Unified System Network Architecture: Flexible and Area-Efficient NoC Architecture with Multiple Ports and Cores

Abstract

In recent years, as semiconductor manufacturing processes have been steadily scaled down, the transistor count fabricated on a single silicon die can reach up to a billion units. Therefore, current multiprocessor system-on-chips (MPSoCs) can include up to hundreds or even thousands of cores and additional accelerators for high-performance systems. Network-on-chips (NoCs) have become an attractive solution for interconnects, which are critical components of MPSoCs in terms of system performance. In this study, a highly flexible and area-efficient NoC architecture, namely the unified system network architecture (USNA), which can be tailored for various topologies, is proposed. The USNA provides high flexibility in port placements with varying numbers of local cores and router linkers. It also supports quality of service operations for both the router and linker. The network performance (e.g., average latency and saturated throughput) and implementation cost of the USNA, using various network configurations for the same number of local cores under uniform random traffic conditions, were investigated in this study. According to the simulation results, the performance of the USNA is better or similar to other NoCs, with a significantly smaller area and lower power consumption.