Path Group War Room: Expanded Case Study

Extended case study

Signoff review: WNS per path group, endpoint owner assignment rate fails after an apparently minor change affecting Path Group War Room.

Background

Team had closure last week on full MMMC matrix. New run shows regression clustered in one path group.

Symptoms observed

• WNS per path group, endpoint owner assignment rate regression

• Disagreement between synth and STA WNS

• Hold violations after setup ECO

Investigation timeline

1. Hour 0: freeze netlist, SDC, SPEF, lib tags

2. Hour 1: diff constraints and run manifest

3. Hour 2: isolate corner/mode that fails

4. Hour 3: read worst path — cell vs net, clocks

5. Hour 4: classify root cause

6. Hour 5: minimal ECO or SDC fix

7. Hour 6: full regression + signoff memo

Root cause

Root cause tied to Path Group War Room: War rooms assign failing path groups to owning teams (RTL, synth, PD, CTS) based on delay breakdown and path class.

Fix and validation

• Bounded ECO or audited SDC change

• Re-run path group heatmap, owner assignment sheet, daily WNS standup notes

• Full MMMC + SI regression

Lessons learned

• Tag every run

• Diff constraints before blaming PD

• Setup and hold together

CASE STUDY — Path Group War Room
baseline WNS / regressed WNS / post-fix WNS

Sequence under stress

TIMING PATH — Path Group War Room

launch FF --logic stages--> capture FF
     |                           |
  launch clock                capture clock
     |                           |
  required: arrival < capture_edge - setup
  metric: WNS per path group, endpoint owner assignment rate

STA deep dive

Debug hygiene separates senior STA leads from report readers.

Concept diagram

DEBUG ORDER

1. same tags?  2. constraints?  3. view?  4. real path?  5. ECO

Metric graph

ROOT CAUSE MIX (typical)

constraint bugs  ████████  35%
view mismatch    ██████    25%
real path        ██████    25%
methodology      ████      15%

Reports and artifacts

• run manifest

• SDC diff

• SPEF tag

• scenario isolation

Mini case study

Mystery regression: SPEF corner tag typo in run script — not a design bug.

Debug branches

• Manifest every run

• War room by path group

Senior review question

Ask: what corner/mode/view proves this topic is closed or failing?

Key takeaways

• State corner, mode, view, and database tag with every slack claim.

• Run setup and hold plus MMMC regression after every ECO.

Common pitfalls

• Comparing STA runs with different SPEF or SDC tags.

• Broad false_path to green-wash violations.

• Setup-only ECO without hold check.

Principal STA review addendum

War rooms assign failing path groups to owning teams (RTL, synth, PD, CTS) based on delay breakdown and path class.

Metric: WNS per path group, endpoint owner assignment rate