neural_processor_packed.v: split the original single "Stage 1" (packed
DSP48E1 multiply + INT8 unpack + register) into two real stages --
Stage 1a registers the raw DSP48E1 product with zero logic in between,
Stage 1b does the carry-heavy unpack (the real critical path EXP-0094
traced) from that already-registered value. Adds exactly one real
clock cycle of latency; throughput unaffected (real valid/ready
handshaking throughout, no fixed-latency assumption downstream).
Real verification: isolated bit-exact vs 2x real neural_processor.v
(18/18 PASS, testbench fixed to latch each core's result independently
since result_valid is a one-shot pulse and the DUT is now one cycle
deeper -- not an RTL bug). Full-system functional xsim on real DDR3:
32/32 PASS. Real, full P&R: WNS=+0.269ns, WHS=+0.026ns, 0 failing
setup or hold endpoints -- N=16 TIMING CLOSES.
Also root-caused (not an RTL bug, folded into CLAUDE.md): a real
Vivado incremental-synthesis quirk silently carried forward a
N_GROUPS=2 parameter binding from an earlier sweep run despite no
-generic override and an intervening reset_run -- fixed by always
passing -generic explicitly and confirming the real elaborated value
via a post-synth DSP48E1 count.
Isolated on this branch -- does not touch the physical board already
in fabrication on v3-artix7 (N=8, unmodified).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01MUG92aM9m68TRc4rG55BcC
micheleandClaude Sonnet 5
f9b366d747