Global placement
Beginner
The first, rough pass that decides about where every part should go, even if a few still overlap.
Novice
The first placement pass. It finds a rough position for every cell that keeps connected cells close, while keeping every small area of the chip below a target fullness. Cells may still overlap a little and are not yet in row slots.
Expert
A continuous optimization over all cell coordinates, with the per-bin density limit turned into a penalty. Modern engines are analytical: quadratic (SimPL, ComPLx) or nonlinear electrostatic (ePlace, RePlAce, DREAMPlace). It stops when density overflow falls below a target such as 10%.
Explained in Placement (Design Flow).
See also: Legalization, Electrostatic (analytical) placement.