Function analyser spots software bottlenecks

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Dec 12, 2007

New capability provides accurate profiling capabilities for target software executing on processors within a virtual system prototype.

Vast Systems has added a function analyser to its Metrix analysis tool.

The new capability provides accurate profiling capabilities for target software executing on processors within a virtual system prototype.

Accurate profiling and tuning often requires the execution of billions of simulation cycles and contemporary techniques are too slow to allow thorough profiling.

Metrix allows software and system developers to consider exact execution costs to efficiently tune and optimise software.

Metrix allows comparison of results gathered from multiple simulations.

The results yield a clear picture, in tabular and graphical displays, of how each software function performs.

These can help a user to spot bottlenecks, underutilisation, latency contributors, areas for optimisation and poor cache management.

Metrix's output includes call graphs, call tracing with stack depth and timing, instruction and cycle counts - call by call as well as cumulative profiles, and cache statistics.

"Vast's virtualisation technology provides remarkable visibility into events, transactions, and software interactions that occur in an embedded system", says Jeff Roane, Vice President of Marketing at Vast.

"The Metrix function analysis and profiling capability satisfies the growing need to optimise software based on in-system performance profiling".

The Metrix Function Analyser is available in today as an incremental update to Metrix.