Design and evaluation of a high throughput robust router for network-on-chip

• Published in: IET computers & digital techniques Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 173 - 179
• Main Authors: Alhussien, A., Wang, C., Bagherzadeh, N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stevenage Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.05.2012; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Algorithms; Applied sciences; Channels; Chips; Design engineering; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Failure; Fault tolerance; Faults; Hardware; Input-output equipment; Integrated circuits; Integrated circuits by function (including memories and processors); Routers; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Testing, measurement, noise and reliability; Performance evaluation; Interconnection network; Supercomputing; Processor; Adaptive algorithm; Network architecture; Router; System on a chip; Failures; Deadlock; Fault tolerance; Integrated circuit; Robustness; Miniaturization; Fault tolerant system; Defect detection
• ISSN: 1751-8601; 1751-861X
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-cdt.2011.0082

Network-on-chip (NoC) systems have been proposed to achieve high-performance computing where multiple processors are integrated into one chip. As the number of cores increases and the chips are scaled in the deep submicron technology, the NoC systems become subject to physical manufacture defects and running-time vulnerability, which result in faults. The faults affect the performance and functionality of the NoC systems and result in communication malfunctions. In this study, a fault tolerant router design with an adaptive routing algorithm that tolerates faults in the network links and the router components is proposed. The approach does not require the use of virtual channels and assures deadlock freedom. Furthermore, the experimental results show that the proposed architecture can tolerate multiple failures and prove robustness and fault tolerance with negligible impact on the performance.