[Gems-users] GEMS 1.3 Now Available

[Dan Gibson <degibson@xxxxxxxx>]

29 June 2006

GEMS 1.3 is now available for download.
www.cs.wisc.edu/gems/

Changes from version 1.2:

Transactional Memory:
This release includes a new LogTM protocol, MESI_SMP_LogTM, a better timing model for transactional stores and several minor bug fixes. MESI_SMP_LogTM is less complicated than MOESI_SMP_LogTM and should be easier to understand and modify. Transactional stores now stall until both the target cache line and the cache line that will hold the log entry are both present in the cache.

Simics 3.0:
GEMS 1.3 is Simics-3.0-ready. Documentation on how to use Simics 3.0 with GEMS is available on the GEMS Wiki, at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/gems/doc/wiki/moin.cgi under "Setup for Simics 3.0.X". GEMS 1.3 has been tested on 32-bit and 64-bit x86-linux hosts, with Simics 2.0.23, Simics 2.2.19, Simics 3.0.11, and Simics 3.0.15. At this time, we recommend our users continue to use Simics 2.2.X, as we have observed considerable simulation slowdown when using Simics 3.0.X. Additionally, only limited email (gems-users) support will be available for GEMS+Simics 3.X configurations, as Simics 2.X is still used extensively within the Multifacet group.

Miscellaneous Bugfixes:
An issue relating to the automatic detection of host word length has been resolved.
Transactional memory support for targets with more than 4GB of memory is now in place.
Patches released after GEMS 1.2 have been incorporated into GEMS 1.3. These affect Tourmaline's GenericController.C and the MOESI_CMP_directory protocol.