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We present a branch-and-bound placement technique for building block layout that effectively searches for an optimal placement in the whole solution space. We first describe a block placetrtent problem and its solution space. Then we explain branching and bmmding operationa desigrted for the placement problem. Constmints on critical neta and/or the shape of a resulting chip can be taken into account in the search process. Experiments reveals that the number of blocks the method can manage is around six if the whole solution space is explored. For a problem which contains more blocks than the timit, we decompose the problem hierarchically and apply the method to each sub-problem.The results for standard benchmark examples and a comparison with those of other systems are given to demonstrate the performance of the method.

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