This book is intended to be a working reference for electronic hardware de signers who are interested in writing VHDL models. A handbook/cookbook approach is taken, with many complete examples used to illustrate the fea tures of the VHDL language and to provide insight into how particular classes of hardware devices can be modelled in VHDL. It is possible to use these models directly or to adapt them to similar problems with minimal effort. This book is not intended to be a complete reference manual for the VHDL language. It is possible to begin writing VHDL models with little background in VHDL by copying examples from the book and adapting them to particular problems. Some exposure to the VHDL language prior to using this book is recommended. The reader is assumed to have a solid hardware design background, preferably with some simulation experience. For the reader who is interested in getting a complete overview of the VHDL language, the following publications are recommended reading: • An Introduction to VHDL: Hardware Description and Design [LIP89] • IEEE Standard VHDL Language Reference Manual [IEEE87] • Chip-Level Behavioral Modelling [ARMS88] • Multi-Level Simulation of VLSI Systems [COEL87] Other references of interest are [USG88], [DOD88] and [CLSI87] Use of the Book If the reader is familiar with VHDL, the models described in chapters 3 through 7 can be applied directly to design problems.

CD-ROM contains: Access to an introductory version of a graphical VHDL simulator/debugger from FTL Systems -- Code for examples and case studies.

* Teaches VHDL by example * Includes tools for simulation and synthesis * CD-ROM containing Code/Design examples and a working demo of ModelSIM

The Student's Guide to VHDL is a condensed edition of The Designer's Guide to VHDL, the most widely used textbook on VHDL for digital system modeling. The Student's Guide is targeted as a supplemental reference book for computer organization and digital design courses. Since publication of the first edition of The Student's Guide, the IEEE VHDL and related standards have been revised. The Designer's Guide has been revised to reflect the changes, so it is appropriate that The Student's Guide also be revised. In The Student's Guide to VHDL, 2nd Edition, we have included a design case study illustrating an FPGA-based design flow. The aim is to show how VHDL modeling fits into a design flow, starting from high-level design and proceeding through detailed design and verification, synthesis, FPGA place and route, and final timing verification. Inclusion of the case study helps to better serve the educational market. Currently, most college courses do not formally address the details of design flow. Students may be given informal guidance on how to proceed with lab projects. In many cases, it is left to students to work it out for themselves. The case study in The Student's Guide provides a reference design flow that can be adapted to a variety of lab projects.

A guide to applying software design principles and coding practices to VHDL to improve the readability, maintainability, and quality of VHDL code. This book addresses an often-neglected aspect of the creation of VHDL designs. A VHDL description is also source code, and VHDL designers can use the best practices of software development to write high-quality code and to organize it in a design. This book presents this unique set of skills, teaching VHDL designers of all experience levels how to apply the best design principles and coding practices from the software world to the world of hardware. The concepts introduced here will help readers write code that is easier to understand and more likely to be correct, with improved readability, maintainability, and overall quality. After a brief review of VHDL, the book presents fundamental design principles for writing code, discussing such topics as design, quality, architecture, modularity, abstraction, and hierarchy. Building on these concepts, the book then introduces and provides recommendations for each basic element of VHDL code, including statements, design units, types, data objects, and subprograms. The book covers naming data objects and functions, commenting the source code, and visually presenting the code on the screen. All recommendations are supported by detailed rationales. Finally, the book explores two uses of VHDL: synthesis and testbenches. It examines the key characteristics of code intended for synthesis (distinguishing it from code meant for simulation) and then demonstrates the design and implementation of testbenches with a series of examples that verify different kinds of models, including combinational, sequential, and FSM code. Examples from the book are also available on a companion website, enabling the reader to experiment with the complete source code.

VHDL, the IEEE standard hardware description language for describing digital electronic systems, has recently been revised. The Designer's Guide to VHDL has become a standard in the industry for learning the features of VHDL and using it to verify hardware designs. This third edition is the first comprehensive book on the market to address the new features of VHDL-2008. - First comprehensive book on VHDL to incorporate all new features of VHDL-2008, the latest release of the VHDL standard - Helps readers get up to speed quickly with new features of the new standard - Presents a structured guide to the modeling facilities offered by VHDL - Shows how VHDL functions to help design digital systems - Includes extensive case studies and source code used to develop testbenches and case study examples - Helps readers gain maximum facility with VHDL for design of digital systems

Digital Electronics and Design with VHDL offers a friendly presentation of the fundamental principles and practices of modern digital design. Unlike any other book in this field, transistor-level implementations are also included, which allow the readers to gain a solid understanding of a circuit's real potential and limitations, and to develop a realistic perspective on the practical design of actual integrated circuits. Coverage includes the largest selection available of digital circuits in all categories (combinational, sequential, logical, or arithmetic); and detailed digital design techniques, with a thorough discussion on state-machine modeling for the analysis and design of complex sequential systems. Key technologies used in modern circuits are also described, including Bipolar, MOS, ROM/RAM, and CPLD/FPGA chips, as well as codes and techniques used in data storage and transmission. Designs are illustrated by means of complete, realistic applications using VHDL, where the complete code, comments, and simulation results are included. This text is ideal for courses in Digital Design, Digital Logic, Digital Electronics, VLSI, and VHDL; and industry practitioners in digital electronics. - Comprehensive coverage of fundamental digital concepts and principles, as well as complete, realistic, industry-standard designs - Many circuits shown with internal details at the transistor-level, as in real integrated circuits - Actual technologies used in state-of-the-art digital circuits presented in conjunction with fundamental concepts and principles - Six chapters dedicated to VHDL-based techniques, with all VHDL-based designs synthesized onto CPLD/FPGA chips