An improved approach for set-associative instruction cache partial analysis

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Abstract
The current Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) computation methods are usually applied to whole programs, this may drive to scalability limitations as the program size becomes bigger. A solution could be to split programs into components that could support separated partial analyses to decrease the computation time. The componentization is also consistent with the more and more frequent use of Component Off The Shelf (COTS). Consequently, we need algorithms to perform analyses on component-wise applications. In this paper, we focus on the partial analysis of set-associative instruction caches, based on the categorization method described by M. Alt et al. We have first evaluated A. Rakib et al.'s approach to this problem and we have shown that, while correct, this approach can be greatly improved by a better estimation of the component effect on the cache. The version we have developed addresses the identified shortcomings and the experimentation results have been evaluated according to two criteria: (1) overestimation of the WCET and (2) computation time gain against the whole program analysis approach.