A heuristic algorithm for optimal placement of rectangular objects

The problem of partitioning a two-dimensional area into pieces having certain sizes with a minimum of wasted space is very important, especially in packing components tightly in the manufacture of very large-scale integrated circuits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the problem of placing rectangular objects in a rectangular area so as to minimize the wasted space. from the viewpoint of establishing maximum empty rectangles rather than the standard linear-programming approach. A comparison of our results with those of the Steudel [S] is reported. Empirical comparisons of our results indicate that our algorithm is very simple and efficient.