@@ -90,6 +90,29 @@ We did not use pre-trained models in our study. Note that it is impossible to re
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@@ -90,6 +90,29 @@ We did not use pre-trained models in our study. Note that it is impossible to re
**8. What do your results tell us about the use of RL in macro placement?**
**8. What do your results tell us about the use of RL in macro placement?**
- The solutions typically produced by human experts and SA are superior to those generated by the RL framework in the majority of cases we tested.
- The solutions typically produced by human experts and SA are superior to those generated by the RL framework in the majority of cases we tested.
- Furthermore, in our experiments, SA in nearly all cases produces better results than Circuit Training, **using less computational resources**, across both benchmark sets that we studied.
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Testcases</th>
<th>Proxy cost</th>
<th>Wirelength (WL)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>ICCAD04 (IBM)</td>
<td>SA wins 17/17</td>
<td>SA wins 16/17 (HPWL)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Modern IC designs</td>
<td>SA wins 4/6</td>
<td>SA wins 5/6 (routed WL)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
**9. Did the work by Prof. David Pan show that Google open-source code was sufficient?**
**9. Did the work by Prof. David Pan show that Google open-source code was sufficient?**
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@@ -121,7 +144,8 @@ The list of available [testcases](./Testcases) is as follows.
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@@ -121,7 +144,8 @@ The list of available [testcases](./Testcases) is as follows.
In the [Nature Paper](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03544-w), the authors report results for an Ariane design with 133 memory (256x16, single ported SRAM) macros. We observe that synthesizing from the available Ariane RTL in the [lowRISC](https://github.com/lowRISC/ariane) GitHub repository using 256x16 memories results in an Ariane design that has 136 memory macros. We outline the steps to instantiate the memories for Ariane 136 [here](./Testcases/ariane136/) and we show how we convert the Ariane 136 design to an Ariane 133 design that matches Google's memory macros count [here](./Testcases/ariane133/).
In the [Nature Paper](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03544-w), the authors report results for an Ariane design with 133 memory (256x16, single ported SRAM) macros. We observe that synthesizing from the available Ariane RTL in the [lowRISC](https://github.com/lowRISC/ariane) GitHub repository using 256x16 memories results in an Ariane design that has 136 memory macros. We outline the steps to instantiate the memories for Ariane 136 [here](./Testcases/ariane136/) and we show how we convert the Ariane 136 design to an Ariane 133 design that matches Google's memory macros count [here](./Testcases/ariane133/).
We provide flop count, macro type and macro count for all the testcases in the following table.
We provide flop count, macro type and macro count for all the testcases in the following table.
