Escape routing for staggered-pin-array PCBs

To accommodate the ever-growing pin number of complex PCB designs, the staggered pin array is introduced for modern designs with higher pin density. However, the escape routing for staggered pin arrays, which is a key component of PCB routing, is significantly different from that for grid arrays. This paper presents a routing algorithm for the escape routing for staggered-pin-array PCBs. We first analyze the properties of staggered pin arrays, and propose an orthogonal-side wiring style that fully utilizes the routing resource of the staggered pin array. An LP/ILP based algorithm is presented to solve the staggered-pin-array escape routing problem. Experimental results show that our approach successfully completed the routing for all testcases efficiently and effectively.