Entering the Design Competition
Forming a Team
You can enter the competition either as an individual or as a team with up to 4 people.
Procedures
Each team must submit their design archive online by
Oct 9, 2009i Oct 16, 2009. A 4-page design poster paper that explains the design is due the following week on Oct 16, 2009. These design poster papers will be reviewed by the design competition panel and the best papers will be selected to appear in the final FPT'09 proceeding. The authors of these selected will be notified by email no later than Oct 21, 2009. The final camera-ready version of the paper is due on Oct 31, 2009.
The shortlisted winning teams for the design competition will be notified by email by Nov 9, 2009. At least one member from the design team is required to register and attend the conference, during which the overall winner will be announced and prize be awarded. A part of the conference poster session will be dedicated to showcase the shortlisted designs.
How to Submit?
Design Archive
Please submit your design archive at the design competition
file upload site.
Design Poster Paper Submission
Please use the following link. Choose "Design Competition Poster" under Submission Category.
Design Poster Paper Template
The design poster paper should confirm to the conference proceeding format. Please use the templates provided in the
conference paper submission page.
What to Submit?
There are two types of materials you need to submit in order to enter the competition:
- by
9 Oct 2009 16 Oct 2009, an archive of your design materials; and
- by
23 Oct 2009 16 Oct 2009, a design poster paper.
Design Archive
Your design archive can be in any one of the common archive format, such as
.tar.gz,
.zip,
.rar, etc. Within your design archive, you need to submit the following materials:
- README file
- Design files
- FPGA configuration files
- Benchmark results
README
Your README file is an all-in-one document that describes the content of your project. In this file, describe the following:
- Target hardware platform -- the exact system your design was targeted to.
- Compilation instruction -- include procedures as well as exact version of software being used. For Xilinx FPGAs, use only ISE 10.1.3 software. For Altera FPGAs, use only Quartus II software.
- Execution instruction -- Which file should be used? If you are using an uncommon platform, how can one execute/download your FPGA design?
- Basic system design -- system-level block diagrams, design hierarchies, etc.
Design Files
Please include all necessary source files that are needed to compile to the final FPGA configuration file, including HDL and schematic files, as well as other constraint files and project files, etc.
FPGA configuration file
A pre-compiled binary that is ready to be downloaded to the FPGA for testing with a host PC. The binary should execute without any manual intervention. When configured, the FPGA should start polling from the onboard RS-232 for the transmission of puzzle.
Benchmark results
A brief report on the performance of your solver when it is used to solve the
benchmark puzzles. In the report, state the time it took your solver to solve each of the benchmark puzzles, as well as any difficulties or cautions we should be aware of. For example, if you found that you solver solves a puzzle with
N=15 in 1.5 hours, then you may want to state that in this benchmark report so that we can take that into consideration when evaluating your design.
Design Poster Paper
Each team entering the competition must accompany their FPGA design with a four A4-page poster describing their design. Unlike the README file, this poster is a place for you to showcase the innovation and techniques you have employed in designing this FPGA Sudoku solver.
Your poster should include an outline of your solution strategy, include
details of your target system, describe your implemented design, and
report on the results of your benchmark evaluation. A special session
will be organized during the conference to showcase your work!
Note that the submission deadline for the poster is 2 1 weeks after the deadline for submitting the design project itself.