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Ants: routing and our own terms (from Nov 2026)

The three dials

Our frame for any router: Seeing (how it sees free space), Negotiating (how nets settle conflicts), Judging (what "better" means).

How it looks

Drawing: a way of thinking, not a physical object
EVERY ROUTER HAS THESE THREE SETTINGS1 Seeing2 Negotiating3 Judginghow it sees free spacehow nets settle a fightwhat "better" means
Our frame for comparing any router, ours or anyone else's. Turning one dial changes the router; the other two stay the same question.

How it works

partpart1 SEEINGa fine grid of dots,or rooms between shapes,or a rubber band2 NEGOTIATINGtwo nets want one gap:route first, rip up and retry,or make the gap pricier3 JUDGINGamber: short, no viagrey: long way roundscore: length, vias, pairstogether, planes intactALL THREEAnts: fine grid + exactcheck (seeing), prices(negotiating), our ownquality score (judging)

Where it fits

Used in the Ants foundation explainer to compare routers A to E. Seeing options: lattice, shape-based router, topological router, learned (RL) router; the usual winner today is the hybrid.

Dial 2 is negotiation; dial 3 is where Ants wants to beat others, scored by the benchmark referee.

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