A loosely coupled parallel algorithm for standard cell placement

Abstract

We present a loosely coupled parallel algorithm for the place-ment of standard cell integrated circuits. Our algorithm is a deriva-tive of simulated annealing. The implementation of our algorithm is targeted toward networks of UNIX workstations. This is the very first reported parallel algorithm for standard cell placement which yields as good or better placement results than its serial version. In addition, it is the first parallel placement algorithm reported which offers nearly linear speedup, in terms of the number of processors (workstations) used, over the serial version. Despite using the rather slow local area network as the only means of interprocessor communication, the processor utilization is quite high, up to 98% for 2 processors and 90 % for 6 processors. The new parallel algo-rithm has yielded the best overall results ever reported for the set of MCNC standard cell benchmark circuits. 1.