An introduction to interconnection networks and xmulator

摘要: Today, Communication and interconnection between different components of a system limit the performance of most digital systems. In a high-end system today, most of the power is used to drive wires, and most of the clock cycle is spent on wire delay, not gate delay. As technology improves, memories and processors become smaller, faster, and less expensive. The speed of light, however, remains unchanged. The pin density and wiring density that govern interconnections between system components are scaling at a slower rate than the components themselves. Also, the frequency of communication between components is lagging far beyond the clock rates of modern processors. These factors combine to make interconnection the key factor in the success of future digital systems.