Impact of Variable Token Slotting in Performance of Hybrid Network-on-Chip

As multi-core processors become more advanced, ensuring fast and efficient communication across the chip remains a significant challenge. Traditional Network-on-Chip (NoC) architectures rely on power-hungry wired connections that route data through multiple routers. This study aims to evaluate the performance impact of different wireless communication management schemes in Hybrid NoC architectures, which combine both wired and wireless networks. Specifically, we analyze the performance differences between existing Uniform Slot Allocation schemes, where each Hybrid Router (HR) receives equal transmission cycles, and our proposed Variable Slot Allocation scheme, which employs a non-uniform distribution of slots. The research addresses a gap in understanding how dynamic allocation of wireless transmission opportunities affects overall network efficiency. Using a gem5 simulator with wireless features, we evaluated an 8×8 hybrid mesh under uniform random, hotspot, and bursty traffic patterns. Our results demonstrate that the variable Slot Allocation scheme can significantly reduce the waiting time for the token at HRs, though token wastage at HRs remains a challenge that requires further investigation.