A floorplan exhibits severe routing congestion in the center of the die, specifically on Metal 3 and Metal 4, which are predominantly used for vertical and horizontal macro-to-macro communication. The standard cell utilization in this center area is 85%. Which step will most definitively reduce the congestion?
High standard cell utilization (85%) in an area heavily trafficked by macro-to-macro routes (M3/M4) starves the routing resources. Adding partial placement blockages forces the placement tool to spread the standard cells out (reducing local utilization), freeing up routing tracks for the macro-to-macro nets and directly alleviating congestion. Adding power stripes would actually consume more routing resources and worsen the problem.
