Improved port assignment on channel boundaries

Deals with the task of assigning the crossing of nets on channel boundaries in the layout integration of macro cells. The author´s approach to this problem targets both global criteria (overall area, net lengths) and local criteria (improved channel routability). This is done in a two-stage algorithm. In the first stage, all global needs are captured. In the second, all conflicting needs are resolved while taking the specific channel and channel router needs into account. The algorithm is part of Laysys, a layout integration system which was used for the design of the Swordfish ULSI microprocessor