  By combining Three Dimensional Integrated Circuits with the Network-on-Chip
infrastructure to obtain 3D Networks-on-Chip (3D-NoCs), the new on-chip
communication paradigm brings several advantages on lower power, smaller
footprint and lower latency. However, thermal dissipation is one of the most
critical challenges for 3D-ICs where the heat cannot easily transfer through
several layers of silicon. Consequently, the high-temperature area also
confronts the reliability threat as the Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) decreases
exponentially with the operating temperature. Apparently, 3D-NoCs must tackle
this fundamental problem in order to be widely used. Therefore, in this work,
we investigate the thermal distribution and reliability prediction of 3D-NoCs.
We first present a new method to help simulate the temperature (both steady and
transient) using traffics value from realistic and synthetic benchmarks and the
power consumption from standard VLSI design flow. Then, based on the proposed
method, we further predict the relative reliability between different parts of
the network. Experimental results show that the method has an extremely fast
execution time in comparison to the acceleration lifetime test. Furthermore, we
compare the thermal behavior and reliability between Monolithic design and
TSV-based TSV. We also explorer the ability to implement the thermal via a
mechanism to help reduce the operating temperature.
