On the circuit implementation problem

The authors consider the problem of selecting an implementation of each circuit module from a cell library so as to satisfy overall delay and area (or delay and power) requirements. Two versions of the circuit implementation problem, the basic circuit implementation problem and the general circuit implementation problem, are shown to be NP-hard. A pseudo-polynomial-time algorithm for the basic circuits is developed, and heuristics for the basic circuit implementation problem on general circuits are formulated and experimented with