Vhdl A Logic Synthesis Approach

This book is structured in a practical, example-driven, manner. The use of VHDL for constructing logic synthesisers is one of the aims of the book; the second is the application of the tools to the design process. Worked examples, questions and answers are provided together with do and don'ts of good practice. An appendix on logic design the source code are available free of charge over the Internet.

A Designer's Guide to VHDL Synthesis is intended for both design engineers who want to use VHDL-based logic synthesis ASICs and for managers who need to gain a practical understanding of the issues involved in using this technology. The emphasis is placed more on practical applications of VHDL and synthesis based on actual experiences, rather than on a more theoretical approach to the language. VHDL and logic synthesis tools provide very powerful capabilities for ASIC design, but are also very complex and represent a radical departure from traditional design methods. This situation has made it difficult to get started in using this technology for both designers and management, since a major learning effort and `culture' change is required. A Designer's Guide to VHDL Synthesis has been written to help design engineers and other professionals successfully make the transition to a design methodology based on VHDL and log synthesis instead of the more traditional schematic based approach. While there are a number of texts on the VHDL language and its use in simulation, little has been written from a designer's viewpoint on how to use VHDL and logic synthesis to design real ASIC systems. The material in this book is based on experience gained in successfully using these techniques for ASIC design and relies heavily on realistic examples to demonstrate the principles involved.

VHDL for Logic Synthesis Second Edition Andrew Rushton TransEDA Limited, Southampton, UK Very high-speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is the worldwide standard for computer-aided electronic system design. Logic synthesis automates gate-level design, allowing the designer to concentrate on a rgister-transfer level implementation. VHDL for Logic Synthesis provides comprehensive coverage of the language and its role in the generation of hardware. This enhanced second edition takes a broader view of the use of synthesis and its place in the design cycle. Features include: * Explanation of each aspect of the language in hardware terms and demonstration of the mapping from VHDL to hardware * Updated examples using the standard packages numeric_std and std_logic_1164 plus more illustrative models offering further source references for designers * Additional chapter on std_logic_arith to aid designers still working with this popular package * New focus on libraries and library management covering the contents of the standard library, how to use library work and recommendations on code management * Extra section detailing how to use assertions to report diagnostics, allowing the reader to print signal and variable values to the screen Senior undergraduate and postgraduate students of microelectronics and digital hardware engineers new to language-based design methods will appreciate Rushton's informative introduction to VHDL and its use in logic synthesis.

Over the past decade there has been a dramatic change in the role played by design automation for electronic systems. Ten years ago, integrated circuit (IC) designers were content to use the computer for circuit, logic, and limited amounts of high-level simulation, as well as for capturing the digitized mask layouts used for IC manufacture. The tools were only aids to design-the designer could always find a way to implement the chip or board manually if the tools failed or if they did not give acceptable results. Today, however, design technology plays an indispensable role in the design ofelectronic systems and is critical to achieving time-to-market, cost, and performance targets. In less than ten years, designers have come to rely on automatic or semi automatic CAD systems for the physical design ofcomplex ICs containing over a million transistors. In the past three years, practical logic synthesis systems that take into account both cost and performance have become a commercial reality and many designers have already relinquished control ofthe logic netlist level of design to automatic computer aids. To date, only in certain well-defined areas, especially digital signal process ing and telecommunications. have higher-level design methods and tools found significant success. However, the forces of time-to-market and growing system complexity will demand the broad-based adoption of high-level, automated methods and tools over the next few years.

