A fast online task placement algorithm for three-dimensional dynamic partial reconfigurable devices

Three-dimensional (3D) integration technology provides a great opportunity for reconfigurable devices to increase device performance. Nevertheless, there is no efficient data structure and task placement algorithm to manage 3D dynamic partial reconfigurable (DPR) resources in literature. Inefficient algorithms limit the performance of 3D DPR devices. This study addresses the issue of the 3D task placement problem via a novel data structure named Maximal Empty Cuboid (MEC) list, which is proposed to manage the unoccupied space on the 3D DPR device. No matter if a task is assigned or removed on the device, the MEC list is updated in real-time to record 3D unoccupied resources so that the online task placement can be executed in a shorter time. Experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed task placement algorithm, and results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can make a reduction of at least 39% in terms of the task rejection ratio verifying the algorithm's efficiency.