Call for Papers – FPGA 2021

Twenty-Ninth ACM/SIGDA
International Symposium on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays

February 28 – March 2, 2021


The 29th ACM/SIGDA International Symposium on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA 2021) is a premier conference for presentation of advances in FPGA technology. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings and available in the ACM Digital Library.


Submission website: 

https://www.softconf.com/l/fpga2021/

Artifact evaluation guide:

https://isfpga.org/artifact-evaluation/

Types of Submissions Sought:

1. Research Papers (with and without Artifacts)

We solicit research papers related to the following areas:

  • FPGA Architecture: Architectures for programmable logic fabrics or their components, including routing, flexible logic cells, embedded blocks (memory, DSP, processors), and I/O interfaces. Novel commercial architectures and architectural features.
  • FPGA Circuit Design: Circuits and layout techniques for the design of FPGAs. Impact of future process and design technologies on FPGAs as well as novel memory memory or nano-scale devices. Methods for analyzing and improving static and dynamic power, power and clock distribution, yield, manufacturability, security, reliability, and testability.
  • CAD for FPGAs: Algorithms for synthesis, technology mapping, logic and timing optimization, clustering, placement, and routing of FPGAs. Novel design software for system-level partitioning, debug, and verification. Algorithms for modeling, analysis and optimization of timing and power.
  • High-Level Abstractions and Tools for FPGAs: General-purpose and domain-specific languages, tools, and techniques to facilitate the design, debugging and verification of FPGA-based applications and systems. Novel hardware/software co-design and high-level synthesis methodologies enabling digital signal processing, compute acceleration, networking, machine learning, and embedded systems.
  • FPGA-based and FPGA-like Computing Engines: Systems and software for compiled accelerators, reconfigurable/adaptive computing, and rapid-prototyping. Programmable overlay architectures implemented using FPGAs.
  • Applications and Design Studies: Implementation of novel designs on FPGAs establishing state-of-the-art in high-performance, low-power, security, or high-reliability. Designs leveraging unique capabilities of FPGA architectures or demonstrating significant improvements over alternative programmable technologies (e.g., CPU, GPU). Design studies or architecture explorations enabling improvement of FPGA architectures.

Research submissions may be either:

  • Full: At most 10 pages (excluding references), for a full presentation at the conference;
  • Short: At most 6 pages (excluding references), for a brief presentation.

A paper submitted as either full or short will only be considered in that category and may include artifacts if desired (see below for more details on artifact submission and evaluation).

2. Tutorial Papers on Emerging Applications / Methodologies

The conference will include a Sunday workshop oriented toward users of FPGAs: be it deep learning implementations, computer security or other emerging topics of interest. For this category, we solicit tutorial papers describing effective design techniques and design flows. The ideal submission will enable beginning researchers to enter the area, current researchers to broaden their scope, and practitioners to gain new insights and applicable skills. Tutorial submissions need not present novel research results, but should integrate expert practical and/or research knowledge related to FPGAs for a broader audience. 

This may include:

  • Technical descriptions of new commercial or academic design tools of general interest;
  • Insightful summaries of the state-of-the-art that suggest open research problems; and
  • In-depth design tutorials and design experiences.

Tutorial submissions are at least 4 and at most 10 pages. Accepted submissions are published in the proceedings and allocated a presentation time of up to one hour, appropriate to the content.

3. Panel Discussion Proposals

We also solicit proposals for the panel discussion at the conference banquet. The submission should outline the topic, questions to be addressed, and suggested speakers

Submission Process:

Submissions of all types should be made in the form of an English language PDF. Papers should use the sigconf ACM format template posted at http://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template/. LaTeX users should use the format used in the sample-sigconf.pdf file under the Samples folder of the zipped master file (downloadable through the LATEX (Version 1.61) link). Microsoft Word users can download the file Interim layout.docx under the Word Authors section of the page. Abstract, Full Paper, and Artifact Submissions must be received by 11:59 PM AoE (Anywhere-on-Earth time zone).


Submissions will be considered for acceptance as full or short regular papers, workshop papers, or posters. Regular submissions related to the workshop topic may be scheduled for presentation during the workshop. Regular or workshop submissions will also be considered for acceptance as a poster. A paper submitted to the short or full paper category will only be considered in that category. Once a paper has been submitted, its authorship list is considered to be fixed and finalized.

