Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 24, 2026

Delta delay

In VHDL simulations, all assignments to signals occur with some infinitesimal delay, known as delta delay, unless a delay is specified. Technically, delta delay is of no measurable unit, but from a digital electronics hardware design perspective one should think of delta delay as being the smallest time unit one could measure, such as a femtosecond (fs).

Last revised
Jun 24, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
84 w
Citations
1
Source

In VHDL simulations, all assignments to signals (a VHDL concept that represents a net connecting different components together) occur with some infinitesimal delay, known as delta delay, unless a delay is specified.1 Technically, delta delay is of no measurable unit, but from a digital electronics hardware design perspective one should think of delta delay as being the smallest time unit one could measure, such as a femtosecond (fs).

References

References

  1. Bhasker, Jayaram (1999). A Vhdl Primer. Prentice Hall PTR, 1999. pp. 31, 46. ISBN 9780130965752.