Fast timing-driven partitioning-based placement for island style FPGAs

Abstract

In this paper we propose a partitioning-based placement algorithm for FPGAs. The method incorporates simple, but effective heuristics that target delay minimization. The placement engine incorporates delay estimations obtained from previously placed and routed circuits using VPR [6]. As a result, the delay predictions during placement more accurately resemble those observed after detailed routing, which in turn leads to better delay optimization. An efficient terminal alignment heuristic for delay minimization is employed to further optimize the delay of the circuit in the routing phase. Simulation results show that the proposed technique can achieve comparable circuit delays (after routing) to those obtained with VPR while achieving a 7-fold speedup in placement runtime.