Progressive insertion placement of elements on an integrated circuit

Claim 1

A method of determining the placement of a plurality of interrelated elements to be placed in fixed physical location and thereafter interconnected to form a functional integrated system, said method comprising the steps of: a. randomly determining for each of a plurality of elements a respective different one of plural physical locations to establish a preliminarily determined location for each element, said randomly determining being an intermediate placement determining; b. recording said randomly determined locations; c. scoring a placement interconnection score for all of the elements according to said randomly determined locations, said score being a first score; d. establishing a predetermined order of placement for each element; sequentially placing, according to said predetermined order, an element in all available locations, scoring said placement with respect to all other elements based on the last recorded locations of said all other elements, and recording the placement of said placed element in the location obtaining the best score; f. repeating step "e" for all said elements; g. if the final score of steps "e" and "f" is better than said first score, in an intermediate placement determining, determining the placement of all said circuit elements according to the last occurring recorded placement of steps "e" and "f" and setting said first score to said final score, otherwise maintaining the current intermediate determined placement; and h. repeating steps "e", "f" and "h" until the final score in step "g" is no better than said first score for a predetermined number of sequential repetitions, the intermediate determined placements at the end of this step being the finally determined placements.

Claim 2

A method of determining the placement of a plurality of interrelated elements to be placed in fixed physical location and thereafter interconnected to form a functional integrated system, said method comprising the steps of: a. randomly determining for each of a plurality of elements a respective different one of plural physical locations to establish a preliminarily determined location for each element, said randomly determining being an intermediate placement determining; b. recording said randomly determined locations; c. scoring a placement interconnection score for all of the elements according to said randomly determined locations, said score being a first score; d. establishing a predetermined order of placement for each element; sequentially placing, according to said predetermined order, an element in all available locations, scoring said placement with respect to all other elements based on the last recorded locations of said all other elements, and recording the placement of said placed element in the location obtaining the best score; f. repeating step "e" for all said elements; g. if the final score of steps "e" and "f" is better than said first score, in an intermediate placement determining, determining the placement of all said circuit elements according to the last occurring recorded placement of steps "e" and "f" and setting said first score to said final score, otherwise maintaining the current intermediate determined placement; and h. repeating steps "e", "f" and "h" until the final score in step "g" is no better than said first score for a predetermined number of sequential repetitions, the intermediate determined placements at the end of this step being the finally determined placements.