Subexponential Algorithms for Rectilinear Steiner Tree and Arborescence Problems

The minimum rectilinear Steiner tree (RST) problem is one of the fundamental problems in the field of electronic design automation. The problem is NP-hard, and much work has been devoted to designing good heuristics and approximation algorithms; to date, the champion in solution quality among RST heuristics is the Batched Iterated 1-Steiner (BI1S) heuristic of Kahng and Robins (1992). In a recent development, exact RST algorithms have witnessed spectacular progress: the new release of the GeoSteiner code of Warme, Winter, and Zachariasen (1998) has average running time comparable to that of the fastest available Bl1S implementation, due to Robins. We are thus faced with the paradoxical situation that an exact algorithm for an NP-hard problem is competitive in speed with a state-of-the-art heuristic for the problem. The main contribution of this paper is a new RST heuristic, which has at its core a recent 3/2 approximation algorithm of Rajagopalan and Vazirani (1999) for the metric Steiner tree problem on quasi-bipartite graphs-these are graphs that do not contain edges connecting pairs of Steiner vertices. The RV algorithm is built around the linear programming relaxation of a sophisticated integer program formulation, called the bidirected cut relaxation. Our heuristic achieves a good running time by combining an efficient implementation of the RV algorithm with simple, but powerful geometric reductions. Experiments conducted on both random and real VLSI instances show that the new RST heuristic runs significantly faster than Robins' implementation of BI1S and than the GeoSteiner code. Moreover, the new heuristic typically gives higher-quality solutions than Bl1S.

An optimum rectilinear Steiner tree for a set A of points in the plane is a tree which interconnects A using horizontal and vertical lines of shortest possible total length. Such trees correspond to single net wiring patterns on printed backplanes which minimize total wire length. We show that the problem of determining this minimum length, given A, is $NP$-complete. Thus the problem of finding optimum rectilinear Steiner trees is probably computationally hopeless, and the emphasis of the literature for this problem on heuristics and special case algorithms is well justified. A number of intermediary lemmas concerning the $NP$-completeness of certain graph-theoretic problems are proved and may be of independent interest.

The rectilinear Steiner tree problem asks for a shortest network connecting n terminals in the rectilinear plane (with L1‐metric). The problem can be considered as a special case of the Steiner tree problem in a grid network obtained by drawing horizontal and vertical lines through terminals. The reductions developed for the network variant of the Steiner tree problem can therefore also be used in the rectilinear case. However, computational experience indicates that they are not very powerful in the rectilinear grids. We introduce a limited number of rectilinear reductions based on the geometrical properties of terminals. Experimental results show that these reductions are extremely powerful while being quite simple to verify and easy to implement. For randomly generated problem instances with one terminal per row and column, The number of nonterminals remaining seems to be around 20‐‐25% of their original number. Furthermore, The performance of geometrical reductions improves as the density of terminals in fixed‐size grids grows.

We investigate the role convexity plays in the efficient solution to the Steiner tree problem. In general terms, we show that a Steiner tree problem is always computationally easier to solve when the points to be connected lie on the boundary of a “convex” region. For the Steiner tree problem on graphs and the rectilinear Steiner tree problem, we give definitions of “convexity” for which this condition is sufficient to allow a polynomial algorithm for finding the optimal Steiner tree. For the classical Steiner tree problem, we show that for the standard definition of convexity, this condition is sufficient to allow a fully polynomial approximation scheme.

