Multilayer area routing algorithm as an optimization problem

A highly flexible, multilayer area router is presented. Routing is viewed as an optimization problem with constraints. A set of novel concepts are presented to minimize the cost (including the ability to get out of local minima), where the cost is the shorts (overlaps) between routes and zero cost implies clean routes. This router has been used successfully in high-density processor layouts, which were traditionally done manually owing to difficulties in formalizing and combining the constraints into a solvable model. Besides performing well on standard benchmarks, it also provides excellent routing solutions for real routing problems in the design community