Accession Number:

ADA281256

Title:

The Impact of Software Structure and Policy on CPU and Memory System Performance

Descriptive Note:

Doctoral thesis

Corporate Author:

CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA DEPT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Personal Author(s):

• Chen, J. B.

Report Date:

1994-05-01

Pagination or Media Count:

169.0

Abstract:

Operating systems, when compared to application programs, have received disappointingly little benefit from the performance improvements of the most recent generation of microprocessors. This thesis used complete traces of software activity from a RISCbased uniprocessor to expose the dynamic behavior of operating system execution and explore the sources of poor performance. Traces from both Mach 3.0 and Ultrix implementations of UNIX permitted a study of performance differences between microkernel and monolithic implementations of the same operating system interface. The comparison showed that both system structure and policy implemented in the system have a significant impact on performance. Measurements of X11 workloads showed that memory system behavior for these large workloads differs significantly from the kinds of workloads traditionally used for performance analysis. Structural and behavioral similarities between large X11 workloads and the operating system are reflected in their overall performance.

Descriptors:

• *OPERATING SYSTEMS(COMPUTERS)
• *CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS
• MEASUREMENT
• POLICIES
• IMPACT
• MICROPROCESSORS
• WORKLOAD
• BENEFITS
• BEHAVIOR
• DYNAMICS
• INTERFACES
• COMPARISON
• THESES

Subject Categories:

• Computer Programming and Software

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE