What is setup and hold time? How does it impact digital design?

Question

Accepted Answer

Setup and hold time are timing constraints in digital design that ensure data is stable before and after the clock edge.

Setup time is the amount of time data must be stable before the clock edge for it to be reliably captured.
Hold time is the amount of time data must be stable after the clock edge for it to be reliably captured.
Violating setup time can lead to metastability issues, while violating hold time can result in data corruption.
These timing constraints are critical in synchronous digital designs to ensure proper operation of flip-flops and registers.
For example, in a flip-flop with a setup time of 5ns and a hold time of 2ns, the input data must be stable at least 5ns before the clock edge and 2ns after the clock edge.

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