Unit 5 Modern digital
design
Lesson 15 VHDL
(VHSIC Hardware Description
Language)
Lesson 15 VHDL
• Backgrounds
• Text tour
• Language in use
– Vocabulary
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Backgrounds
• Terminology
– test bench
– Impedance
– type conversion
– top-down approach
– gate-level
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Test bench
• A test bench or testing workbench is an (often virtual)
environment used to verify the correctness or soundness of
a design or model, for example, that of a software product.
• The term has its roots in the testing of electronic devices,
where an engineer would sit at a lab bench with tools for
measurement and manipulation, such as oscilloscopes,
multimeters, soldering irons, wire cutters and so on, and
manually verify the correctness of the device under test
(DUT).
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Impedance
• In electrical engineering, impedance is a measure of the
extent to which a circuit opposes the flow of electricity.
• Quantitatively, the impedance of a two-terminal circuit
element is the ratio of the complex representation of a
sinusoidal voltage between its terminals to the complex
representation of the current flowing through it. In general,
it depends upon the frequency of the sinusoidal voltage.
If input impedance is
infinite, input current
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Type conversion
• In computer science, type conversion & type casting are
different ways of changing an entity of one data type into
another. An example would be the conversion of an integer
value into a floating point value or its textual
representation as a string, and vice versa.
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Top-down approach
• A top-down approach (also known as stepwise design) is
essentially the breaking down of a system to gain insight
into its compositional sub-systems in a reverse engineering
fashion.
• Top-down approaches emphasize planning and a complete
understanding of the system.
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Gate-level
• The design is represented as a netlist with gates (AND, OR,
NOT etc) and storage elements, all with cell delays.
**netlist is a description of the connectivity of an electronic circuit.
• Gate Level netlist describes the actual boolean representation
of the circuit or device. A truth table may also be used.
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Text tour
• Outline
– What is VHDL?
– A Standard Language
– A Brief History of VHDL
– When Should You Use VHDL?
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What is VHDL?
• VHDL is a programming language
– that has been designed and optimized for describing the behavior
of digital systems.
• VHDL has many features
– appropriate for describing the behavior of electronic components
ranging from simple logic gates to complete microprocessors and
custom chips.
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What is VHDL?
• VHDL is also a general-purpose programming language:
– just as high-level programming languages allow complex design
concepts to be expressed as computer programs, VHDL allows the
behavior of complex electronic circuits to be captured into a
design system for automatic circuit synthesis or for system
simulation.
• One of the most important applications of VHDL is
– to capture the performance specification for a circuit, in the form
of what is commonly referred to as a test bench.
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A Standard Language
• One of the most compelling reasons for you to become
experienced with and knowledgeable in VHDL is its adoption as
a standard in the electronic design community. Using a standard
language such as VHDL virtually guarantees that you will not
have to throw away and recapture design concepts simply
because the design entry method you have chosen is not
supported in a newer generation of design tools. Using a
standard language also means that you are more likely to be able
to take advantage of the most up-to-date design tools and that
you will have access to a knowledge base of thousands of other
engineers, many of whom are solving problems similar to your
own.
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A Brief History of VHDL
• in the early 1980s
– VHDL was developed as a spin-off of a high-speed
integrated circuit research project funded by the U.S.
Department of Defense.
• in 1985
– The first publicly available version of VHDL, version
7.2, was released.
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A Brief History of VHDL
• in 1987
– IEEE 1076-1987
• in 1994
– IEEE 1076-1993
• in 1995
– IEEE 1076.3, IEEE 1076.4
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When Should You Use VHDL?
• VHDL will improve your productivity.
– VHDL (like a structured software design language) is
most beneficial when you use a structured, top-down
approach to design.
• Another important reason to use VHDL is
– the rapid pace of development in electronic design
automation (EDA) tools and in target technologies.
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Language in use
• Vocabulary
– appropriate package annotation
variety statement address
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Vocabulary
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Appropriate in dictionary
• Suitable for a particular person, condition, occasion, or
place; fitting.
• To set apart for a specific use:
– appropriating funds for education.
• To take possession of or make use of exclusively for
oneself, often without permission:
– Lee appropriated my unread newspaper and never returned it.
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Appropriate in text
• VHDL has many features appropriate for describing the
behavior of electronic components ranging from simple
logic gates to complete microprocessors and custom chips.
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Package in dictionary
• A wrapped or boxed object; a parcel.
• A container in which something is packed for storage or transportation.
• A preassembled unit.
• A commodity, such as food, uniformly processed and containerized.
• A proposition or an offer composed of several items, each of which
must be accepted.
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Package in text
• This standard, numbered 1164, defines a standard package
(a VHDL feature that allows commonly used declarations
to be collected into an external library) containing
definitions for a standard nine-valued data type .
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Package in use
• application package
• card board package
• control package
• debugging package
• electrical power package
• evacuated package
• graphic package
• interim reform package
• single in-line package (SIP)
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Annotation in dictionary
• The act or process of furnishing critical commentary or
explanatory notes.
• A critical or explanatory note; a commentary.
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Annotation in text
• The annotation of timing information to a simulation
model is an important aspect of accurate digital simulation.
The VHDL 1076 standard describes a variety of language
features that can be used for timing annotation.
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Variety in dictionary
• The quality or condition of being various or varied; diversity.
• A number or collection of varied things, especially of a particular
group; an assortment:
– brought home a variety of snacks.
• A group that is distinguished from other groups by a specific
characteristic or set of characteristics.
• A variety show.
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Variety in text
• The VHDL 1076 standard describes a variety of language
features that can be used for timing annotation. However,
it does not describe a standard method for expressing
timing data outside of the timing model itself.
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Variety in use
• Variable
• Variant
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Statement in dictionary
• An abstract of a commercial or financial account showing
an amount due; a bill.
• A monthly report sent to a debtor or bank depositor.
• An elementary instruction in a source language.
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Statement in text
• As you discover the benefits of reusable code, you will
soon find yourself thinking of ways to write your VHDL
statements in ways that make them general purpose [4].
Writing portable code will become an automatic reflex.
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Statement in use
• accounting statement
• arithmetic assignment statement
• array declaration statement
• balance statement
• call statement
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Address in dictionary
• A formal spoken or written communication:
• A formal speech.
• The written or printed directions on mail or other deliverable items
indicating destination.
• The location at which a particular organization or person may be
found or reached.
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Address in text
• The problem stems from the fact that VHDL supports
many abstract data types, but it does not address the simple
problem of characterizing different signal strengths or
commonly used simulation conditions such as unknowns
and high-impedance.
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Address in use
• absolute address
• actual address
• cable address
• closing address
• inside address
• key-note address
• opening address
• television address
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Thank You
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