Router1x3 Protocol Design Implementation and Verification with Virtual Cut through Mechanism for Network on Chip (NoC)

Abstract

Hundreds of processors and memory cores are implemented on a single substrate called the System on Chip (SoC). The SoC with bus-based architecture has restrictions on the processing speed of the system and as the design becomes complex and the issue of scalability arises. Hence NoC is designed to enhance the scalability, data reliability, and processing speed with low power consumption by decoupling communication from computations [1]. Using NoC the IP cores of SoC are connected through on-chip routers and send data to each other through packet switching. The router is a processing chip that decides the right path for data transmission, hence the efficient design of the router is essential to enhance the performance and throughput of the system [2]. To reduces latency through the switch, the Virtual cut-through mechanism is a packet switching technique, in which the switch starts forwarding a packet as soon as the destination address is processed by header. Hence the present work focuses on a router input-output protocol design with the Virtual Cut-through mechanism for closed-loop communication. Router 1x3 has a single input port and three output ports. The architecture of Router 1x3 with sub-modules such as FIFO, FSM, Synchronizer, and Register is designed analyzed and verified using Verilog, System Verilog language, and Universal Verification Methodology(UVM). And it is also implemented on Xilinx 14.5 IDE with Spartan-6- XC6SLX45 FPGA.