Before revision: Design space exploration of multiprocessor systems involves the optimization of cost/performance functions over a large number of design parameters, most of which are discrete-valued . This optimization is non-trivial because the evaluation of cost/performance functions is computationally expensive , typically involving simulation of long benchmark programs on a cycle-accurate model of the system .
After revision: Design space exploration of multiprocessor systems involves the optimization of cost/performance functions over a large number of design parameters, most of which are discrete-valued , and this number is likely to keep increasing as chip complexity rises. Further, the accurate evaluation of a potential design choice is computationally expensive , typically involving simulation of long benchmark programs on a cycle-accurate model of the system .