Networks on Chips

Chapter 1. Networks on Chip

The reason for the growing interest in networks on chips (NoCs) can be explained by looking at the evolution of integrated circuit technology and at the ever-increasing requirements on electronic systems. The integrated microprocessor has been a landmark in the evolution of computing technology. Whereas it took monstrous efforts to be completed, it appears now as a simple object to us. Indeed, the microprocessor involved the connection of a computational engine to a layered memory system, and this was achieved using busses. In the last decade, the frontiers of integrated circuit design opened widely. On one side, complex application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) were designed to address-specific applications, ...