Extra-dimensional Island-Style FPGAs

This paper proposes modifications to standard island-style FPGAs that provide interconnect capable of scaling at the same rate as typical netlists, unlike traditionally tiled FPGAs. The proposal uses a logical third and fourth dimensions to create increasing wire density for increasing logic capacity. The additional dimensions are mapped to standard two-dimensional silicon. This innovation will increase the longevity of a given cell architecture, and reduce the cost of hardware, CAD tool and Intellectual Property (IP) redesign. In addition, extra-dimensional FPGA architectures provide a conceptual unification of standard FPGAs and time-multiplexed FPGAs.

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