Low-power Networks-on-Chip: Progress and remaining challenges

After a long period of academic and industrial research, networks-on-chips (NoCs) are starting to be incorporated into commercial multi-processor designs. NoCs have proven themselves to scale better than bus-based designs and they are here to stay. It is still important to note, however, that even well-designed NoCs consume a large portion of a given system's power budget. This brief paper and accompanying presentation discuss what options are available to designers who need to reduce NoC power consumption, their benefits, and their limitations. Techniques discussed here include general NoC system design as well as disruptive interconnect mediums and their associated strategies.