Bus system and path decision method therefor

A bus system comprising:

• a ring bus;
• a plurality of functional blocks which are connected to the ring bus and transmit and receive data through the ring bus;
• and
• at least one short-cut bus which is separate from the ring bus and transmits data from one of the functional blocks to another of the functional blocks.

A bus system comprising:

• a plurality of functional blocks;
• a ring bus comprising a plurality of nodes;
• at least one short-cut bus which directly connects one node of the ring bus to another node of the ring bus;
• a first bus connector which connects a first of the plurality of functional blocks to a first node, the first node being one of the plurality of nodes of the ring bus;
• and
• a second bus connector which connects a second of the plurality of functional blocks to a second node connected to the short-cut bus, the second node being one of the plurality of nodes of the ring bus.

A system-on-chip on which a bus system is laid out, the bus system comprising:

• a plurality of functional blocks;
• a ring bus comprising a plurality of nodes;
• at least one short-cut bus which directly connects one of the plurality of nodes of the ring bus to another node thereof,
• a first bus connector which connects a first of the plurality of functional blocks to a first node, the first node being one of the plurality of nodes of the ring bus;
• and
• a second bus connector which connects a second of the plurality of functional blocks to a second node connected to the short-cut bus, the second node being one of the plurality of nodes of the ring bus.

A method of selecting a path through which data is transmitted from one functional block to another functional block in a bus system including a plurality of functional blocks, a ring bus comprising a plurality of nodes, at least one short-cut bus which directly connects one node of the ring bus to another node of the ring bus, a first bus connector which connects a functional block to a node of the ring bus, and a second bus connector which connects a functional block to a node connected to the short-cut bus, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) synthesizing the bus system;
• (b) laying out the bus system;
• (c) simulating a case where the short-cut bus is used when data is transmitted from each of the functional blocks to another of the functional blocks and a case where the short-cut bus is not used and selecting one case based on the result of simulation;
• and
• (d) loading a bus selection table, which is obtained in step (c) to be referred to for selection of a bus, into the arbiter.