Design space exploration for streaming applications on multiprocessors with guaranteed service NoC

This paper addresses design space exploration for streaming applications (such as MPEG) running on multi-processor platforms with guaranteed service interconnects. In particular, we solve mapping, path selection and router configuration problems. Given the complexity of these problems, state of the art approaches in this area largely rely on greedy heuristics, which do not guarantee optimality. Our approach is based on a constraint programming formulation that combines a number of steps, sequential in classical approaches. Thus, our method has the potential of finding optimal solutions with respect to resource usage under processing and bandwidth constraints. The experimental evaluation shows that our approach is capable of exploring a range of solutions while giving the designer the opportunity to emphasize the importance of various design metrics.