Static timing analysis answers one question for every path in a design: does the signal arrive early enough to be captured, and late enough not to corrupt the previous capture? It does this without simulating a single input vector. This topic builds the mental model the rest of the course relies on: the timing graph, the kinds of paths, and the reasons the analysis errs on the safe side.
Lesson | After it you can... |
|---|---|
Say what STA proves, what it cannot, and why both are needed. | |
Draw a netlist as nodes and delay arcs and compute an arrival time. | |
Classify any path by its startpoint and endpoint. | |
Explain where the pessimism comes from and where it is removed. |
Suggested order: the four lessons in page order. The RTL view of the same material is in STA Foundations and Setup, Hold and Slack; this course goes one level deeper.
Because it checks every structural path against its worst-case delay, not just the paths a testbench happens to exercise. A path that is never toggled in simulation still has a delay, and STA still checks it.