Increasing NoC Performance and Utilisation Using a Dual Packet Exit Strategy

When designing a network the use of buffers is inevitable. Buffers are used at the entry point, inside and at the exits of the network. The usage of these buffers significantly changes the performance of the system as a whole. In order to enhance the buffer utilisation the concept of letting more than one packet exit the network at every switch each clock cycle is introduced - Dual Packet Exit (DPE). The approach is tried on a 4x4 and a 6x6 mesh. The authors demonstrate the buffers used in combination with different routing strategies for best effort performance.