A VHDL Synthesis Primer

by J. Bhasker

Overview

Here is a practical and useful guide to VHDL synthesis. The purpose of this book is to explain the transformations that occur during the synthesis process from a VHDL model to a netlist. Constructs that are supported for synthesis are clearly explained with many examples with their synthesized netlists. The second edition is based on the IEEE standard NUMERIC_BIT/NUMERIC_STD arithmetic packages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780965039192
Publisher:	Star Galaxy Publishing
Publication date:	08/01/1998
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Language Basics

1.2. Design Units

1.7. Simulating a Model

Chapter 2 Synthesis Basics

2.2. Synthesis in a Design Process

2.3. Value Holders for Hardware Modeling

2.4. Logic Value System

2.5. Computing Bit-widths

2.5.2. Type BIT_VECTOR

2.5.6. Signed and Unsigned Types

Chapter 3 Mapping Statements to Gates

3.4. Relational Operators

3.6. Process Statement

3.7. If Statement

3.8.1. Inferring Latches from Case Statements

3.9. Loop Statement

3.12.1. Multiple Clocks

Chapter 4 Model Optimizations

4.2. Conversion Functions

4.3. Type INTEGER

4.4. Common Subexpressions

4.5. Moving Code

4.10. Design Size

4.11. Using Parenthesis

Chapter 5 Verification

5.11. Initialization

Chapter 6 Modeling Hardware Elements for Synthesis

6.8. Latch with Asynchronous Preset and Clear

6.9. Modeling a Memory

6.10. Using a Pre-built Component

6.11. Writing Boolean Equations

6.12. Modeling a Finite State Machine

6.12.2. Mealy FSM

6.12.3. Encoding States

What People are Saying About This

Takla

"I use the book as a reference to see what kind of VHDL generates what logic. For example, if I want to see how "for" loops are handled, I go directly to the section where an example shows me how to model for synthesis and what kind of gates are produced. It is THE reference guide for me in my designs.." - (Mourad Takla, IC designer, Lucent Technologies)

Doug Smith

"It (book) is very clear and concise; it is a good book and highly recommended" - (Doug Smith, VeriBest)

Egbert Molenkamp

The book gives a good impression what is, and is not synthesizable. Furthermore the influence of a VHDL description on the synthesis results is written in a clear way. -- (Egbert Molenkamp, University of Twente, The Netherlands)

Jing-Yang Jou

"This book is easy to read with many small examples. With it, you can quickly learn how synthesizers produce the circuits from the VHDL descriptions" - (Prof. Jing-Yang Jou, National Chiao Tung University)

Rich Hatcher

I don't think I have seen anyone cover VHDL synthesis in a general way as well as you have. I certainly think this will be a successful book. -- (Rich Hatcher, Texas Instruments)

Victor Berman

"It (book) is an excellent treatment of VHDL synthesis and was quite helpful in understanding simulation/synthesis mismatches" - (Victor Berman, DASC Chair)

Andy Fingerhut

I've learned about the subset of VHDL that a synthesis tool that we use synthesizes by trial and error over a year and a half, and this book would have saved me a lot of time. -- (Andy Fingerhut, Washington University)

Jim Vellenga

"Overall, it looks like a good level for an introductory course in VHDL-based synthesis" - (Jim Vellenga, ViewLogic Systems)

Milan Gandhi

"It (book) is well written and practical" - (Milan Gandhi, Indus Consulting)

William Billowitch

This (Bhasker's latest) book on VHDL Synthesis should be on the "Best Sellers List" in our mind. It's a well written text with plenty of examples to get you started in the right direction. -- (William Billowitch, The VHDL Technology Group)