Importance of Static Timing Analysis in Digital Circuit Design : A Systematic Review

Overview :

This study documents my undertsandings and learnings of the concepts of Static Timing Analysis in VLSI Design. In this repositry I try to encapsulate my discoveries in the vivid landscape of STA. While undergoing this study my curiosity towards STA turned into affinity and I intend to grow my knowledge bank even further. Additionally, I intend to extend the systematic analysis into a thorough analysis by using the concepts on an industry-standard tool; I have access to Prime Time tool via my University so I'd update this repo. as I do the timing analysis on the tool. In addition to Prime Time tool, I'll also try to use open-source EDA tool for Static Timing Analysis, namely Open Timer. The installation link for OpenTimer can be found in the Resources section below.

Important

All the illustrations used in the /images/theory directory are designed by me using Draw.io environment

Index :

The systematic review is divided into the following heirarchical index in this repositry :

1. Introduction : Brief introduction to the need for STA
2. Background : STA and its role in design flow : Description about the role of STA in the VLSI-design flow
3. STA Analogy : An interesting analogy of STA
4. An Introduction to STA Essentials : Concise concepts of essential to STA
5. Understanding Setup and Hold Time in Digital Design : Grasping the concept of setup and hold time in STA
6. STA using PrimeTime : < Currently in the Process of Understanding the PrimeTime tool >
7. STA using OpenTimer

Resources :

• "Static Timing Analysis for Nanometer Designs : A Practical Approach" by J. Bhaskar, Rakesh Chadha
• Great STA playlist : "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpCkjM331Aa8JNoZ1s1o1txve2wlf9pCP&si=YDHsOTRuT9JyJDhC"
• OpenTimer installation instructions : "https://github.com/OpenTimer/OpenTimer"