More Terminology: Cell Predecessor

•  Predecessor of cell C on the wavefront: pred(C)

•  pred(C) is a “tag” that tells direction from which cell C was reached; it’s how we found C
•  We mark the cell C data structure when we add it to the wavefront
•  We mark the grid itself, at location C, when the cell is reached

•  Why do we have to remember this?

•  Because we do not mark pathcosts in the grid any longer
•  To backtrace the path, we cannot simply follow the numbers in decreasing order
•  We need a real “trail” that points, cell to cell, from target back to source

Slide 61 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar

 Marking the Predecessor
•  Assume 2 routing layers. 6 pred(C) tags: N, S, E, W, Up, Down
•  Expand (red) cell B, reach (yellow) cell C N

W E

expand reach reach expand

S
expand
B reach
CS
N B C C B
W E
reach C expand B
pred(C)=West pred(C)=East
pred(C)=North pred(C)=South

Predecessor pred(C) is the direction from which cell C was reached

Slide 62 © 2013, R.A. Rutenbar