Customized computer-aided application mapping on NoC infrastructure using multi-objective optimization

Abstract

Network-on-chips (NoC) is considered the next generation of communication infrastructure in embedded systems, which are omnipresent in different environments, such as cars, cell phones, and digital cameras. In the platform-based design methodology, an application is implemented by a set of collaborating intellectual properties (IPs) blocks. The selection of the most suited set of IPs as well as their physical mapping onto the NoC infrastructure to implement efficiently the application at hand are two hard combinatorial problems. In this paper, we propose the use of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms to perform the assignment and mapping stages of any given application on a customized NoC infrastructure. The resulting NoC platform is custom-cut for the application at hand. Only the actually used resources, switches and channels by the application mapping are part of the customized implementation platform. The optimization is driven by the minimization of required hardware area, the imposed execution time and the necessary power consumption of the final implementation, and yet avoiding hot spots.