Advanced Digital Design with the Verilog(TM) HDL [Hardcover]

"I use VHDL in daily design job at Bell Labs. When I was asked to teach this advanced digital design course using Verilog, this example-rich book [Advanced Digital Design with the Verilog, HDL, 2e] helped me easily apply my design knowledge in Verilog. It is also very easy for students who first learn high-level design language to appreciate the power of design using Verilog, again via plenty of examples in the book." — Chen-Huan Chiang, Temple University

"I also like the chapter about RTL synthesis. There are books about logic synthesis but very few introduce RTL synthesis as clearly as this book." — Chen-Huan Chiang, Temple University --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Aimed at advanced courses in digital design for seniors and first-year graduate students in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science, this book assumes and builds on the background of a first course in logic design.

Behavioral modeling with a hardware description language (HDL) is the key to modern ASIC design. Readers preparing to contribute to a productive design team must know how to use a hardware description language at key stages of the design flow. This book is written for a course going beyond the basic principles and methods learned in a first course in digital design.

Our focus is on design methodology enabled by an HDL. Our goal is to build on a student's background from a first course in logic design by

1. reviewing basic principles of combinational and sequential logic,
2. introducing the use of HDLs in design,
3. emphasizing descriptive styles that will allow the reader to quickly design working circuits suitable for application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and/or field-programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation, and
4. providing in-depth design examples using modern design tools. Readers are encouraged to simplify, clarify, and verify their designs.

The Verilog hardware description language (IEEE Standard 1364) serves as a common framework supporting the design activities treated in this book, but our focus is on developing, verifying, and synthesizing designs of digital circuits, not on the Verilog language. Most students taking a second course in digital design will be familiar with at least one programming language and will be able to draw on that background in reading this text. We cover only the core and most widely used features of Verilog.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Digital Design Methodology
Chapter 2: Review of Combinational Logic Design
Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Sequential Logic Design
Chapter 4: Introduction to Logic Design with Verilog
Chapter 5: logic Design with Behavioral Models of Combinational and Sequential Logic
Chapter 6: Synthesis of Combinational and Sequential Logic
Chapter 7: Design and Synthesis of Datapath Controllers
Chapter 8: Programmable Logic and Storage Devices
Chapter 9: Algorithms and Architectures for Digital Processors
Chapter 10: Architectures for Arithmetic Processors
Chapter 11: Postsynthesis Design Tasks
Appendices

Michael Ciletti is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. His areas of interest include  Modeling, synthesis and verification of digital systems with hardware description languages, system-level design languages, and embedded systems with FPGAs. He is the author of Advanced Digital Design with the Verilog HDL and the co-author of Digital Design, 4e. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Simplify, Clarify, and Verify

Behavioral modeling with a hardware description language (HDL) is the key to modern design of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Today, most designers use an HDL-based design method to create a high-level, language-based, abstract description of a circuit, synthesize a hardware realization in a selected technology, and verify its functionality and timing.

Students preparing to contribute to a productive design team must know how to use an HDL at key stages of the design flow. Thus, there is a need for a course that goes beyond the basic principles and methods learned in a first course in digital design. This book is written for such a course.

Many books discussing HDLs are now available, but most are oriented toward robust explanations of language syntax, and are not well-suited for classroom use. Our focus is on design methodology enabled by an HDL.

Our goal in this book is to build on a student's background from a first course in logic design by (1) reviewing basic principles of combinational and sequential logic, (2) introducing the use of HDLs in design, (3) emphasizing descriptive styles that will allow the reader to quickly design working circuits suitable for ASICs and/or field-programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation, and (4) providing in-depth design examples using modern design tools. Readers will be encouraged to simplify, clarify, and verify their designs.

The widely used Verilog hardware description language (IEEE Standard 1364) serves as a common framework supporting the design activities treated in this book, but our focus is on developing, verifying, and synthesizing designs of digital circuits, not on the Verilog language. Most students taking a second course in digital design will be familiar with at least one programming language and will be able to draw on that background in reading this textbook. We cover only the core and most widely used features of Verilog. In order to emphasize using the language in a synthesis-oriented design environment, we have purposely placed many details, features, and explanations of syntax in the Appendices for reference on an "as-needed" basis.

Most entry-level courses in digital design introduce state machines, state-transition graphs, and algorithmic-state machine (ASM) charts. We make heavy use of ASM charts and demonstrate their utility in developing behavioral models of sequential machines. The important problem of designing a finite-state machine to control a complex datapath in a digital machine is treated in-depth with ASMD charts (i.e., ASM charts annotated to display the register operations of the controlled datapath). The design of a reduced instruction-set computer central processing unit (RISC CPU) and other important hardware units are given as examples. Our companion website includes the RISC machine's source code and an assembler that can be used to develop programs for applications. The machine also serves as a starting point for developing a more robust instruction set and architectural variants.

The Verilog language is introduced in an integrated, but selective manner, only as needed to support design examples. The text has a large set of examples illustrating how to address the key steps in a very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit design methodology using the Verilog HDL. Examples are complete, and include source code that has been verified with the Silos-III simulator to be correct. Source code for all of the examples will be available (with important test suites) at our website.

