Future Trends in SoC Interconnect

Self-timed packet-switched networks are poised to take a major role in addressing the problems of timing closure power management and overwhelming complexity in the design of systems-on-chip. The robust, correct-by- construction characteristics of self-timed communications enables each IP block on the SoC to operate in its own isolated timing domain, greatly simplifying the problems of timing validation. The inherent data-driven nature of the self-timed network, combined with the improved wire segmentation provided by the switched network architecture gives greatly improved power management. Design automation software can remove the need for expertise in self-timed design and networking principles, enabling the on-chip interconnect to be treated as an additional IP block within a conventional (synchronous) design flow. The paradigm shift from viewing the SoC design problem as a matter of organizing complex hierarchies of buses with multiple coupled timing domains, where every interface between timing domains must be verified carefully, to viewing the SoC as a problem in network design where those timing issues are automatically isolated, promises significant improvements in designer productivity, component reuse and SoC functionality.