Method and apparatus for determining wire routing

An integrated circuit chip (IC) having pins optimally routed, said optimal routing method comprising the steps of:

• a. defining a grid;
• b. defining each pin of the net as a set of connected pins (c-p-set);
• c. identifying a pair of c-p-sets being closer to each other than any other pair of c-p-sets of the net;
• d. connecting said pair of c-p-sets so as to form a single c-p-set;
• and
• e. repeating steps c to d until one c-p-set remains.

An apparatus for determining the edges for routing a set of pins, said apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory connected to said processor;
• said memory having instructions for said processor to
• a. define a grid for the pins;
• b. define each pin as a set of connected pins (c-p-set);
• c. identify a pair of c-p-sets being closer to each other than any other pair of c-p-sets of the set of pins;
• d. connect said pair of c-p-sets so as to form a single c-p-set;
• and
• e. repeat steps c to d until one c-p-set remains.

A machine-readable storage medium containing instructions for a processor, said instructions comprising the steps for the processor to:

• a. read a net;
• b. define a grid for the pins of said net;
• c. define each pin as a set of connected pins (c-p-set);
• d. identify a pair of c-p-sets being closer to each other than any other pair of c-p-sets of the set of pins;
• e. connect said pair of c-p-sets so as to form a single c-p-set;
• and
• f. repeat steps c to e until one c-p-set remains.