What is an SDC file, and what are 'basic timing constraints'?
From PDVerse STA Mentor Guide · pdVerse Mentor Guide
Short Answer
SDC stands for Synopsys Design Constraints, and it is the industry-standard Tcl-based text format used to write down a design's timing intent for the STA tool to read.
Example
Inside an SDC file you describe things like clock definitions, the timing of inputs and outputs at the chip boundary, timing exceptions, and environmental conditions the design must be checked under.
Why It Matters
An STA tool cannot guess what your design is supposed to do; it can only trace paths and compare numbers. The SDC file is how you tell the tool what a clock cycle is, where clocks come from, and what counts as a valid check, so the whole analysis has something meaningful to measure against.
Mentor Note — Common Mistake
Don't treat the SDC as an afterthought you write quickly at the end. A weak or incomplete SDC leads directly to under-constrained checks, and a green report_timing on an under-constrained design is meaningless.
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