The Intended Audience

This book is for students in an advanced course in digital design, and for professional engineers interested in learning Verilog by example, in the context of its use in the design flow of modern integrated circuits. The level of presentation is appropriate for seniors and first-year graduate students in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science, as well as for professional engineers who have had an introductory course in logic design. The book presumes a basic background in Boolean algebra and its use in logic circuit design and a familiarity with finite-state machines. Building on this foundation, the book addresses the design of several important circuits used in computer systems, digital signal processing, image processing, data transfer across clock domains, built-in self-test (BIST), and other applications. The book covers the key design problems of modeling, architectural tradeoffs, functional verification, timing analysis, test generation, fault simulation, design for testability, logic synthesis, and postsynthesis verification.

Special Features of the Book

• Begins with a brief review of basic principles in combinational and sequential logic
• Focuses on modern digital design methodology
• Illustrates and promotes a synthesis-ready style of register transfer level (RTL) and algorithmic modeling with Verilog
• Demonstrates the utility of ASM charts for behavioral modeling
• In-depth treatment of algorithms and architectures for digital machines (e.g., an image processor, digital filters and circular buffers)
• In-depth treatment of synthesis for cell-based ASICs and FPGAs
• A practical treatment of timing analysis, fault simulation, testing, and design for testability, with examples
• Comprehensive treatment of behavioral modeling
• Comprehensive design examples, including a RISC machine and datapath controller
• Numerous graphical illustrations
• Provides several problems with a wide range of difficulty after each chapter
• Contains a worked example with JTAG and BIST for testing
• Contains over 250 fully verified examples
• An indexed list of all models developed in the examples
• A set of Xilinx FPGA-based laboratory-ready exercises linked to the book (e.g., arithmetic and logic unit ALU, a programmable lock, a key pad scanner with a FIFO, a serial communications link with error correction, an SRAM controller, and first in, first out FIFO memory)
• Contains an up-to-date chapter on programmable logic device (PLDs) and FPGAs
• Contains a packaged CD-ROM with the popular Silos-III Verilog design environment and simulator and the Xilinx integrated synthesis environment (ISE) synthesis tool for FPGAs
• Contains an Appendix with full formal syntax of the Verilog HDL
• Covers major features of Verilog 2001, with examples
• Supported by an ongoing website containing:

1. Source files of models developed in the examples
2. 2. Source files of testbenches for simulating examples
3. An Instructor's Classroom Kit containing transparency files for a course based on the subject matter
4. Solutions to selected problems
5. Jump-start tutorials helping students get immediate results with the Silos-III simulation environment, the Xilinx FPGA synthesis tool, the Synopsys synthesis tools, and the Synopsys Prime Time static timing analyzer
6. ASIC standard-cell library with synthesis and timing database
7. Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs)
8. Clever examples submitted by readers
9. Revisions

Sequences for Course Presentation

The material in the text begins with a review of combinational and sequential logic design, but then progresses in the order dictated by the design flow for an ASIC or an FPGA. Chapters 1 to 6 treat design topics through synthesis, and should be covered in order, but Chapters 7 to 10 can be covered in any order. The homework exercises are challenging, and the laboratory-ready Xilinx-based exercises are suitable for a companion laboratory or for end-of-semester projects. Chapter 10 presents several architectures for arithmetic operations, affording a diversity of coverage. Chapter 11 treats postsynthesis design validation, timing analysis, fault simulation, and design for testability. The coverage of these topics can be omitted, depending on the level and focus of the course. Tools supporting Verilog 2001 are emerging, so an appendix discusses and illustrates the important new features of the language.

Chapter Descriptions

Chapter 1 briefly discusses the role of HDLs in design flows for cell-based ASICs and FPGAs. Chapters 2 and 3 review mainstream topics that would be covered in a first course in digital design, using classical methods (i.e. Karnaugh maps). This material will refresh the reader's background, and the examples will be used later to introduce HDL-based methods of design. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce modeling of combinational and sequential logic with the Verilog HDL, and place emphasis on coding styles that are used in behavioral modeling. Chapter 6 addresses cell-based synthesis of ASICs, and introduces synthesis of combinational and sequential logic. Here we pursue two main objectives: (1) present synthesis-friendly coding styles, and (2) form a foundation that will enable the reader to anticipate the results of synthesis, especially when synthesizing sequential machines. Many sequential machines are partitioned into a datapath and a controller. Chapter 7 covers examples that illustrate how to design a controller for a datapath. The designs of a simple RISC CPU and a UART serve as platforms for the subject matter. Chapter 8 covers PLDs, complex PLDs (CPLDs), ROMs, and static random-access memories (SRAMs), then expands the synthesis target to include FPGAs. Verilog has been used extensively to design computers and signal processors. Chapter 9 treats the modeling and synthesis of computational units and algorithms found in computer architectures, digital filters, and other processors. Chapter 10 develops and refines algorithms and architectures for the arithmetic units of digital machines. In Chapter 11 we use the Verilog HDL in conjunction with fault simulators and timing analyzers to revisit a selection of previously designed machines and consider performance/timing issues and testability...