Associating packets of heterogeneous cores using a synchronizer wrapper for NoCs

MPSoCs systems are composed of heterogeneous cores, and for this reason, the cores can present different bandwidth, different clock domains or still they can require an irregular traffic behavior. When networks-on-chip (NoCs) are used to connect these cores, one very often needs some synchronization solution, and due to the mentioned problems, this might be required for synchronous or asynchronous NOCs. In this paper we show a network interface (NI) with a synchronizer wrapper solution. We verified its applicability for different channel widths and buffer depths of a NoC. These network interfaces were used to connect a H.264 decoder and the simulation results demonstrate that the wrapper provides a reliable synchronization solution, and does not compromise the latency of the network. These interfaces have been successfully implemented in a 0.18um CMOS technology.