Double Blind Policy:

The FPGA Symposium uses a double-blind reviewing system. Manuscripts must not identify authors or their affiliations; those that do will not be considered. References to the authors’ prior work should be made in the 3rd person, in the same way one would reference work by others. If necessary to maintain anonymity, citations may be shown as “Removed for blind review,” but consider that this may impede a thorough review if the removed citation is crucial to understanding the submission. When necessary, authors should cite widely-available Open Source software website(s) without claiming ownership. Grant numbers and other government markings should also be blinded during the review process. Placing a preliminary version of the unpublished paper on arXiv is not disqualifying, but it is also not encouraged. Similarly, if a paper can be unblinded by active search, this is not considered to undermine the spirit of the double-blind review. However, there are resources to blind open-source repositories for review, including: https://github.com/tdurieux/anonymous_github.) If you have questions about how to meet these guidelines, please contact the program chair before the submission deadline.

Reviewer Conflict Policy:

During paper submission, all author(s) conflicts must be registered with all possible program committee members. Conflicts are defined as all relationships that would prevent a reviewer from objectively evaluating the submitted work. This includes, but is not limited to, having within the past 5 years: 1) co-authored a publication, 2) shared a funding award, and 3) shared at least one institutional affiliation. Note: if a conflict is declared (or left undeclared) in an attempt to manipulate the review process, the submission may be rejected. In the situation where the potential conflict is with the program chair, please contact the program chair well before the submission deadline.

For more information about the ACM Conflict of Interest Policy, see: https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/conflict-of-interest

Originality of Submissions:

Papers submitted for FPGA 2021 are guaranteed by the authors to be unique manuscripts and not previously published, currently accepted or under consideration for acceptance at another venue. They cannot be substantially similar to any other current/future conference, journal, or workshop submission(s) unless the content appeared at a venue that does not have an archived proceedings.

Rebuttal Process:

FPGA 2021 includes a rebuttal phase for authors to provide an optional response of up to 500-words to reviewers’ questions and comments. This information is considered during the final deliberation process.

Author participation:

For inclusion in the ACM digital library, at least one of the authors of each accepted submission is required to attend the conference to present the work. Accommodations will be made in the event of travel restrictions and/or a virtual conference. 

Best Paper Award:

Authors of this year’s best manuscripts will be eligible for the conference’s best paper awards. They will also be invited to extend their work for consideration in a special issue of ACM’s Transactions on Reconfigurable Technology and Systems (TRETS) for FPGA 2021.

Artifact Evaluation:

FPGA 2021 will allow authors to submit accompanying artifacts for their paper submissions for evaluation. This process will allow ACM recognized badges to be associated the final publication. The inclusion of artifacts with a submission is not required for a paper submission nor will any preference be given to submissions with artifacts over those without. Papers and artifacts will be subjected to separate and independent review processes. Artifact evaluation must NOT interfere with the double blind reviewing process of their accompanying papers, so all accompanying links in the paper to the artifacts should be blinded. All authors will be required at the time of paper submission to indicate if there will be also be associated artifacts for evaluation. If artifacts will be included, a descriptor of their nature will be required as part of the submission. 

For more information see: https://isfpga.org/artifact-evaluation/

Diversity and Inclusion:

The open exchange of ideas and the freedom of thought and expression are central to the aims and goals of the FPGA 2021 conference. The organizers of FPGA 2021 aim and commit to providing a harassment-free accessible and pleasant conference experience with equity in rights for all. We want every participant to feel welcome included and safe at the conference.

For more information, see: https://isfpga.org/statement-on-diversity-and-inclusion/

Important Dates

All submission deadlines are with respect to 11:59 pm Anywhere on Earth (UTC -12)

Abstracts Due (All Papers) September 7, 2020 (No Extensions)
Submissions Due (All Papers) September 7, 2020
September 14, 2020 (No Extensions)
Artifact Evaluation Forms Due (All Papers) September 7, 2020
September 14, 2020 (No Extensions)
Rebuttals Due October 24, 2020
Notification of Acceptance (All Papers) Late November, 2020
Camera-Ready Submission Due Mid-December, 2020
Early Registration Deadline Feb. 21 2021
Conference Feb. 28 2021 – Mar 2 2021


Contact Information:

For questions about the submission process or technical program, contact:
Michael Adler, Program Chair FPGA 2021, programchair@isfpga.org

For general questions about the conference, contact:
Lesley Shannon, General Chair FPGA 2021, generalchair@isfpga.org

Organizing Committee:

General Chair Lesley Shannon Simon Fraser University
Program Chair Michael Adler Intel
Publications Chair Paolo Ienne EPFL
Finance Chair Stephen Neuendorffer Xilinx
Publicity and Website Chair Dustin Richmond University of Washington
Artifact Evaluation Co-Chair Miriam Leeser Northeastern University
Artifact Evaluation Co-Chair Suhaib Fahmy
KAUST