A TDM slot allocation flow based on multipath routing in NoCs

Networks on chip have evolved as the natural solution for a scalable interconnect that can be automatically generated to suit the needs of the desired application. In this study we focus on improving the efficiency of on-chip networks using alternative routing strategies. We focus on a multi-path slot allocation method in networks with static resource reservations, in particular TDM NoCs. The simplicity of these networks makes it possible to implement this routing scheme without significant hardware overhead. Our proposed method, although displaying large variations between test cases, provides significant overall gains in terms of increased bandwidth or reduced working frequency or area. Our tests show that when using multipath routing the same communication requirements can be mapped on networks working on average at frequencies lower by 24.55% on average, while in individual cases the largest reduction was 60.04%. At the same time we are avoiding problems like deadlock and out-of-order delivery, commonly associated with multipath routing.