On-Chip Communication Architectures

4 CHAPTER 1 Introduction

from standard cells to hardware (e.g., custom accelerator) and software (e.g., pro-

cessor core) IP blocks. Collections of these IP blocks can be confi gured into plat-

forms designed for specifi c application domains, which further increases design

reuse. Furthermore, the move toward migration of functionality to software allows

reuse of software libraries that can be mapped onto existing platforms and IP

blocks, which again enhances design reuse. The term Platform-based Design [2]

is often used to represent a preconfi gured silicon architecture using a number of

software and hardware IPs, and is aimed at a specifi c application ...