Proteo: The Development of a Practical Network-on-Chip

This thesis discusses Network-on-Chip communications in digital systems. The subject matter is introduced at length, with a summary of the main arguments in favour of the adoption of networked Systems-on-Chip, and an overview of configurations proposed in the literature. The author’s own Proteo Network-on-Chip is then presented. Proteo tries to fulfill most future Network-on-Chip requirements while avoiding major overheads. A discussion of many of the trade-offs in network design is included, as well as the reasoning for specific architectural decisions. Proteo compares favourably to most Networks-on-Chip in terms of simplicity and economy. Special stress is put on the definition of a design methodology and the development of software tools to complement Proteo. The description of Proteo is illustrated with examples taken from an ongoing project consisting in the practical implementation of a multimedia processing platform. The topic of Network-on-Chip is wide-ranging and, although the basic groundwork is in place, a lot of work is still missing. In the last chapter of this thesis, a summary of Proteo achievements and planned futute developments is included.

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