Power- and performance-efficient cluster-based network-on-chip with reconfigurable topology

Topology is widely known as the most important characteristic of networks-on-chip (NoC), since it highly affects overall network performance, cost, and power consumption. In this paper, we propose a reconfigurable architecture and design flow for NoCs on which a customized topology for any target application can be implemented. In this structure, the nodes are grouped into some clusters interconnected by a reconfigurable communication infrastructure. The nodes inside a cluster are connected by a mesh to benefit from the interesting characteristics of the mesh topology, i.e. regular structure and efficient handling of local traffic. A reconfigurable inter-cluster topology then eliminates the major shortcoming of the mesh by providing short paths between remotely located nodes. We then present a design flow that maps the frequently communicating tasks of a given application onto the same cluster and exploits the reconfigurable infrastructure to set up appropriate inter-cluster connections. The experimental results show that by efficiently handling local and long-distance traffic flows, this structure is scalable, and power- and performance-efficient.