[FeS2-devel] correctly executed instructions

[Ioana Burcea]

Hey there,

First of all, thanks for making the simulator available. We're waiting for the 
multicore/multiprocessor version ;)

I'm thinking of using FeS2 for my own research, so I downloaded the source code 
and tried out the simple test it comes with.

The good news is that things seem to have worked. The not so good news is that I 
have questions already :)

I took a look at the stats generated in *.stats file. And I noticed you keep 
track of the instructions that execute correctly and the ones that don't, as 
well as the total. First, these numbers don't add up (i.e., the correct + 
incorrect > total). Second, the incorrect ones are quite high ( ~ 30% of the 
total). Is this normal (as in, does this surprise you or you expect this kind of 
stats/numbers)? Do these numbers go down for a normal simulation, where you have 
longer/bigger pieces of code/simulation?

I also notice that for validation of instructions, you check only some of the 
architectural regs (namely, you don't check the fp ones). So, the numbers can be 
trusted mostly for int-oriented benchmarks.

Could you please tell me more about the "accuracy" of the simulator? Or any 
weaknesses you're willing to share...

I appreciate your time and effort in answering: thanks,
	Ioana