Tag: Book reviews
RAPID PROTOTYPING OF DIGITAL SYSTEMS: A TUTORIAL APPROACH
By James O. Hamblen and Michael D. Furman, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
This book provides an exciting and chal- lenging laboratory component for an un- dergraduate student as well as design engineers working in industry. It intro- duces the field programmable logic device (FPLD) technology and logic synthesis us- ing CAD tools. The book is organized in 13 chapters as follows. Chapter 1 provides a tutorial for CAD tools that covers the de- sign entry, simulation, and hardware im- plementation using an FPLD. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the UP1 FPLD de- velopment board, where the features of the board are briefly described. Chapter 3 introduces the programmable logic tech- nology where the most common complex programmable logic device (CPLD) and field programmable gate array (FPGA) are presented. Chapter 4 is a tutorial to use both a hierarchical and sequential design with different examples. Chapter 5 de- scribes the UP1core library I/O functions. Chapter 6 introduces the use of VHDL for the synthesis of digital hardware. Chapter 7 describes a state machine that controls a virtual electric train system simulation with video output generated directly by the CPLD. Chapter 8 develops a VHDL model of a simple computer where a fetch, decode, and execute cycle is simulated.
CIRCUITS & DEVICES s NOVEMBER 2001
39 s
Chapter 9 describes how to design an FPLD-based digital system to output VGA video. Chapter 10 describes the PS/2 key- board operation and presents interface ex- amples for integration in designs on the UP1 board. Chapter 11 describes the PS/2 mouse operation and presents interface examples for integration in designs on the UP1 board. Chapter 12 develops a design for an adaptable mobile robot using the UP1 board. Chapter 13 describes a single clock cycle model of the MIPS RISC pro- cessor. The book also includes a large number of laboratory problems and a vari- ety of design projects at the end of each chapter.
The book comes with the new student version of Altera’s MAX+PLUS II CAD tool and the UP1 board is available from Altera at special student pricing.
This is an ideal book for undergraduate digital logic and computer design courses with more than 40 fully developed and simulated examples that can be used on the UP1 board.
Review of Principles of verifiable RTL design
By Lionel Bening and Harry Foster, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
Using verifiable RTL design, an engineer can add or improve the use of cycle-based simulation, two-state simulation, formal equivalence checking, and model checking in the traditional verification flow. Furthermore, a verifiable RTL coding methodology permits the engineer to achieve greater verification coverage in minimal time, enhances cooperation and support for multiple EDA tools within the flow, clarifies RTL design intent, and facilitates emerging verification processes.
This book addresses verification of synchronous designs. It provides a comprehensive understanding of various verification processes from conceptual and practical approaches. The concepts presented in this book are drawn from author experience with large-scale system design projects. It draws a technique methodology for verifiable RTL coding. The book is divided into nine chapters as follows. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction of this book. Chapter 2 introduces four principles of RTL design (fundamental verification principle, retain useful information principle, orthogonal verification principle, and functional observation principle) and issues related to verifiable RTL (design specification, test strategies, coverage analysis, event monitoring, and assertion checking). Chapter 3 introduces the basics of the RTL methodology and addresses the problem of complexity due to competing tool coding requirements. It introduces a simplified and tool-efficient Verilog RTL verifiable subset using an object-oriented hardware design (OOHD) methodology. Moreover, it details a linting methodology, which is used to enforce project-specific coding rules and tool performance checks. Chapter 4 presents the history of logic simulation, followed by a discussion on applying RTL simulation at various stages within the design phase. Chapter 5 discusses RTL and the formal verification process. It presents the concept of finite state machine FSM and its analysis and applicability to proving machine equivalence and FSM properties. Chapter 6 discusses ideas on verifiable RTL style. Chapter 7 provides examples on the common mistakes that are involved with projects, designers, and EDA verification tool developers. Chapter 8 presents a tutorial on Verilog language elements that can be used to build a verifiable RTL model. Chapter 9 summarizes the 21 fundamental principles of verifiable RTL Design, which are discussed throughout the book.
This book is considered one of the milestones for verifiable RTL design. It shows an efficient methodology for writing a verifiable RTL, and it defines guidelines for large-scale systems. I believe that every engineer working in the area of RTL design should read this book.
Wael Badawy, “Principles of verifiable RTL design“, IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine, Vol. 18, Issue 1, January 2002, pp. 26 -27