Subtle Search Issues: Via Costs

LAYER 1 LAYER 2 Cost to reach this cell:

3 2 3 VIA, cost=20 5 (pathcost to cell
on Layer1)
2 S 2 6 6 +20 (via cost)
3 4 5 + 6 (this Layer2 cell cost)
3 3 3 3 6 31 6 -----------------------------
=31
3 3 3 3 6 6

T 6 6 T

Suppose we want to “expand” from this “5” on Layer1, through a via, to Layer2
Slide 49 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar
Maze Routing: Mid-Point Summary
•  What do we know?
•  Grid-based expansion, one net at a time
•  Can use costs in grid to get different effects
•  Can deal with multiple wiring layers, multi-point nets

•  What don’t you know?

•  Real implementation strategies, real data structures
•  How cells gets “touched” during search: Expanding vs Reaching a cell
•  Subtle interactions between cost strategy and search strategy

•  Next topics: Real implementation mechanics

Slide 50 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar