Simulation Platform Based on SoC-FPGA Clusters for CXL-ethernet Heterogeneous Interconnection

Authors

• Xu Zhang, Institute of Computing Technology, CAS, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
• Ke Liu, Institute of Computing Technology, CAS, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
• Mingyu Chen, Institute of Computing Technology, CAS, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Abstract

Abstract: To address the difficulty of balancing simulation speed and topology flexibility when simulating large-scale, CXL-Ethernet heterogeneous interconnect datacenter scenarios with existing CXL simulation platforms, this paper presents CNetSim, a semi-physical simulation platform based on an SoC-FPGA cluster. The platform employs SoC-FPGA hardware to emulate endpoint nodes, leveraging their real processors and memory devices as well as FPGA-implemented CXL. mem protocol to support high-speed execution of standard Linux systems and real distributed applications. Meanwhile, it utilizes the flexible topology configuration capability of software simulation to implement CXL switched networks and inter-rack Ethernet interconnects based on DPDK on simulation servers. Simulation experimental results demonstrate that, compared to traditional software simulators, the platform achieves at least threeorders-of-magnitude speedup when executing complete distributed applications, and accurately fits the performance characteristics of real systems by configuring key simulation parameters.

Recommended Citation

Zhang, Xu; Liu, Ke; and Chen, Mingyu (2026) "Simulation Platform Based on SoC-FPGA Clusters for CXL-ethernet Heterogeneous Interconnection," Journal of System Simulation: Vol. 38: Iss. 7, Article 17.
DOI: 10.16182/j.issn1004731x.joss.25-0847
Available at: https://dc-china-simulation.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss7/17

First Page

2037

Last Page

2052

CLC

TP338.4; TP336

Recommended Citation

Zhang Xu, Liu Ke, Chen Mingyu. Simulation Platform Based on SoC-FPGA Clusters for CXL-ethernet Heterogeneous Interconnection[J]. Journal of System Simulation, 2026, 38(7): 2037-2052.

Corresponding Author

Liu Ke

DOI

10.16182/j.issn1004731x.joss.25-0847