formulation of locality and show the correlation between graphical features and specific reference patterns. The utility of our formulation of locality is demonstrated through two of its potential applications as a visualizations tool: characterizing and summarizing workload locality, and evaluating the effectiveness of benchmark programs in exercising memory hierarchies.