A Holistic Approach to Design Network-on-chip Architectures: Design Challenges of System-on-Chip(SoC) Architecture

- With the advent of deep sub-micron technology, System-on-Chip (SOC) architectures are becoming possible for a range of applications. However, as single chip systems become a reality, ingenious solutions are needed for many arising architectural issues. One such issue is the design of an on-chip interconnect to facilitate communications among different IP blocks. - The integration of multiple cores on a single die has signaled the beginning of a communication- centric design philosophy rather than a computationally centered one. Further, the introduction of nano-scale technology has emphasized the importance of a communication-conscious design where global wiring delays do not scale down as fast as gate delays in newer technologies. Therefore, on- chip interconnections are expected to be a major hurdle in the design of embedded SoC architectures and high-performance multicore architectures alike.