Architecture

Architecture Lab #

👋️ Note: Updated to Y86-64 for CS:APP3e. Students are given a small default Y86-64 array copying function and a working pipelined Y86-64 processor design that runs the copy function in some nominal number of clock cycles per array element (CPE). The students attempt to minimize the CPE by modifying both the function and the processor design. This gives the students a deep appreciation for the interactions between hardware and software.

Note: The lab materials include the master source distribution of the Y86-64 processor simulators and the Y86-64 Guide to Simulators. (I unzipped it into tar/)

Contents #

  • Files downloaded from CS:APP website as archlab-handout.tar, and listed below in the original README contents

Lab Assignment Write-Up #

csapp.cs.cmu.edu/3e/archlab.pdf.

This write-up is pretty helpful for even those doing self-study. Read through it to learn how to approach this lab’s problem.

Original README.md #

This section is copied from csapp.cs.cmu.edu/3e/README-archlab. It was modified only to conform to standard Markdown formatting.

It is not particularly useful for people doing self-study, but is reproduced here anyway.

#####################################################################
# CS:APP Architecture Lab
# Directions to Instructors
#
# Copyright (c) 2002, 2011, 2015 R. Bryant and D. O'Hallaron,
# All rights reserved. May not be used, modified, or copied without permission.
#
######################################################################

This directory contains the files that you will need to run the CS:APP architecture lab, which develops a student’s understanding of processor design and the close relationship between software and hardware.

1. Overview #

In this lab, students learn about the design and implementation of a pipelined Y86-64 processor, optimizing its performance on a benchmark Y86-64 array copy program called ncopy.ys. Students are allowed to make any semantics preserving transformations to the benchmark program, or to make enhancements to the pipelined processor, or both. The goal is to minimize the number of clock cycles per array element (CPE).

2. Files #

  • Makefile Makefile that builds the Lab
  • README This file
  • archlab-handout/ The files handed out to the students
  • grade/ Autograding scripts
  • simguide/ CS:APP Guide to Simulators document
  • src/ Master distribution of the Y86-64 tools
  • sim/ Student distribution of the Y86-64 tools (subset of src)
  • writeup/ The architecture lab writeup

3. Building the Lab #

Step 1: Build the “master distribution” of the Y86-64 tools in directory ./src on your system. The master distribution is the instructor’s version of the tools that contains the solution files for the lab. See ./src/README for instructions on how to build the master distribution. The process involves setting three variables in ./src/Makefile and then typing “make”. The default values are for Linux.

Step 2. Modify ./src/Makefile-sim with the same three variable assignments that you used in ./src/Makefile. The Makefile-sim file is the Makefile that the students will use their in their personal student distributions of the Y86-64 tools. The student distribution is a subset of the master distribution, minus the solution files and a master set of HCL files.

Step 3. Modify ./src/Makefile-handout with the default team name (TEAM), default handin version number (VERSION), and the directories where the three parts should be copied to when they are handed in (HANDINDIR-PART{A,B,C}). The Makefile-handout file is the the Makefile that the students receive in the archlab-handout/. They use it to hand in their solutions.

Step 4: Modify the Latex writeup in ./writeup/archlab.tex to reflect the handout and handin directions for your site. If you don’t use Latex, use your favorite document preparation system to prepare Postcript and PDF versions of the writeup in archlab.pdf.

Step 5: Modify ./Makefile with the name of the lab (LABNAME) and the name of the directory where the handout tarfile will be copied to and where the students can pick it from (DEST). LABNAME is typically archlab.

Step 6: In the same directory as this README file, type

make clean; make

to the shell. This will do the following things:

(a) Compile the master distribution of the Y86-64 tools in ./src (b) Build the student distribution in ./sim (c) Build a tarfile of the student distribution in sim.tar (d) Build a handout directory ./$(LABNAME)-handout (e) Build the $(LABNAME)-handout.tar file that you will be handing out to students.

Step 7: Type “make dist” to copy the $(LABNAME)-handout.tar file and the writeup to the distribution directory where the students will retrieve the lab.

4. Grading the Lab #

There are Perl autograding scripts for each part of this lab. See ./grade/README for details.

5. Notes #

  • If you are running in GUI mode, you’ll need to install Tcl/Tk along with the Tcl and Tk developer’s packages. On an Ubuntu machine:

    linux> sudo apt-get tcl tcl-dev tk tk-dev

  • If you are running in GUI mode on a system with X windows, make sure that your DISPLAY environment variable is set:

    linux> setenv DISPLAY mymachine.myschool.edu:0

    If you’re using ssh, you can set the DISPLAY variable automatically by using the “ssh -X hostname” command.

  • The lab compiles with no warnings and passes all regression tests on the following systems:

    • Linux/2.2.20, Pentium III, gcc 2.95.3, Gnu make, Perl 5
    • Solaris/5.8, Sparc Ultra 80, gcc 2.95.3, Sun make, Perl 5
    • Linux/2.6.18, Intel x86_64, gcc 4.3.5, Perl 5.8.8

  • The autograders for parts B and C run the regression tests in ptest/ as part of the evaluation of the student solutions. On older systems, these tests can take a long time, 5 minutes or so, with most of the time being spent by the htest.pl script. If this is too long, you can sacrifice completeness for speed by commenting out the call to htest.pl in ptest/Makefile.