Predicting performance of a circuit design includes determining memory access patterns of kernels of the circuit design for implementation in an integrated circuit (IC) and generating a plurality of different floorplans. Each floorplan specifies a mapping of memory interfaces of the kernels to memories of the selected IC and an allocation of the kernels to a plurality of programmable pattern generator (PPG) circuit blocks of a circuit architecture implemented in the IC. The plurality of different floorplans are executed using the circuit architecture in the IC. The plurality of PPG circuit blocks mimic the memory access patterns of the kernels for each of the plurality of different floorplans during the executing. One or more design constraints are generated based on a selected floorplan. The selected floorplan is selected from the plurality of different floorplans based on one or more performance metrics determined from the executing.