Preliminaries

This book discusses problems of “optimal interconnection” and describes efficient algorithms for several basic formulations. Our domain of application is the computer-aided design (CAD) of very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, wherein interconnection design is now one of the most actively studied areas. However, much of what we develop can be applied to other domains ranging from urban planning to the design of communication networks. Because most formulations that we study are intractable, the term “optimal” in some sense is a misnomer: rather, our focus is on the reasoned and principled development of good heuristics.