Efficient DVFs operation in NOCs through a proper congestion management strategy

Abstract

As technology advances, applications demand more and more computing power. However, achieving the required performance is not nowadays the single target, as reducing power consumption has become a key issue. In that sense, power-control mechanisms such as Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) are introduced in order to dynamically adapt frequency and voltage to the actual computingpower demands of applications. However, these techniques may not be as efficient as expected due to delays caused by frequency-voltage changes. Furthermore, data flows generated at high rates may cross slow voltagefrequency islands, thereby leading to congestion inside the on-chip network. To alleviate this problem, we propose a combined DVFS and congestion management strategy. Specifically, the policies to adjust DFVS levels are tuned cooperatively with the congestion management strategy, leading to power-saving achievements of up to 26% and latency improvements for non-congested traffic of up to 43%.