Effects of FPGA Architecture on FPGA Routing

Although many traditional Mask Programmed Gate Array (MPGA) algorithms can be applied to FPGA routing, FPGA architectures impose critical constraints and provide alternative views of the routing problem that allow innovative new algorithms to be applied. This paper describes routing models provided by some commercial FPGA architectures, and points out the effects of these architectures on routing algorithms. Implicit in the discussion is a commentary on current and future research in FPGA routing.