Product Description
This book provides a focused, hands-on introduction to using VHDL and programmable logic to solve design problems. Whether you are a student looking for a dynamic, real-world introduction to an industry standard HDL, or a professional engineer, VHDL for Programmable Logic will be an indispensable resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent Introduction to VHDL
This book is an excellent introduction to VHDL.It covers a wide array of basic commands as well as their benefits and short-comings.It also covers more powerful commands which are good for large projects or creating reusable pieces.It also comes with a rather old program and examples that go along with the text of the book.Definitely a must have for anyone just getting into VHDL.

Very good introduction
This is an excellent book to get you started on VHDL design for PLD or FPGA.It is clear and practical.

This book is the best VHDL book for hardware design.
This book is the best book for VHDL hardware design. The author describes the hardware implementation of the VHDL design.

Only Good for Beginner
No question, this book is good for EE student, it helped me a lot during college years. But when it comes to engineers, this book has too much theory or I should said it did not cover the real digital world. You onlyhave an idea what is VHDL and some basics. You don't know what kind ofprograms, machines, brands and other things in the VHDL field. You can'thave an idea what or how are the VHDL engineers doing today. If you are agradute, try some other books that explain in the engineer way not aundergrad. way.

Looks good but errors
I haven't finished the book yet but upon finding so many error in the first few chapters I wrote to the author/company with the email address that they provide in the front of the book to see if there is a list ofcorrects or something for the book. They have completely ignored myemails... for example, in describing a PLD achitecture they describe itWRONG - you can see in the picture they provided it doesn't agree with whatthey wrote.So basically I'd give you a warning that the care that shouldhave been taken might not have been. ... Read more

Product Description
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

You won't learn much from this overpriced, out of date book.
First, it does not teach you VHDL as you would expect. As others have commented, it never gets down to brass tacks an explains how the VHDL language works.
Also, the software it describes is WAY WAY out of date. To the point of useless.
While the author is knowledgeable in the subject, he needs to hire a ghost writer and actually try the book on real students. He would be in for a shock if it was a fair test.
I feel sorry for you were forced to buy the book for a class.
There are MUCH better books available, at a much better price.
BTW I have found used copies for as little as 3 dollars. Search on the ISBN to find them.

Vaguely Written
This book was assigned to me as a textbook for a VHDL Lab, a core requirement for my major (Electrical Engineering). If I could have easily made sense of my professor's lectures, I would have found this book a nice complement. However, it is by no means a great introductory book. I say this because even though VHDL is designed as a hardware simulation language, it seems like it's more better introduced the same way programming languages are; for example: basic file structure, what those parts mean, basic data types, what each one means, typecasting, loops, and so on. This book lacks an adequate definition of all of those, and instead just shows the reader examples of that code, WITHOUT EVER HAVING DEFINED WHAT THE PARTS OF THAT CODE MEAN! As such, I've given up on this expensive text book, and settled on another, which introduces VHDL more in a way similar to any modern programming language.

Don't waste your time
This is easily the worst technical book that I have ever read.To be fair I gave up after 55 pages and almost the same number of errors.Diagrams are missing pieces or labels, or are just incorrect.The examples are either too vague to make sense or are incomplete or wrong.After three chapters the author had rambled through such an abstract description of the VHDL that he explained nothing.Save your money and buy almost any other VHDL book.

Clear concepts in concise description
I have found the book so helpful after trying to find answers on line or from other VHDL books. It helped me greatly in understanding the concepts, some times assisted by the just in-time figures.

For example the concept of 'delayed(T) signal attribute has been clearly explained and even illustrated with a Figure. We can not only use the signal to assign another one, but also more importantly we can "check for relationships between the current value of the signal and an older value of the same signal". This has helped me to understand some professional VHDL programs.

The author must be such a knowledgeable professor who can teach the concepts so clearly as well. Thanks for the book!

Overall, good book for begineers.
had to buy this book for subject at uni. The arena of VHDL, digital logic, synthesis, simulation and FPGA's is a broad subject and it can be hard to know where to start and where to find the right information. Overall I found the book to be a good introductory text and reference but with a few small annoying features.

