An encoding scheme to reduce power consumption in Networks-on-Chip

In this paper we present a novel data encoding scheme to reduce the power dissipation and the energy consumption of the communication system in a network-on-chip (NoC) based system-on-chip (SoC). As technology shrinks an ever more significant fraction of the overall system power/energy budget is due to the on-chip interconnect. It is therefore essential the definition of new methodologies and techniques aimed at optimizing the on-chip communication system not only in terms of performance but also in terms of power. The idea presented in this paper is based on encoding the packets before they are injected into the network in such a way as to minimize both the switching activity and the coupling switching activity in the NoC's links which represent the main factors of power dissipation.