Network on Chip-Based SoC
Hoi‐Jun Yoo, Kangmin Lee, Jun Kyoung Kim · 2018
A design model based on a Network On Chip (NoC) proposes as a solution for interconnection techniques of large-scale System on Chip (SoC&s;s). This chapter briefly describes the advantages and building blocks of NoC and then considerations for real chip implementation of the NoC. It explains the benefits of adopting NoC for SoC design. The chapter summarizes the pros and cons of a NoC-based design and a bus-based design. It focuses on the communication part, the functions of which are provided by NoC. As an example of an NOC-based SoC platform, Micro-Network was developed from Sonics. The chapter introduces the circuits of the basic building blocks of the NoC. The basic building blocks are high-speed signaling circuits, queuing buffers and memories, switches, and crossbar switch schedulers. The practical design of NoC comprises of Topology Selection, Routing Scheme, Switching Scheme, Phit Size Determination, Mesochronous Synchronizer. It provides the detailed comparison between the mesh and hierarchical star topologies.