Maze Router Step 1: Expand

•  Strategy
•  Expand one cell at a time until all the
S shortest paths from S to T are found.
•  Expansion creates a wavefront of
paths that search broadly out from
source cell until target is reached
•  “Reached” means specifically we label
it with a pathlength number
T

Slide 17 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar

Maze Router Step 2: Backtrace
3 2 3 4 5 6 •  Now what? Backtrace
•  Select a shortest-path (any shortest-
2 S 1 2 3 4 5 path) from target back to source
•  Mark its cells so they cannot be used
3 2 3 4 5 6 again – mark them as obstacles for
later wires we want to route
4 3 4 5 6 7 •  Since there are many paths back,
optimization information can be used
5 4 5 6 T 7 to select the best one
•  Here, just follow the pathlengths in
6 5 6 7 the cells in descending order

Slide 18 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar