A new algorithm for routing-aware net placement in cross-referencing digital microfluidic biochips

Abstract

Digital micro fluidic biochips (DMFB) represent a new generation lab-on-a-chip architecture based upon micromanipulation of droplets via a programmed external electric field by an individually addressable 2D electrode array. DMFBs are classified as: Direct addressing and Cross-referencing biochips. Cross-referencing biochip technology scales down the number of pins per chip drastically, thereby reducing the costs of manufacturing and testing. However, these chips face a serious issue in terms of electrode interference during simultaneous routing of droplets. In this paper, we propose a routing-aware zone-based detailed placement scheme that rearranges the droplet locations on a pre-synthesized Bioassay schematic. The objectives of the proposed scheme include (i) an improved routing in respect of less overall routing time, more cell utilization, less crossover with intelligent collision avoidance, and (ii) enhanced pin sharing overcoming the major issue of electrode interference for Cross-referencing biochips. Simulations are carried out on four test benches of Benchmark suite III, and the results obtained are encouraging. © 2012 IEEE.