Area Optimization of Fixed-Polarity Reed-Muller Circuits Based on Niche Genetic Algorithm

A novel niche genetic algorithm is proposed for area optimization of fixed-polarity Reed-Muller circuits, which may have more than one best polarity. In the algorithm, the niche sources are allocated to a specific number of the most excellent candidates; the niche radius is adjusted according to the real-time information of the evolving process; a flexible memory pool is employed to keep the possibly existed numerous best polarities. Experimental results of eight MCNC benchmark circuits show that the proposed algorithm is superior to the traditional genetic algorithmand the basic clearing algorithmin global searching ability, especially for multi optimal polarities searching.