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APPROXILYZER
=========================================================

Approxilyzer is an open-source framework for instruction level approximation 
and resiliency software. Approxilyzer provides a systematic way to identify 
instructions that exhibit first-order approximation potential. It can also identify 
silent data corruption (SDC) causing instructions in the presence of single-bit errors. 
Approxilyzer employs static and dynamic analysis, in addition to heuristics, to reduce 
the run-time of finding Approximate instructions and SDC-causing instructions by 3-6x 
orders of magnitude.

Project overview can be viewed at: https://cs.illinois.edu/approxilyzer



APPROXILYZER REQUIREMENTS
=========================================================
1) WindRiver SIMICS 3.0.31 (requires WindRiver license)
2) A SPARC V9 machine, running OpenSolaris (cross-compiler support coming soon)



SETTING UP ENVIRONMENT
==========================================================
1) Download and untar GEMS into a local directory.  
    You can find this at http://research.cs.wisc.edu/gems/, or use our tarball at rsim.cs.illinois.edu/approxilyzer/GEMS_Approxilyzer.tar
2) Append the following two lines to your .bashrc:
    GEMS_PATH=/full/path/to/src_GEMS
    export GEMS_PATH
3) Download SIMICS 3.0.31. Untar locally. 
    Instructions on how to obtain a SIMICS academic license can be 
    found at http://research.cs.wisc.edu/gems/GEMS-Ubuntu.pdf.
4) Make a directory for SIMICS installation alongside $GEMS_PATH
    $ cd $GEMS_PATH
    $ cd ../
    $ mkdir simics
5) When prompted during the SIMICS installation, provide the absolute path
to the directory just created in Step 4
6) Edit your .bashrc with the following lines:
    SIMICS_INSTALL=/full/path/to/simics/simics-3.0.31
    export SIMICS_INSTALL
7) Follow the instructions from the GEMS site for setting up SIMICS.
    http://research.cs.wisc.edu/gems/doc/gems-wiki/moin.cgi/Setup_for_Simics_3.0.X 
8) In common/Makefile.common, under the amd64-linux, use the following settings 
for various flags, or set them accordingly:
    CC = /usr/bin/g++34
    OPT_FLAGS=-m64 -march-opetron -fPIC
    LDFLAGS += -WI, -R/usr/lib64
    MODULE_LDFLAGS += -WI, -R/usr/lib64
9) Update the variable SIMICS_INCLUDE_ROOT in Makefile.common to point to the 
/src/include directory. Change the $(GEMS_ROOT) and fully elaborate the path name.
10) In $GEMS_PATH/scripts/prepare_simics_home.sh, change
    x86-linux -> amd64-linux
    ../sarek/simics -> ../../simics
11) git clone the Approxilyzer repo locally. You can also put this alongside GEMS:
    $ cd $GEMS_PATH
    $ cd ../
    $ git clone [email protected]:ma3mool/Approxilyzer.git
12) Add the following environment path variable to your .bashrc
    APPROXILYZER = /absolute/path/to/cloned/environment
    export APPROXILYZER


GEMS MODULES INSTALLATION
==========================================================
1) Copy our provided Opal version, and then install Opal using:
    WARNING!! IF YOU PREVIOUSLY HAD GEMS INSTALLED, YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE YOUR OPAL
    $ mv $GEMS_PATH/opal $GEMS_PATH/old_opal

    $ cp -R $APPROXILYZER/GEMS_modules/opal $GEMS_PATH/
    $ cd $GEMS_PATH/opal
    $ make clean
    $ make module DESTINATION=dynamic_relyzer
    (might have to manually make the directory "dynamic_relyzer" in $GEMS_PATH/simics/home/)

2) Install Ruby
    $ cd $GEMS_PATH/ruby
    $ make clean
    $ make module DESTINATION=dynamic_relyzer PROTOCOL=MOSI_SMP_bcast
  


APPROXILYZER SETUP 
==========================================================

Everything you need to run Approxilyzer is provided in the approxilyzer.sh script.

To setup Approxilyzer:
    $./approxilyzer.sh -s prep

This start script will:
    1) prepare your Approxilyzer directory structure
    2) copy and install Emerald (a GEMS module)
    3) create a symlink to simpoint.py from your simics_3_workspace

which will allow you to use the rest of Approxilyzer. This only has to
be done once. If you run into issues, check that environmental paths are set up
properly.

For help on how to use this script, just run:
    $./approxilyzer.sh
OR
    $./approxilyzer.sh -help


HOW TO USE APPROXILYZER
==========================================================

PREPARING ISO:
Approxilyzer requires application binaries to be mounted on an ISO for analysis.
The technique is streamlined once you have your application(s) on an ISO.

The required files in the ISO are:
    For each application:
        - a binary (app_name)
        - a disassembly file (app_name.dis)
        - a run script (run_script.sh)
Each application must be in its own seperate directory.

