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PCB routing on unstructured meshes with conflict-based search

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Abstract

In electronic design automation (EDA), routing for printed circuit boards (PCBs) is a critical and challenging task. As component density increases, traditional grid-based routing methods face challenges in both efficiency and success rates. To address this, we propose an enhanced conflict-based search (CBS) algorithm applied to Delaunay grids, termed UGPCB-CBS. We treat the routing problem as a specialized multi-robot path-planning issue, using the CBS algorithm on unstructured grids to improve efficiency and success rates. Our method incorporates map modeling that combines artificial potential field path generation with Delaunay triangulation, effectively handling complex obstacle recognition and avoidance. Tests on open-source datasets show that compared to existing PCB routers, our approach offers advantages and potential in execution speed and routing outcomes. This research extends robot path planning to the EDA domain, providing new perspectives and solutions for PCB routing.

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Acknowledgements

This research work was supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project (2021ZD0114600) and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20220818102002005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Jianhao Cao & Ning Xu

  2. School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, 430200, China

    Hao Cai

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  1. Jianhao Cao
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  2. Hao Cai
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  3. Ning Xu
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Correspondence to Ning Xu.

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Cao, J., Cai, H. & Xu, N. PCB routing on unstructured meshes with conflict-based search. J Supercomput 81, 1063 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-025-07569-0

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