Can Miss Ratio Curves Predict Cache Performance?

Miss Ratio Curves (MRCs) serve as a widely recognized tool for cache profiling, offering a comprehensive visualization of the relationship between cache size and miss ratio. This enables users to assess the cost of storage and estimate the impact of cache misses effectively. However, MRCs are constructed based on past requests, raising questions about their suitability for what-if analysis in predicting future cache occupancy. In this work, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of MRCs in predicting cache performance. To achieve this, we explore the influence of the interval during which requests are collected and establish metrics for quantifying the error between predictions and actual outcomes. Our findings highlight that predictive whatif analysis remains an open problem that necessitates thorough investigation and exploration.