Each applications ISO also requires a corresponding ISO with the "golden output" of
an application's fault-free run. This ISO should have all outputs together at the 
top level, without subdirectories:
    For each application run script:
        - Golden output. (app_name.output)

When generating the ISO, you can use the following command in a terminal:
    $ mkisofs -RJ -o <filename>.iso <directory/with/required/files>

You can test the mount locally with:
    $ mount -o loop <filename>.iso /mnt/point/here


We provide a template application ISO and golden ISO with the distribution loading 
some PARSEC and SPLASH-2 benchmarks. Refer to PARSEC and SPLASH-2 for
further licensing and distribution of these ISOs.
Apps ISO: rsim.cs.illinois.edu/approxilyzer/apps.iso
Apps Output ISO: rsim.cs.illinois.edu/approxilyzer/apps_output.iso
 


PREPARING SIMICS CHECKPOINTS:

Before running the following steps, you should have a base Simics checkpoint
running the OpenSolaris operating system, and compiled to the SPARC V9 ISA.
Relevant instructions can be found at http://research.cs.wisc.edu/gems/GEMS-Ubuntu.pdf.

Once you have a base checkpoint, edit the top of $APPROXILYZER/scripts/dynamic_relyzer/simpoint.py with the base checkpoint path. Then follow the steps below:

1) Place both ISOs in the $APPROXILYZER/workloads/iso/ directory.
2) Copy the content of the golden ISO and place it in $APPROXILYZER/workloads/golden_output/ 
directory.
3) Make a checkpoint for the whole iso:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -I [iso_name]
4) Make a checkpoint for each application you want to run Approxilyzer on:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -I [iso_name] -a [app_name] -c [associated run_script_name]
5) Edit simpoint.py with the ISO_OUTPUT name. If you are using our example, that is "apps_output".


GENERATING A FAULT LIST:
1) Make a new directory for the application inside $APPROXILYZER/workloads/apps/
The naming convention should be [app_name]_[run_script_name] for the directory.
2) Inside this new directory, place the binary and disassembly file. 
    The binary and dis file should both have the same name (and case) as the directory.
    For example: 
        ../workloads/apps/blackscholes_simlarge/blackscholes_simlarge
        ../workloads/apps/blackscholes_simlarge/blackscholes_simlarge.dis
3) Run Approxilyzer static analysis phase 1:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -r prof -a [app_name]
4) You should be prompted to edit a newly generated file inside the apps directory.
Follow the instructions in the prompt. 
5) Rerun the application profiler:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -r prof -a [app_name]
6) Once done, run the dynamic analysis phase:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -r anlys -a [app_name]
7) In the config file, you can now make some optimizations that are highly recommended
    a) Edit $APPROXILYZER/scripts/static_scripts/src/config.h
        Make two changes here, one for heap and one for stack.
        The #define value indicates how many bits are explored by the heap
        and the stack. This information can be gathered from looking at the 
        heap and stack output in workloads/apps/[app_name]/analysis_output/
    b) Edit $APPROXILYZER/scripts/static_scripts/src/common_functions.h
        There should be three edits for each app. Follow the examples included.
    If you decide to forego these optimizations, Approxilyzer will still function 
    correctly. However, the number of error injections will be much higher.
8) Run error site generation:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -r fault_gen -a [app_name]
9) Generate intermediate SIMICS checkpoints for improved performance during injection:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -r int_ckpt -a [app_name]
10) You are now done! The fault list should be located inside $APPROXILYZER/fault_list_output/


RUNNING APPROXILYZER FAULT INJECTIONS:
1) Prepare fault injection directories:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -i prep -a [app_name]
2) A list of fault injections will be available in $APPROXILYZER/results/simics_file_list. Run one injection experiment per line. These can be done in 
parallel.
    $ cd scripts/injections_scripts/
    $ ./run_injection_jobs.pl [injection]
Alternatively, you can use a parallel script which calls run_injection_jobs using condor
    $ ./submit_full_injection_jobs.pl // our sample script. Tune to your own needs
3) Once injections are done (this may take some time), collect the results and analyze:
    $ ./approxilyzer.sh -i results -a [app_name]
4) Results should now be at $APPROXILYZER/results/injection_results/


RUNNING APPROXILYZER FAULT INJECTIONS:
1) Since approximate computing is a domain specific domain, you will need
    to provide the metric you desire for your application. Please check out 
    the Approxilyzer paper for more information:
    http://rsim.cs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/16-MICRO-approxilyzer.pdf
2) Since approximation is app-specific, the metric code needs 
    to reside inside the following directory. When you write your own metric
    make sure to make it reside here:
    $APPROXILYZER/workloads/apps/[app_name]
3) Given our running example, we provide a sample metric. To finish this 
    tutorial, copy the blackscholes metric information into your apps 
    directory:
    $ cp $APPROXILYZER/scripts/approx_computing/gen_sdc_quality_blackscholes_simlarge.pl $APPROXILYZER/workloads/apps/blackscholes_simlarge/ 
4) With the application metric ready, you can run the final command in Approxilyzer:
    $./approxilyzer.sh -A analysis -a [app_name]
5) That's all! The output will reside in $APPROXILYZER/results/injection_results/parsed_results/
    There should be two files: [app_name]_pc_summary_approx.txt, and [app_name]_pc_summary_resiliency.txt.
    For more details, please look at the MICRO 16 Approxilyzer paper.