A parallel algorithm for channel routing on a hypercube

A new parallel simulated annealing algorithm for channel routing on a P processor hypercube is presented. The basic idea used is to partition a set of tracks equally among processors in the hypercube. In parallel, P/2 pairs of processors perform displacements and exchanges of nets between tracks, compute the changes in cost functions, and accept moves using a parallel annealing criteria. Through the use of a unique distributed data structure, it is possible to minimize message traffic and add versatility and efficiency in a parallel routing tool. The algorithm has been implemented and is being tested on some of the popular channel problems from the literature.