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Course contents

  • How to Use This Course
  • Reading Path
  • STA Glossary
  • STA Metrics Reference
  • STA Mastery Cheatsheet
  • Timing Paths and Checks16
  • Constraints & SDC Fundamentals20
  • Delay Graph & Path Analysis16
  • Beyond Setup and Hold16
  • Multi-Corner Multi-Mode Signoff16
  • OCV, AOCV, POCV and Variation16
  • Crosstalk and Noise16
    • Delta Delay Mechanism
      • Coupling and Aggressors
      • Switching Windows
      • Delta Delay Arithmetic
      • Setup Versus Hold Impact
    • Noise and Glitch Analysis
    • SI ECO Fix Order
    • SI Signoff Reports
  • ECO and Closure16
  • STA Debug Playbook16
  • STA Interview Prep26
  • Capstone Timing Signoff Lab4
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‹Crosstalk and Noise
  1. Topics
  2. Static Timing Analysis
  3. Crosstalk and Noise
  4. Delta Delay Mechanism

Part 7 · Crosstalk and Noise · All levels

Delta Delay Mechanism

How a switching neighbour changes a net's delay: coupling capacitance, switching windows, the arithmetic of delta delay, and its different effect on setup and hold.

  • 4topics
  • 4lessons

Wires that run side by side are coupled by capacitance. When one switches while another is switching, the second net's effective load changes, so its delay is larger or smaller than the isolated delay. The change is called delta delay. This topic explains the mechanism, the role of timing windows in deciding which neighbours count, the arithmetic along a path, and why setup and hold see opposite effects.

Lesson

After it you can...

Coupling and Aggressors

Compute effective capacitance for three aggressor behaviours.

Switching Windows

Decide which aggressors can overlap a victim.

Delta Delay Arithmetic

Add crosstalk deltas to a path and see slack move.

Setup Versus Hold Impact

Say which direction hurts which check.

Check yourself What decides whether an aggressor changes a victim's delay?

Its coupling capacitance, the direction in which it switches relative to the victim, and whether it switches in the same time window.

Interview

Define victim, aggressor and delta delay in three short sentences.

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See also

  • Noise and Glitch Analysis
  • SI ECO Fix Order
  • SI Signoff Reports