The switchbox rectilinear Steiner tree problem, which is to construct an optimal rectilinear Steiner tree interconnecting n terminals on the perimeter of a switchbox without crossing any obstacles inside the switchbox, is addressed. An algorithm that computes an optimal switchbox rectilinear Steiner tree in O(F/sub 1/(k)n+F/sub 2/(k)) time, where k is the number of obstacles inside the switchbox and F/sub 1/ and F/sub 2/ are exponential functions of k, is presented. For any constant k, the proposed algorithm runs in O(n) time. As an immediate extension, it is possible to generate m Steiner trees in O(mn) time and select the best one among them. >

The rectilinear Steiner tree (RST) problem is known to be $NP$-complete for an arbitrary set of points in the plane. In this paper we extend the known cases for which solutions can be determined in linear time to include sets of points which generate types of minimum-distance rectangle trees. Rectangle trees are rectilinear, plane $C_4 $-trees. A minimum-distance rectangle tree is a rectangle tree such that the length of a shortest path between any two vertices in the graph is equal to the rectilinear distance (in the plane) between the two vertices. A complete enumeration of minimum-distance rectangle trees is included. The results have application in the design of terminal patterns and wiring layouts for electronic circuitry.

We consider the problem of finding a shortest rectilinear Steiner tree for a given set of points in the plane in the presence of rectilinear obstacles. The Steiner tree is allowed to run over obstacles; however, if we intersect the Steiner tree with some obstacle, then no connected component of the induced subtree must be longer than a given fixed length L. This kind of length restriction is motivated by its application in VLSI design where a large Steiner tree requires the insertion of buffers (or inverters) which must not be placed on top of obstacles. We show that the length-restricted Steiner tree problem can be approximated with a performance guarantee of 2 in O(n logn) time, where n denotes the size of the associated Hanan grid. Optimal length-restricted Steiner trees can be characterized to have a special structure. In particular, we prove that a certain graph, which is a variant of the Hanan grid, always contains an optimal solution. Based on this structural result, we can improve the performance guarantee of approximation algorithms for the special case that all obstacles are of rectangular shape or of constant complexity, i.e. they are represented by at most a constant number of edges. For such a scenario, we give a $\frac{5}{4}\alpha$ -approximation and a $\frac{2k}{2k-1}\alpha$ -approximation for any integral k ≥ 4, where α denotes the performance guarantee for the ordinary Steiner tree problem in graphs.

The rectilinear Steiner tree problem (RSTP) is to find a minimum-length rectilinear interconnection of a set of terminals in the plane. It is well known that the solution to this problem will be the minimal spanning tree (MST) on some set Steiner points. The RSTP is known to be NP-complete. The RSTP has received a lot of attention in the literature and heuristic and optimal algorithms have been proposed. A key performance measure of the algorithm for the RSTP is the reduction rate that is achieved by the difference between the objective value of the RSTP and that of the MST without Steiner points. An evolution algorithm for RSTP based upon the Prim algorithm was presented. The computational results show that the evolution algorithm is better than the previously proposed other heuristics. The average reduction rate of solutions from the evolution algorithm was about 11%, which is almost similar to that of optimal solutions.

The most crucial factor that degrades a high speed VLSI is the signal propagation delay in a routing tree. It is estimated additively by the amount of the source-to-sink path length and total length. To design a routing tree in which these two are balancingly small, we propose an algorithm to construct a spanning tree, by which a tree is constructed in a hybrid way of the Minimum-Tree and Shortest-Path Tree algorithms. The idea is extended to finding such a rectilinear Steiner tree. Experiments are given to show how the source-to-sink path length and total length are balanced and small.

Very large scale integration (VLSI) global routing is typically performed on a rectangular die space amidst multiple IP cores and gates, typically treated as obstacles during net routing. In this paper, we address the global routing problem of a multi-terminal net in presence of obstacles, and name it as Obstacle-avoiding Group Steiner tree (OAGST) construction. The proposed method comprises of the following procedures. Given a number of obstacles, and pins (terminals) on a die, (1) first empty rectangular regions, called maximal empty rectangles, are constructed avoiding obstacles. (2) Next, a split - and - merge technique is adopted to regenerate L-shaped rectilinear regions over the maximal empty rectangles. Partial Rectilinear Steiner tree (RST) is constructed from each L-shaped region by routing the pin terminals inside the region. (3)The split - and - merged regions are next converted to a dual graph following neighbouring corner-stich method. Finally, a complete Obstacle-avoiding Group Steiner tree/Rectilinear Steiner tree is constructed from the dual graph by redundant edge deletion. A comparative study of our algorithm with an existing work shows improvement in many cases.

