Reinforced Logic-Based Distributed Routing within Isolated Secure Zones

Multiprocessor systems-on-chip (MPSoCs) have become the foundation of critical applications in AI, IoT, and autonomous systems. The Network-on-Chip (NoC) is the communication backbone of MPSoCs, enabling smooth and scalable communication between processing elements. Keeping it secure against evolving threats is imperative. Modern processor vulnerabilities expose MPSoCs to threats like timing side-channel (TSC) and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, where attackers can infect IP blocks at runtime to target the NoC. This is especially concerning in shared-resource environments, where the lack of strict isolation between components enables wider propagation of such attacks. Routing within isolated secure zones can efficiently deal with such attacks. However, existing secure-zone-based approaches are based on routing tables, which become inefficient and unscalable with increases in NoC sizes, necessitating an adaptive and logic-based approach. Although the scalability offered by the latter increases, it is limited in coverage of complex topologies. This paper presents a logic-based distributed routing strategy using the divide-and-conquer principle (LBDRr). It enhances the topological coverage of traditional LBDR methodologies by dividing irregular topologies into a combination of minimal path sub-topologies. (LBDRr) is used to isolate sensitive data within secure zones, ensuring the system’s integrity against interapplication attacks. Experimental results validate the efficacy of the proposed routing algorithm. Its performance was evaluated by comparison with a state-of-the-art routing table-based approach, demonstrating improved performance, security, and scalability.