On-chip networks: Two sides of the same coin

Two key concepts that will drive design in future years are low power and network design. Although at times it has been nearly impossible to understand what a certain design can or can´t do for an application, things have improved lately thanks to the NoC benchmarking initiative. Now, for example, various optimizations can be compared and contrasted, using the same set of benchmarks, to understand what benefits—for instance, in terms of performance or energy—a network-based approach can bring to an application. It´s necessary, however, to dig much deeper into the science of networks, and reach beyond the established confines of digital design if the potential of this new design paradigm is to be harnessed.