The rectilinear Steiner tree problem (RSTP) is to find a minimum-length rectilinear interconnection of a set of terminals in the plane. A key performance measure of the algorithm for the RSTP is the reduction rate that is achieved by the difference between the objective value of the RSTP and that of the minimum spanning tree without Steiner points. We introduced four evolutionary algorithm based upon fitness estimation and hybrid operator. Experimental results show that the quality of solution is improved by the hybrid operator and the calculation time is reduced by the fitness estimation. The best evolutionary algorithm is better than the previously proposed other heuristics. The solution of evolutionary algorithm is 99.4% of the optimal solution.

Rectilinear Steiner spanning trees are used in several phases of the VLSI physical design process when collections of terminals must be connected to a common electrical point. The authors present a new linear time heuristic algorithm for generating these rectilinear Steiner trees. They begin with minimal spanning trees and transform those configurations which are never found in the shortest Steiner trees. This decreases the length of the spanning trees. In addition to its speed, the algorithm is straightforward and can be implemented efficiently. Empirical results demonstrate that reductions of over 13% in length are possible, while an average of over 8% reduction is achieved. This compares very favorably to much more complex algorithms. The algorithm is recommended for applications where many spanning trees are needed in a very short time. >

We present a unified (randomized) polynomial-time approximation scheme (PTAS) for the prize collecting traveling salesman problem (PCTSP) and the prize collecting Steiner tree problem (PCSTP) in doubling metrics. Given a metric space and a penalty function on a subset of points known as terminals, a solution is a subgraph on points in the metric space, whose cost is the weight of its edges plus the penalty due to terminals not covered by the subgraph. Under our unified framework, the solution subgraph needs to be Eulerian for PCTSP, while it needs to be a tree for PCSTP. Before our work, even a QPTAS for the problems in doubling metrics is not known. Our unified PTAS is based on the previous dynamic programming frameworks proposed in [Talwar STOC 2004] and [Bartal, Gottlieb, Krauthgamer STOC 2012]. However, since it is unknown which part of the optimal cost is due to edge lengths and which part is due to penalties of uncovered terminals, we need to develop new techniques to apply previous divide-and-conquer strategies and sparse instance decompositions.

The following problems are worth studying: Open problems on the Steiner ratio, such as Chung-Gilbert’s conjecture, Graham-Hwang’s conjecture, and Cielick’s conjecture, etc.. Find better approximation for network Steiner trees and establish an explicit lower bound for the approximation performance ratio of network Steiner trees. Close the gap between the lower bound and the upper bound for the approximation performance ratio of Steiner minimum arborescence. Find more efficient approximation algorithms for on-line and dynamic Steiner minimum trees and various Steiner tree packing problems. Find good approximation algorithms for multi-weighted Steiner trees and multiphase Steiner trees and study close relationship between multi-weighted Steiner trees, multiphase Steiner trees, and phylogenetic trees. Make clear whether there exists a polynomial-time approximation scheme for class Steiner tree in the special case with the real world background and highway interconnection problem. Close the gap between the lower bound and the upper bound for the approximation performance ratio of bottleneck Steiner tree in the Euclidean plane and make clear whether there exists a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the Steiner tree with minimum number of Steiner points and bounded edge-length. Implement efficient approximation algorithms to meet the requests from industries.

What is the effectiveness of local search algorithms for geometric problems in the plane? We prove that local search with neighborhoods of magnitude 1/epsilon^c is an approximation scheme for the following problems in the Euclidean plane: TSP with random inputs, Steiner tree with random inputs, uniform facility location (with worst case inputs), and bicriteria k-median (also with worst case inputs). The randomness assumption is necessary for TSP.