All approach to the two-dimensional placement problem in circuit layout

In this paper a new approach to the placement problem is introduced. The main idea is to take advantage of what one can do in linear placement in tackling the two-dimensional placement problem. The method consists of three distinct phases, namely: decomposition, linear placement, and iterative improvement Each is clearly spefled out. Both constructive and iterative algorithms are developed. The complexity of computation is analyzed and the method has been tried with practical examples. Although no general conclusion can be made on the effectiveness of the method, it appears that the method is at least comparable to that described in a recent paper [1].