PBuf: An On-Chip Packet Transfer Engine for MONARCH

This paper describes the architecture and implementation of an on-chip packet interface/router called the packet buffer (PBuf) employed in the MOrphable Networked microARCHitecture (MONARCH). This work provides a brief overview of MONARCH and its subsystems to provide motivation for the PBuf design. MONARCH employs a hierarchy with various levels of address spaces. To connect the subsystems and keep the network complexities low, communication packets undergo an address translation process while passing across the address space boundaries. The PBuf provides protected translation in the midst of superior and inferior address spaces while also serving as an on-chip packet switching router. Additional features, such as its 6 memory to memory block transfer (MMBT) engines, enable it to provide high rate data transfer capabilities.