Parallel global routing algorithms for standard cells

TLDR: Three different parallel algorithms based on a state-of-the-art global router called TimberWolfSC, implemented by using the Message Passing Interface, are proposed, and evaluated on a wide range of parallel platforms such as the Sun SparcCenter 1000 and the Intel Paragon.

Abstract: In this paper, we propose three different parallel algorithms based on a state-of-the-art global router called TimberWolfSC. The parallel algorithms have been implemented by using the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and have been evaluated on a wide range of parallel platforms such as the Sun SparcCenter 1000 and the Intel Paragon. Our experimental results show good speedups and qualities from two of these parallel algorithms. We have been able to reduce runtimes of some circuits from half an hour to 5 minutes, obtained speedups of about 4.0 to 5.0 on 8 processors, with less than 2-3% degradation of quality of the solutions.