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Main Authors: Hao, Cong, Kahng, Andrew B., Pramanik, Bodhisatta, Youssef, Ismael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.01078
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author Hao, Cong
Kahng, Andrew B.
Pramanik, Bodhisatta
Youssef, Ismael
author_facet Hao, Cong
Kahng, Andrew B.
Pramanik, Bodhisatta
Youssef, Ismael
contents 3D field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) promise higher performance through vertical integration. However, existing placement tools, largely inherited from 2D frameworks, fail to capture the unique delay characteristics and optimization dynamics of 3D fabrics. We introduce a 3D FPGA placement flow that integrates partitioning-based initialization, adaptive cost scheduling, refined delay estimation, and a simulated annealing move set -- all targeted at 3D FPGA architecture. Together, these enhancements improve timing estimates and the exploration of layer assignments during placement. Compared to Verilog-To-Routing (VTR), our experiments show geometric-mean (max) critical-path delay reductions of ~3% (~7%), ~2% (~4%), ~3% (~8%), and ~6% (~18%) for four 3D architectures: 3D CB, 3D CB-O, 3D CB-I, and 3D SB, respectively. We also achieve geometric-mean (max) routed wirelength reductions of ~1% (~3%), ~2% (~8%), < 1% (~5%), and ~5% (~10%), respectively. Our work will be permissively open-sourced on GitHub.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_01078
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Escaping Flatland: A Placement Flow for Enabling 3D FPGAs
Hao, Cong
Kahng, Andrew B.
Pramanik, Bodhisatta
Youssef, Ismael
Hardware Architecture
3D field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) promise higher performance through vertical integration. However, existing placement tools, largely inherited from 2D frameworks, fail to capture the unique delay characteristics and optimization dynamics of 3D fabrics. We introduce a 3D FPGA placement flow that integrates partitioning-based initialization, adaptive cost scheduling, refined delay estimation, and a simulated annealing move set -- all targeted at 3D FPGA architecture. Together, these enhancements improve timing estimates and the exploration of layer assignments during placement. Compared to Verilog-To-Routing (VTR), our experiments show geometric-mean (max) critical-path delay reductions of ~3% (~7%), ~2% (~4%), ~3% (~8%), and ~6% (~18%) for four 3D architectures: 3D CB, 3D CB-O, 3D CB-I, and 3D SB, respectively. We also achieve geometric-mean (max) routed wirelength reductions of ~1% (~3%), ~2% (~8%), < 1% (~5%), and ~5% (~10%), respectively. Our work will be permissively open-sourced on GitHub.
title Escaping Flatland: A Placement Flow for Enabling 3D FPGAs
topic Hardware Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.01078