Methodology for adapting on-chip interconnect architectures

Network-on-chip (NoC) has been proposed to solve the scalability problem experienced in bus-based system-on-chip. The main challenge is the ability to predict the quality of service that the network infrastructure provides while meeting other system constraints, namely power and area. Although these architectures are regular with predictable electrical parameters, they may suffer from higher latency and lower throughput. To tackle this issue, the network structure needs to be adaptable in response to the needs of the application. This paper presents a methodology for augmenting an NoC with a programmable infrastructure that allows application-specific adaptation. Based on the developed infrastructure, an algorithm is also presented for static adaptation based on application traffic patterns. To evaluate the proposed methodology of the adaptable NoC, the WK-recursive on-chip interconnect is used as a case study. Simulations are conducted and reported results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed approach.