A design principle of the analog neural network for combinatorial optimization: findings from a study on the placement problem

Summary form only given. A design principle of a Hopfield model to be used for combinatorial optimization is discussed through its application to a circuit block placement problem. The authors propose several means to improve the energy function of the Hopfield model, and a tuning rule of its parameters. Computer simulations show that the Hopfield model yields quite satisfactory solutions to the hard combinatorial optimization problem by use of the proposed means. The meaning of the parameter values yielding good solutions is investigated theoretically