Problem

When CPUs, accelerators, and I/O share one interconnect, they compete for bandwidth. Static or centralized allocation leaves bandwidth idle in one place while another component stalls, and contention between components adds interference.

Idea

Overpass is a flexible interconnect system with distributed resource allocation. Each router makes its own allocation decision, so bandwidth follows the traffic of each component without a central arbiter.

CPUlatency-sensitiveAcceleratorbandwidth-heavyI/OburstyMemorysharedOverpass● allocator at every router: no central arbiter
Each router allocates bandwidth locally.

Result

35%higher system performance

Overpass is the third part of my PhD dissertation, with Twine (design stage) and Zipper (bus latency).

My role

I designed and evaluated Overpass as part of my PhD dissertation.

Dissertation: Streamlining High-Performance Heterogeneous Hardware Design