Automatic run-time extraction of communication graphs from multithreaded applications

Embedded system synthesis, multiprocessor synthesis, and thread assignment policy design all require detailed knowledge of the runtime communication patterns among different threads or processes. Researchers have commonly relied on manual estimation, compile- time analysis, or synthetic benchmarks when developing and evaluating synthesis algorithms and thread assignment policies. In a more ideal world, it would be possible to quickly and easily determine the run-time communication properties of large commercial and academic multithreaded applications. This article describes a fully-automated method of extracting run-time communication graphs from multithreaded applications. The resulting graphs may be used to better understand, design, and synthesize application-specific hardware-software systems. The proposed graph extraction method is implemented as a module within the Simics multiprocessor simulator. It presently supports the analysis of arbitrary multithreaded applications running on the Linux operating system. This software is called CETA. It is freely available for academic and non-profit use.