QoS and MPLS design issues in NoCs

Nowadays real application traffic, and especially streaming applications running in multi core environments require more and more bandwidth. Networks on Chips (NoC) should be able not only to provide adequate bandwidth resources but also variable length traffic with multi rate packets, each representing a different class of service (FEC classes) and hence, it should provide QoS support. It is common knowledge that in original networks, QoS provision along with packet forwarding and routing at high rates is supported by the MPLS concept. This paper is a brief and compact survey, that gives a smart look on critical design issues of MPLS technology applied in NoCs, based on recent reference work. All types of MPLS based NoC architectures are presented and their pros and cons are discussed. Moreover, other important issues are pointed out, such as non interference, security and fault management, giving researchers motivation and directions for extended research.