Abstract: In accordance with a method for generating a trial placement plan for an IC having two or more identical modules, a floor plan reserves a separate area of identical size and shape for each of the identical modules, one of which is designated a “master module” and the others designated “clone modules”. A placement and routing (P&R) tool initially places all of the cell instances of the clone modules at the center of their reserved areas. The P&R tool then employs a conventional placement algorithm to iteratively adjust positions of cell instances of all other modules, including the master module within their reserved areas in a manner that tries to minimize net lengths. The P&R tool copies the placement within the master module area into the clone module areas either after every N>0 iterations of the placement algorithm and/or after the placement algorithm has completed placement for the master module area.