Forum Discussion

Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor
16 years ago

What's the non-critical paths?

In "timequest_cookbook", it's said that "Not all paths are relevant or required to be analyzed for specific timing requirements. Synchronization of non-critical paths can be removed or cut from timing analysis." But what's the non-critical paths? Could anyone give some examples?

Thanks!

2 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor

    Static signals are the most common. (You might have something coming in from the board that is tied off at the board level.) Another example I recently saw was a design with a "test mux" built into it, pulling out test points from various parts of the design. Though I would recommend SignalTap, the test muxes select lines will not change, so can be ignored.

    I've seen status signals get flagged this way, as they may change very sporadically and do not need to be updated. If they're synchronied in the new domain(so they don't go metastable), then the user doesn't need to be updated immediately and doesn't need to meet any sort of timing.

    Just some examples.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
    Icon for Honored Contributor rankHonored Contributor

    Dear Rysc, as you said, the static signals which always keep constant is non-critical and can be ignored in timing analysis.

    Thanks!