A Fast Escape Router for Large-Scale Staggered-Pin-Array PCBs

Compared with regular pin array, staggered pin array enjoys a larger pin density in printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, the routing efficiency and scalability are degraded due to the increased routing complexity in staggered pin array PCBs. This paper proposes a fast escape routing method for staggered pin arrays, which extends an ultrafast rule-based escape routing algorithm from Manhattan routing to diagonal routing. Experimental results show that, compared with the state-of-the-art escape routing method, our proposed method enjoys notable improvements in both effectiveness and efficiency in routing large-scale staggered-pin-array PCBs. 100x speedup in runtime is obtained by our method. Our method also demonstrates the potential for efficiently routing routing large-scale designs with up to 160k terminals.