ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to provide a detailed survey of the field of very large scale integrated physical design automation with a particular emphasis on state-of-the-art techniques, trends, and improvements that have emerged as a result of the dramatic changes seen in the field. It explores constraints in the specialized domains, and the physical design solutions that address the related problems. The book reviews the underlying data structures and basic algorithmic and optimization techniques that form the basis of the more sophisticated techniques used in physical design automation. It discusses the slicing floorplan representation and describes floorplan representations that are more general: an active area of research. The book shows how the placement problem has changed with technology scaling and explains the new types of constraints. It also describes the role of floorplanning and prototyping in industrial design methodologies.
