Ruby: Application-specific Networks-on-Chips design procedure based on bandwidth requirement and fault-tolerance

In this paper, a novel procedure is introduced to find an optimal application-specific Network on Chip, considering communication cost and fault-tolerant requirements. The procedure, which is called Ruby, uses a genetic algorithm and a mapping solution to generate a wide range of mappings. A designer can select the optimal mapping from those generated ones, using either a linear function or the fuzzy logic. Ruby enables the designer to customize and prioritize the communication cost and the robustness index. The experimental results reveal the capability of the proposed procedure to explore the design space and assist a designer to find the appropriate mapping from numerous generated solutions. © 2010 IEEE.