DyML: Dynamic Multi-Level flow control for Networks on Chip

A novel hybrid Dynamic Multi-Level (DyML) flow control scheme for Networks-on-Chip is proposed. DyML uses a buffer fluidity flow monitor for real-time monitoring the incoming traffic volume. Instead of buffering as many flits as a router can afford, DyML dynamically adjusts the proper number of buffering flits. Accordingly, DyML causes less in-transit packets in the network, thus improves packet latency and mitigates traffic congestion. Experiments indicated that DyML averagely improves the latency performance of a state-of-the-art routing algorithm (Odd-Even) by 25.43% in synthetic traffics and by 0.90% in real traffics.