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Basic Performance Equation

This document presents the basic performance equation to calculate the processor time (T) required to execute a program. T is determined by multiplying the number of machine language instructions executed (N), the average number of clock cycles per instruction (S), and dividing by the clock rate (R). The key factors that impact performance are reducing N and S, and increasing R. Changes to these values are interrelated and must all be considered to effectively optimize performance.

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Computer Notes
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519 views2 pages

Basic Performance Equation

This document presents the basic performance equation to calculate the processor time (T) required to execute a program. T is determined by multiplying the number of machine language instructions executed (N), the average number of clock cycles per instruction (S), and dividing by the clock rate (R). The key factors that impact performance are reducing N and S, and increasing R. Changes to these values are interrelated and must all be considered to effectively optimize performance.

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Computer Notes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BASIC PERFORMANCE EQUATION

 Let T be the processor time required to execute a program that has been prepared in some high-level language.
 The compiler generates a machine language object program that corresponds to the source program.
 Assume that complete execution of the program requires the execution of N machine language instructions.
 The number N is the actual number of instruction executions, and is not necessarily equal to the number of machine
instructions in the object program.
 Some instructions may be executed more than once, which is the case for instructions inside a program loop.
 Others may not be executed at all, depending on the input data used.
 Suppose that the average number of basic steps needed to execute one machine instruction is S, where each basic step
is completed in one clock cycle.
 If the clock rate is R cycles per second, the program execution time is given by:

 This is often referred to as the basic performance equation.


 The performance parameter T for an application program is much more important to the user than the individual
values of the parameters N, S, or R.
 To achieve high performance, the computer designer must seek ways to reduce the value of T, which means reducing
N and S, and increasing R.
 The value of N is reduced if the source program is compiled into fewer machine instructions.
 The value of S is reduced if instructions have a smaller number of basic steps to perform or if the execution of
instructions is overlapped.
 Using a higher-frequency clock increases the value or R, which means that the time required to complete a basic
execution step is reduced.

 We must emphasize that N, S, and R are not independent parameters; changing one may affect another.
 Introducing a new feature in the design of a processor will lead to improved performance only if the overall result is to
reduce the value of T.
 A processor advertised as having a 900-MHz clock does not necessarily provide better performance than a 700-MHz
processor because it may have a different value of 5.
CLOCK RATE
 There are two possibilities for increasing the clock rate, R.
 Improving the integrated-circuit (IC) technology makes logic circuits faster, which reduces the time needed to
complete a basic step.
 This allows the clock period, P, to be reduced and the clock rate, R, to be increased.
 Second, reducing the amount of processing done in one basic step also makes it possible to reduce the clock period, P.
 However, if the actions that have to be performed by an instruction remain the same, the number of basic steps
needed may increase.

 Increases in the value of R that are entirely caused by improvements in IC technology affect all aspects of the
processor's operation equally with the exception of the time it takes to access the main memory.
 In the presence of a cache, the percentage of accesses to the main memory is small.
 Hence, much of the performance gain expected from the use of faster technology can be realized.
 The value of T will be reduced by the same factor as R is increased because S and N are not affected.
 The impact on performance of changing the way in which instructions are divided into basic steps is more difficult to
assess.

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