Patent ID: 8572540

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for a multi-level technique for approximately placing an object of interest, comprising: in a computing node comprising at least one processor, using the at least one processor to perform a process, the process comprising: clustering a design into a first number of clustered design features at a first level; determining a statistical distribution for a plurality of locations including a first location in the design; performing first approximate placement of the first number of clustered objects of interest, wherein the first approximate placement of the first number of clustered objects of interest corresponds to a first likelihood of the first location that the first location is covered by at least some of the first number of clustered objects of interest in a first final placement of the first number of clustered objects of interest in the design creating or identifying a first pool of approximate placement candidates for the first number of clustered objects of interest; updating the first pool of approximate placement based at least in part upon a result of refining the first approximate placement; determining whether a finer level exists within each of the first number of objects of interest at the first level; and clustering a clustered object of interest at the first level into a second number of clustered objects of interest at a second level, in which the object of interest at the first level comprises at least two objects of interest.