Distributed flit-buffer flow control for networks-on-chip

The combination of flit-buffer flow control methods and latency-insensitive protocols is an effective solution for networks-on-chip (NoC). Since they both rely on backpressure, the two techniques are easy to combine while offering complementary advantages: low complexity of router design and the ability to cope with long communication channels via automatic wire pipelining. We study various alternative implementations of this idea by considering the combination of three different types of flit-buffer flow control methods and two different classes of channel repeaters (based respectively on flip-flops and relay stations). We characterize the area and performance of the two most promising alternative implementations for NoCs by completing the RTL design and logic synthesis of the repeaters and routers for different chanllelisms. Finally, we derive high-level abstractions of our circuit designs and we use them to perform system-level simulations under various scenarios for t...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: CODES
• Authors: Nicola Concer, Michele Petracca, Luca P. Carloni
• Keywords: Alternative Implementations, CODES 2008, Hardware-Software Codesign, flit-buffer flow Control, flow Control Methods