Merge branch 'master' into xt_tileable_direct_fixup

Author: amin1377

doc/src/Images/Overall_view.png

@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ Manual Moves
 
 The manual moves feature allows the user to specify the next move in placement. If the move is legal, blocks are swapped and the new move is shown on the architecture. 
 
+.. _fig-misc-tab:
 .. figure:: ../Images/manual_move.png
     :align: center
     :width: 25%
@@ -335,3 +336,15 @@ If the manual move is legal, the cost summary window will display the delta cost
 
 The user can Accept or Reject the manual move based on the values provided. If accepted the block's new location is shown. 
 
+Pause Button
+------------
+
+The pause button allows the user to temporarily stop the program during placement or routing.
+When clicked during the placement stage, the program will pause at the next temperature update.
+When clicked during the routing stage, it will pause at the next router iteration.
+
+The button can be pressed at any time while the program is running. To enable the feature, click the **Pause** button under the **Misc.** tab (see :ref:`fig-misc-tab`).
+Once the program reaches the next temperature update or router iteration after the button is pressed, it will automatically pause.
+
+After the program has paused, clicking **Next Step** allows the user to resume execution from the point where the program was paused.
+This can be continuing from the current temperature in placement or from the current router iteration in routing.

doc/src/vpr/graphics.rst

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ How to Cite
 Citations are important in academia, as they ensure contributors receive credit for their efforts.
 Therefore please use the following paper as a general citation whenever you use VTR:
 
-    M. A. Elgammal, A. Mohaghegh, S. G. Shahrouz, F. Mahmoudi, F. Koşar, K. Talaei, J. Fife, D. Khadivi, K. E. Murray, A. Boutros, K.B. Kent, J. Goeders, V. Betz "VTR 9: Open-Source CAD for Fabric and Beyond FPGA Architecture Exploration" ACM TRETS, 2025
+    M. A. Elgammal, A. Mohaghegh, S. G. Shahrouz, F. Mahmoudi, F. Koşar, K. Talaei, J. Fife, D. Khadivi, K. E. Murray, A. Boutros, K.B. Kent, J. Goeders, V. Betz "VTR 9: Open-Source CAD for Fabric and Beyond FPGA Architecture Exploration" ACM TRETS, Vol. 13, No. 3, Sept. 2025, pp. 1 - 53.
 
 Bibtex:
 
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ Bibtex:
       title={VTR 9: Open-Source CAD for Fabric and Beyond FPGA Architecture Exploration},
       author={Elgammal, Mohamed A. and Mohaghegh, Amin and Shahrouz, Soheil G. and Mahmoudi, Fatemehsadat and Kosar, Fahrican and Talaei, Kimia and Fife, Joshua and Khadivi, Daniel and Murray, Kevin and Boutros, Andrew and Kent, Kenneth B. and Goeders, Jeff and Betz, Vaughn},
       journal={ACM Trans. Reconfigurable Technol. Syst.},
+      issue_date = {September 2025},
+      volume = {18},
+      number = {3},
+      numpages = {53},
       year={2025}
     }
 

doc/src/vtr/get_vtr.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/**
+ * @file
+ * @author  Yulang (Robert) Luo
+ * @date    October 2025
+ * @brief   The definitions of the AP Draw Manager class which is used
+ *          to handle graphics updates during analytical placement.
+ */
+
+#include "ap_draw_manager.h"
+#include "vpr_types.h"
+
+#ifndef NO_GRAPHICS
+#include "draw.h"
+#include "draw_global.h"
+#include "partial_placement.h"
+#endif
+
+APDrawManager::APDrawManager(const PartialPlacement& p_placement) {
+#ifndef NO_GRAPHICS
+    // Set the analytical placement reference in draw state
+    get_draw_state_vars()->set_ap_partial_placement_ref(p_placement);
+#else
+    (void)p_placement;
+#endif
+}
+
+APDrawManager::~APDrawManager() {
+#ifndef NO_GRAPHICS
+    // Clear the analytical placement reference in draw state
+    get_draw_state_vars()->clear_ap_partial_placement_ref();
+#endif
+}
+
+void APDrawManager::update_graphics(unsigned int iteration, enum APDrawType draw_type) {
+#ifndef NO_GRAPHICS
+    std::string msg;
+    if (draw_type == APDrawType::Solver) {
+        msg = "Analytical Placement Solver - Iteration: " + std::to_string(iteration);
+    } else if (draw_type == APDrawType::Legalizer) {
+        msg = "Analytical Placement Legalizer - Iteration: " + std::to_string(iteration);
+    } else {
+        msg = "Analytical Placement";
+    }
+    update_screen(ScreenUpdatePriority::MAJOR, msg.c_str(), e_pic_type::ANALYTICAL_PLACEMENT, nullptr);
+#else
+    (void)iteration;
+    (void)draw_type;
+#endif
+}

