The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 16, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2005
Philip R. Haratsaris, Longmont, CO (US);
Philip R. Haratsaris, Longmont, CO (US);
Xilinx, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods of packing a design into a programmable logic device (PLD) using ant colony optimization. An augmented graph is assigned to the design, e.g., nodes and edges are defined based on sub-circuits and interconnections in the design, and a topological order is assigned to the nodes. An equation is determined for probabilistic behavior of packing agents at each node, and an initial pheromone value is assigned to each edge. In each iteration, each of 'M' packing agents makes a tour of the graph, with merging decisions being made at each node in a probabilistic manner determined by the equation and pheromone values. The M resulting packing implementations are scored, and the best packing implementation is used to change the pheromone values for the next iteration. The probabilistic equation and scoring can be based on timing, area, and/or power constraints, for example. The process is complete when predefined criteria are met.