This book introduces techniques that advance the capabilities and strength of modern software tools for physical synthesis, with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of leading-edge semiconductor products. It provides a comprehensive introduction to physical synthesis and takes the reader methodically from first principles through state-of-the-art optimizations used in cutting edge industrial tools. It explains how to integrate chip optimizations in novel ways to create powerful circuit transformations that help satisfy performance requirements.

• Broadens the scope of physical synthesis optimization to include accurate transformations operating between the global and local scales;
• Integrates groups of related transformations to break circular dependencies and increase the number of circuit elements that can be jointly optimized to escape local minima;
• Derives several multi-objective optimizations from first observations through complete algorithms and experiments;
• Describes integrated optimization techniques that ensure a graceful timing closure process and impact nearly every aspect of a typical physical synthesis flow.

Part I: Introduction and Prior Art.- Timing Closure for Multi-Million-Gate Integrated Circuits.- State of the Art in Physical Synthesis.- Part II: Local Physical Synthesis and Necessary Analysis Techniques.- Buffer Insertion during Timing-Driven Placement.- Bounded Transactional Timing Analysis.- Gate Sizing During Timing-Driven Placement.- Part III: Broadening the Scope of Circuit Transformations.- Physically-Driven Logic Restructuring.- Logic Restructuring as an Aid to Physical Retiming.- Broadening the Scope of Optimization using Partitioning.- Co-Optimization of Latches and Clock Networks.- Conclusions and Future Work.