Platune: A tuning framework for system-on-a-chip platforms

System-on-a-chip (SOC) platform manufacturers are increasingly adding configurable features that provide power and performance flexibility in order to increase a platform's applicability. This paper presents a framework, called Platune, for performance and power tuning of one such SOC platform. Platune is used to simulate an embedded application that is mapped onto the SOC platform and output performance and power metrics for any configuration of the SOC platform. Furthermore, Platune is used to automatically explore the large configuration space of such an SOC platform. The versatility, in terms of accuracy and speed of exploration, of Platune is demonstrated experimentally using three large benchmark examples. The power estimation techniques for processors, caches, memories, buses, and peripherals combined with the design space exploration algorithm deployed by Platune form a methodology for design of tuning frameworks for parameterized SOC platforms in general.