Patent ID: 8818787

Claim:
A computer implemented method for determining an optimal hardware architecture for a reference application, the method comprising: executing a plurality of applications on a current hardware architecture, the applications comprising the reference application and a plurality of test applications; collecting, with a computer, performance data corresponding to performance of the applications on the current hardware architecture, wherein collecting performance data comprises sampling performance information at degradation events using a performance indicator, a degradation event type, and a plurality of hardware counters; computing a plurality of application signatures corresponding to applications using the performance data; computing a similarity element using the application signatures, wherein the similarity element illustrates degrees of similarity between the applications based on their application signatures; and deriving, in a computer, using the similarity element, a subset of test applications that are similar to the reference application based on the performance data, to select a plurality of hardware architectures, for testing the reference application, on which improved performance has been reported for the subset of test applications.