Making VHDL a simple and easy-to-use hardware description language Many engineers encountering VHDL (very high speed integrated circuits hardware description language) for the first time can feel overwhelmed by it. This book bridges the gap between the VHDL language and the hardware that results from logic synthesis with clear organisation, progressing from the basics of combinational logic, types, and operators; through special structures such as tristate buses, register banks and memories, to advanced themes such as developing your own packages, writing test benches and using the full range of synthesis types. This third edition has been substantially rewritten to include the new VHDL-2008 features that enable synthesis of fixed-point and floating-point hardware. Extensively updated throughout to reflect modern logic synthesis usage, it also contains a complete case study to demonstrate the updated features. Features to this edition include: a common VHDL subset which will work across a range of different synthesis systems, targeting a very wide range of technologies a design style that results in long design lifetimes, maximum design reuse and easy technology retargeting a new chapter on a large scale design example based on a digital filter from design objective and design process, to testing strategy and test benches a chapter on writing test benches, with everything needed to implement a test-based design strategy extensive coverage of data path design, including integer, fixed-point and floating-point arithmetic, logic circuits, shifters, tristate buses, RAMs, ROMs, state machines, and decoders Focused specifically on logic synthesis, this book is for professional hardware engineers using VHDL for logic synthesis, and digital systems designers new to VHDL but familiar with digital systems. It offers all the knowledge and tools needed to use VHDL for logic synthesis. Organised in themed chapters and with a comprehensive index, this complete reference will also benefit postgraduate students following courses on microelectronics or VLSI/ semiconductors and digital design.

Logic synthesis has become a fundamental component of the ASIC design flow, and Logic Synthesis Using Synopsys® has been written for all those who dislike reading manuals but who still like to learn logic synthesis as practised in the real world. The primary focus of the book is Synopsys Design Compiler®: the leading synthesis tool in the EDA marketplace. The book is specially organized to assist designers accustomed to schematic capture based design to develop the required expertise to effectively use the Compiler. Over 100 `classic scenarios' faced by designers using the Design Compiler have been captured and discussed, and solutions provided. The scenarios are based both on personal experiences and actual user queries. A general understanding of the problem-solving techniques provided will help the reader debug similar and more complicated problems. Furthermore, several examples and dc-shell scripts are provided. Specifically, Logic Synthesis Using Synopsys® will help the reader develop a better understanding of the synthesis design flow, optimization strategies using the Design Compiler, test insertion using the Test Compiler®, commonly used interface formats such as EDIF and SDF, and design re-use in a synthesis-based design methodology. Examples have been provided in both VHDL and Verilog. Audience: Written with CAD engineers in mind to enable them to formulate an effective synthesis-based ASIC design methodology. Will also assist design teams to better incorporate and effectively integrate synthesis with their existing in-house design methodology and CAD tools.

This book provides the most up-to-date coverage using the Synopsys program in the design of integrated circuits. The incorporation of "synthesis tools" is the most popular new method of designing integrated circuits for higher speeds covering smaller surface areas. Synopsys is the dominant computer-aided circuit design program in the world. All of the major circuit manufacturers and ASIC design firms use Synopsys. In addition, Synopsys is used in teaching and laboratories at over 600 universities. First practical guide to using synthesis with Synopsys Synopsys is the #1 design program for IC design

Embedded systems are usually composed of several interacting components such as custom or application specific processors, ASICs, memory blocks, and the associated communication infrastructure. The development of tools to support the design of such systems requires a further step from high-level synthesis towards a higher abstraction level. The lack of design tools accepting a system-level specification of a complete system, which may include both hardware and software components, is one of the major bottlenecks in the design of embedded systems. Thus, more and more research efforts have been spent on issues related to system-level synthesis. This book addresses the two most active research areas of design automation today: high-level synthesis and system-level synthesis. In particular, a transformational approach to synthesis from VHDL specifications is described. System Synthesis with VHDL provides a coherent view of system synthesis which includes the high-level and the system-level synthesis tasks. VHDL is used as a specification language and several issues concerning the use of VHDL for high-level and system-level synthesis are discussed. These include aspects from the compilation of VHDL into an internal design representation to the synthesis of systems specified as interacting VHDL processes. The book emphasizes the use of a transformational approach to system synthesis. A Petri net based design representation is rigorously defined and used throughout the book as a basic vehicle for illustration of transformations and other design concepts. Iterative improvement heuristics, such as tabu search, simulated annealing and genetic algorithms, are discussed and illustrated as strategies which are used to guide the optimization process in a transformation-based design environment. Advanced topics, including hardware/software partitioning, test synthesis and low power synthesis are discussed from the perspective of a transformational approach to system synthesis. System Synthesis with VHDL can be used for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in the area of design automation and, more specifically, of high-level and system-level synthesis. At the same time the book is intended for CAD developers and researchers as well as industrial designers of digital systems who are interested in new algorithms and techniques supporting modern design tools and methodologies.