GENERIC METHODOLOGY TO SUPPORT CHIP LEVEL INTEGRATION OF IP CORE INSTANCE CONSTRAINTS IN INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

A method and apparatus are provided for generating and using timing constraints templates for IP cores that can be instantiated in an integrated circuit design. The templates include a plurality of timing constraint statements for inputs and outputs of the respective IP core. At least one of the statements includes a configurable variable, wherein the timing constraints template is configurable through the variable for each of a plurality of instances of the IP core in the integrated circuit design.