vpr/src/analytical_place/ap_draw_manager.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#pragma once
+/**
+ * @file
+ * @author  Yulang (Robert) Luo
+ * @date    October 2025
+ * @brief   The decalarations of the AP Draw Manager class which is used
+ *          to handle graphics updates during analytical placement.
+ */
+
+#include <string>
+
+// Forward declarations
+class PartialPlacement;
+
+// Types to indicate the type of drawing operation
+enum class APDrawType {
+    Solver,
+    Legalizer
+};
+
+/**
+ * @class APDrawManager
+ * @brief Manages graphics updates during analytical placement operations.
+ *
+ * This class provides a clean interface for updating the screen during
+ * analytical placement without requiring the placement code to be littered
+ * with NO_GRAPHICS conditional compilation directives.
+ */
+class APDrawManager {
+public:
+    /**
+     * @brief Constructor initializes the draw manager with a reference to the
+     *        current partial placement.
+     */
+    explicit APDrawManager(const PartialPlacement& p_placement);
+
+    /**
+     * @brief Destructor cleans up the reference in the draw state.
+     */
+    ~APDrawManager();
+
+    /**
+     * @brief Update screen with current analytical placement state
+     * @param msg A message to display with the update
+     */
+    void update_graphics(unsigned int iteration, enum APDrawType draw_type);
+};

vpr/src/analytical_place/ap_draw_manager.h

@@ -75,19 +75,6 @@ AnnealerDetailedPlacer::AnnealerDetailedPlacer(const BlkLocRegistry& curr_cluste
         }
     }
 
-    // The solution produced by the AP flow is significantly better than the
-    // initial placement solution produced by the initial placer in the default
-    // flow. Even though the annealer auto-selects its initial temperature based
-    // on the quality of the placement, we found that the initial temperatute was
-    // still too high and it was hurting quality. This scales down the initial
-    // temperature auto-selected by the annealer to prevent this and improve
-    // runtime.
-    // Here we still scale by whatever the user passed in to scale the initial
-    // temperature by, but we also scale it down further. This allows AP to scale
-    // the initial temperature down by default, while still allowing the user
-    // some control.
-    float anneal_auto_init_t_scale = vpr_setup.PlacerOpts.place_auto_init_t_scale * 0.5f;
-
     placer_ = std::make_unique<Placer>((const Netlist<>&)clustered_netlist,
                                        curr_clustered_placement,
                                        vpr_setup.PlacerOpts,
@@ -97,7 +84,7 @@ AnnealerDetailedPlacer::AnnealerDetailedPlacer(const BlkLocRegistry& curr_cluste
                                        netlist_pin_lookup_,
                                        FlatPlacementInfo(),
                                        place_delay_model,
-                                       anneal_auto_init_t_scale,
+                                       vpr_setup.PlacerOpts.place_auto_init_t_scale,
                                        g_vpr_ctx.placement().cube_bb,
                                        false /*is_flat*/,
                                        false /*quiet*/);

vpr/src/analytical_place/detailed_placer.cpp

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <limits>
 #include <memory>
 #include <vector>
+#include "ap_draw_manager.h"
 #include "PreClusterTimingManager.h"
 #include "analytical_solver.h"
 #include "ap_flow_enums.h"
@@ -352,6 +353,10 @@ PartialPlacement SimPLGlobalPlacer::place() {
     PartialPlacement best_p_placement(ap_netlist_);
     double best_ub_hpwl = std::numeric_limits<double>::max();
 
+    // Initialize graphics for analytical placement, setting the reference in
+    // the draw state.
+    APDrawManager draw_manager(p_placement);
+    
     // Run the global placer.
     for (size_t i = 0; i < max_num_iterations_; i++) {
         float iter_start_time = runtime_timer.elapsed_sec();
@@ -361,12 +366,18 @@ PartialPlacement SimPLGlobalPlacer::place() {
         solver_->solve(i, p_placement);
         float solver_end_time = runtime_timer.elapsed_sec();
         double lb_hpwl = p_placement.get_hpwl(ap_netlist_);
+        
+        // Update graphics after analytical solver
+        draw_manager.update_graphics(i, APDrawType::Solver);
 
         // Run the legalizer.
         float legalizer_start_time = runtime_timer.elapsed_sec();
         partial_legalizer_->legalize(p_placement);
         float legalizer_end_time = runtime_timer.elapsed_sec();
         double ub_hpwl = p_placement.get_hpwl(ap_netlist_);
+        
+        // Update graphics after legalizer
+        draw_manager.update_graphics(i, APDrawType::Legalizer);
 
         // Perform a timing update
         float timing_update_start_time = runtime_timer.elapsed_sec();