Patent ID: 7120567

Claim:
A method for generating an uncertainty characterization for a system simulation model, comprising: obtaining a system simulation input for the system simulation model, wherein the system simulation input comprises a cache simulation output and a hardware characteristic input; generating a deterministic uncertainty model using system simulation input; and generating the uncertainty characterization for system simulation output, wherein the system simulation output is generated by the execution of the system simulation model using the system simulation input, wherein the uncertainty characterization is determined using a deterministic uncertainty model, wherein the uncertainty characterization indicates an amount of uncertainty introduced into the system simulation output by the system simulation input, and wherein generating the deterministic uncertainty model comprises: restricting an input set to at least one of a plurality of system configuration domains, wherein the input set comprises the cache simulation output and a hardware characteristic input; determining a range over the restricted input set, wherein the range comprises an upper bound and a lower bound; determining a bias for the upper bound and the lower bound; and generating the deterministic uncertainty model using the bias; wherein the deterministic uncertainty model is then stored.