Survey on real-time network-on-chip architectures

Abstract

Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) are the backbone of communications in a Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) platform. MPSoCs are becoming an unavoidable trend especially with the growing complexity of embedded applications requiring massive parallel computation. Real-time applications make out a significant portion of the embedded field, which cannot be overlooked. However, the use of NoCs in real-time systems imposes complex constraints on the overall design. In this paper, challenges faced, when designing NoCs for real-time applications are discussed. Contributions in this area are surveyed on the level of QoS support, fault tolerance and adaptivity. The surveyed work provides a comprehensive overview of existing real-time NoC architectures and gives an insight towards future promising research points in this field.