Glass-Box Analysis for Computer Systems: Transparency Index, Shapley Attribution, and Markov Models of Branch Prediction

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Alpay, Faruk, Alakkad, Hamdi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Alpay, Faruk
Alakkad, Hamdi
author_facet Alpay, Faruk
Alakkad, Hamdi
contents We formalize glass-box analysis for computer systems and introduce three principled tools. First, the Glass-Box Transparency Index (GTI) quantifies the fraction of performance variance explainable by internal features and comes equipped with bounds, invariances, cross-validated estimation, and bootstrap confidence intervals. Second, Explainable Throughput Decomposition (ETD) uses Shapley values to provide an efficiency-preserving attribution of throughput, together with non-asymptotic Monte Carlo error guarantees and convexity (Jensen) gap bounds. Third, we develop an exact Markov analytic framework for branch predictors, including a closed-form misprediction rate for a two-bit saturating counter under a two-state Markov branch process and its i.i.d. corollary. Additionally, we establish an identifiability theorem for recovering event rates from aggregated hardware counters and provide stability bounds under noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_19027
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Glass-Box Analysis for Computer Systems: Transparency Index, Shapley Attribution, and Markov Models of Branch Prediction
Alpay, Faruk
Alakkad, Hamdi
Performance
Hardware Architecture
68M20, 60J10
C.1.1; C.4
We formalize glass-box analysis for computer systems and introduce three principled tools. First, the Glass-Box Transparency Index (GTI) quantifies the fraction of performance variance explainable by internal features and comes equipped with bounds, invariances, cross-validated estimation, and bootstrap confidence intervals. Second, Explainable Throughput Decomposition (ETD) uses Shapley values to provide an efficiency-preserving attribution of throughput, together with non-asymptotic Monte Carlo error guarantees and convexity (Jensen) gap bounds. Third, we develop an exact Markov analytic framework for branch predictors, including a closed-form misprediction rate for a two-bit saturating counter under a two-state Markov branch process and its i.i.d. corollary. Additionally, we establish an identifiability theorem for recovering event rates from aggregated hardware counters and provide stability bounds under noise.
title Glass-Box Analysis for Computer Systems: Transparency Index, Shapley Attribution, and Markov Models of Branch Prediction
topic Performance
Hardware Architecture
68M20, 60J10
C.1.1; C.4
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19027