TL;DR
This paper introduces CacheFlow, a Linux kernel module that enables live inspection of CPU cache contents on embedded systems, providing new insights into cache behavior without external hardware.
Contribution
The paper presents a novel method for live cache inspection using vendor-provided interfaces, enhancing understanding of cache dynamics in embedded systems.
Findings
Enables real-time cache snapshotting on embedded hardware
Improves understanding of cache evolution and behavior
Complements existing cache profiling techniques
Abstract
The vast majority of high-performance embedded systems implement multi-level CPU cache hierarchies. But the exact behavior of these CPU caches has historically been opaque to system designers. Absent expensive hardware debuggers, an understanding of cache makeup remains tenuous at best. This enduring opacity further obscures the complex interplay among applications and OS-level components, particularly as they compete for the allocation of cache resources. Notwithstanding the relegation of cache comprehension to proxies such as static cache analysis, performance counter-based profiling, and cache hierarchy simulations, the underpinnings of cache structure and evolution continue to elude software-centric solutions. In this paper, we explore a novel method of studying cache contents and their evolution via snapshotting. Our method complements extant approaches for cache profiling to…
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