Question: Exercise 3 . [ 3 0 Marks ] We will explore the impact of cache capacity on performance, focusing exclusively on the data cache and

Exercise 3.[30 Marks] We will explore the impact of cache capacity on performance, focusing
exclusively on the data cache and excluding instruction storage in the caches. Cache access time
is directly linked to its capacity. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that accessing the main
memory takes 100ns, and in a specific program, 50% of instructions involve data access.
Two distinct processors, denoted as P1 and P2, are engaged in executing this program. Each
processor is equipped with its own L1 cache.
L1 size L1 Miss Rate L1 Hit Time
P164 KB 3.6%1.26 ns
P2128 KB 3.1%2.17ns
(a) What is the AMAT for P1 and P2 assuming no other levels of cache?
(b) Assuming an ideal CPI of 2.0 for both processors and where the L1 hit time determines the
cycle time, what is the CPIstall for P1 and P2? Which processor is faster at executing this
particular program?
Now consider the addition of an L2 cache to P1 with the following characteristics. The data from
the previous table still holds.
L2 size L2 Miss Rate L2 Hit Time
16 MB 42%21.24 s
(c) Determine the Average Memory Access Time (AMAT) for P1 with the introduction of an L2
cache. Does the inclusion of the L2 cache result in an improvement or degradation of the
AMAT?
(d) Given an ideal CPI of 2.0, where the cycle time is dictated by the L1 hit time, calculate the
Cycle Per Instruction (CPIstall) for P1 with the incorporation of an L2 cache.
(e) Which processor demonstrates superior speed now that P1 is equipped with an L2 cache? If
P1 exhibits enhanced speed, what miss rate in its L1 cache would be required to match P2's
performance? Alternatively, if P2 proves to be faster, what miss rate in its L1 cache would be
necessary to equal P1's performance?

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