ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with simple rectangular floorplans for one level of a building with single-level floors and constant ceiling heights. It introduces a model for hierarchical floor planning that uses shape functions for rapid and flexible solution of space aspect ratio and area constraints under discrete and continuous modifications. Generators usually implement a floor plan representation based on the concept of dissection. Such a representation for spaces or chip cells tends to be restricted to rectangular shapes and ensures that these do not overlap. Computational support for the generation and modification of floor plans has been an important research focus in the architectural and Very Large Scale Integrated circuits design domains. Despite considerable efforts, computer-assisted generation of floor plans have had mixed success. Several floor planning programs use optimization techniques to evaluate and determine geometric parameters for candidate solutions that have successfully passed tests for topological relations among spaces.
