A cycle accurate simulation framework for asynchronous NoC design

Abstract

Network-on-Chip (NoC) represents a flexible and scalable interconnection candidate for current and future multi-cores. In such a scenario power represents a major design obstacle, requiring accurate early-stage estimation for both cores and NoCs. In this perspective, Dynamic Frequency Scaling (DFS) techniques have been proposed as a flexible and scalable way to optimize the power-performance trade-off. However, there is a lack of tools that allow for an early-stage evaluation of different DFS solutions as well as asynchronous NoC. This work proposes a new cycle-accurate simulation framework supporting asynchronous NoC design, allowing also to assess heterogeneous and dynamic frequency schemes for NoC routers.