Abstract
Partitioning is a fundamental problem in the design of VLSI circuits. In recent years, ratio-cut partitioning has received attention due to its tendency to partition circuits into their natural clusters. Node contraction has also been shown to enhance the performance of iterative partitioning algorithms. This paper describes a new simple ratio-cut partitioning algorithm using node contraction. This new algorithm combines iterative improvement with progressive cluster formation. Under suitably mild assumptions, the new algorithm runs in linear time. It is also shown that the new algorithm compares favorably with previous approaches.