Cover the answer column, set a timer for thirty seconds per question, and answer in one or two sentences. If an answer takes longer, the idea needs more practice; the last column says where to revise.
# | Question | One-line answer | Revise in |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Setup slack formula? | Capture edge + capture latency - setup - uncertainty - arrival. | |
2 | Which corner is worst for hold? | Fast process, usually high voltage and cold; at low voltage with temperature inversion the fast condition is hot. | |
3 | What does a false path do? | Removes the check on that path completely. | |
4 | Multicycle setup N: what hold value? | N - 1 for same-clock paths. | |
5 | Capture edge for rising to falling? | Half a period after launch. | |
6 | Which derates apply for setup? | Late on launch clock and data, early on the capture clock. | |
7 | CRPR credit for 0.40 ns shared, derates 1.10 and 0.90? | 0.40 × 0.20 = 0.08 ns. | |
8 | What is TNS? | Sum of negative endpoint slacks; the union counts each endpoint once. | |
9 | Recovery resembles which check? | Setup, for the release of an asynchronous pin. | |
10 | Removal resembles which check? | Hold; worst in the fast corner. | |
11 | When may an AND gate's enable change? | While the clock is low. | |
12 | One clock phase violates pulse width in one corner. Likely cause? | Duty cycle distortion in the clock tree. | |
13 | Opposite-direction aggressor: effective coupling? | About twice the coupling capacitance: slows the victim. | |
14 | Same-direction aggressor effect? | Speeds the victim up, which hurts hold. | |
15 | Which receivers make noise dangerous? | Clock, asynchronous set or reset, and latch enable pins. | |
16 | What does delay insertion at an endpoint conserve? | The sum of setup and hold slack, in the same scenario. | |
17 | What does useful skew conserve? | Total setup slack around a pipeline between fixed endpoints; it only moves it. | |
18 | Why can a constraint-only improvement be suspicious? | It may come from an exception that removed real paths; count what it covers. | |
19 | What is temperature inversion? | At low voltage, delay can be larger when cold. | |
20 | First check on a constraint set? | Coverage: unclocked registers, unconstrained ports, exceptions with path counts. |
Run it twice: once reading the questions aloud and answering, then once with a friend choosing a random order. Anything you hesitate on goes on a list; revise the linked lesson and come back to it in a day. Scoring: 30 seconds per question (120 seconds for four in a row) is a 4 on speed; more than 30 seconds for a single question is a sign that the idea is not yet automatic.
Q16 and Q17 (conservation rules: setup plus hold slack at an endpoint, and total setup slack along a pipeline); Q7 is a double-counting correction, not a conserved quantity.