Patent ID: 8245175

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for facilitating the creation of a schematic in an electronic design automation (EDA) application, comprising: obtaining a source point and a destination point in the schematic from a user of the EDA application; using a line-probe-search technique to generate, by computer, a set of route variants between the source point and the destination point, wherein using the line-probe-search technique to generate the route variants involves: radiating a set of initial probes from the source point and the destination point; generating one or more sets of avoidance probes based at least on obstacles encountered by the initial probes; determining a set of intersections associated with the initial probes and the avoidance probes; and generating the route variants using the intersections; providing the route variants to the user through a graphical user interface (GUI) in the EDA application; obtaining, from the user, a selection of a route variant from the route variants through the GUI; and using the selected route variant as a route in the schematic.