Energy is a primary constraint in processor design, and much of that energy is consumed in on-chip communication. Communication can be intra-core (e.g., from a register file to an ALU) or inter-core (e.g., over the on-chip network). In this paper, we use the on-chip network (OCN) as a case study for saving on-chip communication energy. We have identified a new way to reduce the OCN's link energy consumption by using line coding, a longstanding technique in information theory. Our line codes, called Low-Energy Line Codes (LELCs), reduce energy by reducing the frequency of voltage transitions of the links, and they achieve a range of energy/performance trade-offs.

翻译：能耗是处理器设计中的主要约束条件，其中大部分能耗消耗在片上通信中。通信可以是核内通信（例如从寄存器文件到算术逻辑单元）或核间通信（例如通过片上网络）。本文以片上网络（OCN）为案例研究，探讨如何节省片上通信能耗。我们提出了一种通过使用线码（信息论中的一项长期技术）来降低OCN链路能耗的新方法。我们提出的线码称为低能耗线码（LELCs），通过降低链路电压转换频率来减少能耗，并实现了一系列能耗与性能的权衡。