NRTBox: A Matlab Simulink toolbox for NoC switch performance evaluation and early architectural exploration using discrete event simulation

Early design space exploration has been shown to be an important factor in reducing the development time for Network on Chips. In this paper, we present a Matlab toolbox aimed at the early-stage design space exploration for NoC router design, the router founding element of a NoC. The toolbox is based on the discrete event simulation engine SimEvents. The presented toolbox can be used to graphically design routers and measure their performances (throughput, latency, etc.) A proof of concept design of a 3D NoC router using Toolbox is, also, presented.