How Network-on-Chip architectures are powering the future of microcontroller design
Microcontrollers (MCUs) are no longer the humble workhorses of embedded systems. Today’s MCUs rapidly evolve into compact, high-performance computing platforms, integrating artificial intelligence (AI), advanced security features, and real-time processing into power-constrained environments. As the demands on MCUs increase, one foundational component is being reimagined to keep pace: the on-chip interconnect.
By Andy Nightingale, VP of product management and marketing at Arteris
At the heart of this transformation lies the Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture – an increasingly essential innovation that replaces outdated interconnects with a packetized, scalable communication framework.
NoCs enable MCU designers to manage performance bottlenecks, improve power efficiency, and future-proof designs against the escalating complexity of embedded applications.
The interconnect bottleneck in modern MCUs
While sufficient for basic designs, the traditional interconnect approach hits a wall when systems scale. Bus contention, increased routing complexity, and non-deterministic latency introduce inefficiencies and design headaches. NoC architectures provide an alternative that brings a packet-based, structured communication model to integrated circuits.
In the MCU world, this translates into real advantages:
⬤ Scalability: NoCs support many cores and accelerators without redesigning the communication fabric.
⬤ Power Efficiency: Using configurable packetised data and serialization, NoCs reduce wire counts, dynamic power, and routing complexity.
⬤ Latency Management: Deterministic traffic handling and quality-of-service features improve real-time responsiveness.
⬤ Modularity: Engineers can integrate new IP blocks (e.g., AI engines, security modules) without disrupting existing traffic paths.
Power efficiency by design
The most critical advantage of NoC architectures is their
ability to support fine-grained power control. NoCs naturally enable power
domain partitioning, allowing different chip parts to power down independently.
With clock gating and dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), NoCs help reduce dynamic and leakage power without sacrificing system responsiveness.
For example, in automotive MCUs used in electric vehicles or advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), maintaining real-time responsiveness while managing energy consumption is paramount. NoCs provide the infrastructure to prioritize critical data paths while throttling or shutting down others, ensuring optimal energy use under variable workloads.
Safety, Security, and Futureproofing
Modern MCUs often must comply with stringent functional
safety and security standards, particularly in automotive, industrial
automation, and healthcare applications such as ISO26262 and ISO/SAE 21434. NoC
features like deadlock avoidance, fault detection, and latency-aware routing
provide the determinism and reliability needed for mission-critical
applications.
In security-focused designs, NoCs enable traffic isolation between trusted and untrusted zones. This built-in partitioning capability simplifies compliance with evolving regulatory and cybersecurity standards, while introducing security at a hardware level and reducing overall attack surface.
The modular, scalable nature of NoCs makes them well-suited
for futureproofing MCU architectures, supporting emerging workloads and
evolving interconnect standards. With the industry moving toward multi-die and
chiplet-based designs, NoCs
offer a natural framework for die-to-die communication, ensuring that next-generation MCUs can seamlessly scale across package boundaries while
maintaining coherence, performance, and energy efficiency.
The road ahead
Network-on-chip architectures offer a scalable, efficient,
power-aware solution that aligns perfectly with the next generation of
microcontroller requirements. From enhancing bandwidth and lowering wire count
to supporting advanced power management and safety compliance, NoCs are
enabling MCUs to meet today’s needs while preparing for tomorrow’s demands.
Learn more about network-on-chip IP technology from Arteris, the industry leader in connectivity technologies.
