Profiling CAD tools: A proposed classification

Profiling is the analysis of a software program´s behaviour as it is executing on a target processor or platform. The purpose is to determine the computational bottleneck so that designers can modify or optimize the software code in order to gain a speed up in overall performance. There is a variety of profiling tools available which provides different measuring techniques and can collect a diverse set of performance information. This paper presents a classification of profiling tools where we categorize each profiler based on its measuring capabilities and the type of performance data that is returned to the desiger. This classification will aid designers in choosing the right profiling CAD tool for their task.