Patent ID: 6873187

Claim:
A method for controlling distribution of at least one signal in an electronic circuit comprising a plurality of circuit elements, the method comprising: providing a delay selection unit for each of at least a subset of the circuit elements, the delay selection unit for a given one of the circuit elements being coupled between a source of the signal and a corresponding input of the circuit element and being controllable to provide one of a plurality of selectable delays for the signal; and controlling one or more of the delay selection units so as to select a particular one of the selectable delays for each of the one or more units, the particular delays being determined at least in part based on a program in which the plurality of delays for a given one of the delay selection units are arranged substantially in a monotonically increasing manner and each of at least a subset of the selectable delays for the given one of the delay selection units is specified by an upper bound on the corresponding delay and a lower bound on the corresponding delay, wherein the electronic circuit comprises a programmable logic device and wherein the program comprises an integer linear program.