PyPUT: Python-based Placement Utilities Toolset

In the placement stage of a standard-cell design flow, a set of cells must be placed within a specified rectangular region, that may contain obstacles, in such a way that overlaps and overflows are non-existent and a target function is optimized. An efficient placement algorithm combined with an appropriate routing algorithm can attain a design without manufacturability issues. Although placement is in the forefront of Physical Design research, there is a distinct lack of libraries and/or toolsets that can be used to develop the aforementioned algorithms. In this paper we present an open-source Python-based toolset for the development of placement algorithms.