HPCA 2023: gem5 Tutorial

Event archive

Slides: PDF, Powerpoint.

GitHub Repository Used: https://github.com/gem5-hpca-2023/gem5-tutorial-codespace

Event page

We are happy to announce the gem5 Tutorial, to be co-located with HPCA 2023, in Montreal, on Saturday February 25th 2023. We intend for this event to be held in person.

This event will be held in the St-Laurent 6 room of the Bonaventure hotel at 8AM.

Link to YouTube LiveStream of event.

The gem5 Tutorial will be held in the morning session and will focus on teaching those new to gem5 how to use the latest version. It will be “crash course” in gem5 and assume no prior knowledge of using computer architecture simulators. The tutorial will focus heavily on new features in gem5, such as the gem5 standard library, so may be suitable for those who have used gem5 before but wish to refresh their skills.

Please keep an eye on the HPCA 2023 event page for details on registering for this event.

Key Dates

• HPCA Conference: February 25th to March 1st 2023
• gem5 Tutorial: February 25th 2023 (Morning Session)

Location and Room

The tutorial will be held at the HPCA ‘23’s main venue, the Hotel Bonaventure, in Westmount 6.

Preliminary Schedule (Subject to change)

Below is a preliminary schedule for the tutorial. It highlights the topics we intend to cover over the course of the 3-hour event.

• Getting started with gem5 [1.5 hours]
  • A short history of gem5.
  • Overall (software) architecture of gem5.
  • Compiling gem5.
  • Introduction to running a gem5 simulation using prebuilt systems
  • First time running gem5 and interpreting the output.
  • Building a gem5 simulation using stdlib components.
  • Simple example to show select statistical outputs.
  • Work through examples building SE-mode and FS-mode simulations.
• Extending gem5 [~1 hour]
  • Structure of gem5 C++ code.
  • Writing a simple SimObject.
  • Creating your own component, extending from the stdlib.
  • Running simulations using your SimObject/component.
• Deeper gem5 topics [~1 hour]
  • The gem5 memory system.
  • Overview of Ruby.
  • A brief overview of other gem5 features.
  • Limitations of gem5.