This book is definitely at the begineer's level. The really good feature of this book is the focus on synthesis of VHDL code. If you are learning VHDL from what vendors publish and what is on the internet you may not find what you need. Chapter 7 especially will fill in the missing pieces and give you a good idea of what is going on with things such as synthesis compiliers. Haven't seen any other texts that explain that kind of thing.

Some items that let the book down for me was that it seemed to be riddled with textual errors. Numerous times there seemed to be words missing from sentences, which really interrupts the flow of learning. The other part that was frustrating was that the tone the author took seemed to be like an adult talking to a baby.

However, he proves his point and I can understand the motivation for doing so, as VHDL is not a normal programming language.

The book covers FPGA's (indirectly) and the author shows to reference elements in an FPGA if needed, whilst still sticking to the whole VHDL theme. That is something that I found good.

Something I believe that would have been helpful would be having the simulation software on the CD, with an appendix overview of what is going on with those tools.

If you are an undergraduate, new to VHDL and are new to using EDA software like Xilinx and don't quite follow everything, then this book will get you going quickstart. It can help save you alot of potential time being wasted. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes how VHDL can be used across the system design process, from specification to the development of maintenance strategies. The contributors provide advanced techniques, and detail how these can be adapted to improve the system development process, reducing time and cost. ... Read more

Product Description
The VHSIC Hardware Design Language for a hardware designer has become what C Language is to the software designer. This work introduces the main concepts of the language, presents the VHDL language from structural to behavioural, and discusses modelling and the design of a large example. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Excellent Book for Beginners, Useful Reference for Test Bench Development
This book is an excellent book for beginners to VHDL.It is written in such a way that it presents the development and nuances of the VHDL language sequentially and ties some of the history of the language into the examples. It is very useful when you want to know why the syntax works the way it does. My only criticism is that it can be difficult to find examples when using it as a desk reference.I often found myself thinking, "I remember reading how to do this, but I can't seem to find it now." I would highly recommend this book if you can dedicate the time to read it cover-to-cover as it makes things easier to find when you need them.

Even though I've been writing VHDL in industry for 10 years now, I learned a lot by reading this book. I think there are other books, "A VHDL Synthesis Primer" by Bhasker that are more compact design references, but this book is a must have for comprehensive language coverage and some of the more powerful concepts that often aren't covered by other references. It is also an invaluable tool if you plan on doing any test bench development or complex modeling (i.e. transistor, or gate level logic simulation).

In summary, I would highly recommend this book. If you can dedicate the time to read it cover-to-cover it will help you become a better VHDL coder.

Very good
I recently used this text for a design class using VHDL.The text is easy to read, has a good flow from topic to topic, and contains many useful examples that help explain the issues.

Lots of detail
I recently used this book for a class and found the book had a lot of detail and was easy to read.There were lots of examples to demonstrate different concepts of VHDL that were easy to understand.The only complaint is the index seems to be bit sparse and can be hard to find specific concepts.

good book for entry level readers
I knew nothing about VHDL before reading this book.Now I know how to design a small CPU.
This book is very practical for those who just start to learn VHDL. Different from many VHDL books, which just provide general command statement explaination, this book combined the language with very detailed and useful examples.
Moreover, it focuses more on system design rather than VHDL language. The book starts with designing small components such as counter, adder, ends with a complete CPU. After reading this book, I have got a better concept about the timing and architecture of the system.
So in a word, a good book.

Well-Written Textbook
I usually never get far along through my college textbooks, but I found this one very interesting. It provides a good overview of the VHDL programming language, going into detail on many of the more confusing aspects, such as multiple driver resolution.
As a programming language, I wasn't particularly fond of the way VHDL handled many issues.The concept of configurations seemed unnecessary, and I didn't like how it automatically dropped so many assignments to a signal.Coming from an object-oriented programming background, I think I might have preferred Verilog, which Prof. Navabi also teaches a course in, actually.
... Read more

Product Description
This book is structured in a practical, example-driven, manner.The use of VHDL for constructing logic synthesisers is one of the aimsofthe book; the second is the application of the tools to the designprocess. Worked examples, questions and answers are provided togetherwith do and don'ts of good practice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good book on VHDL Synthesis
This book is excellent for the topic - logic sythesis. It has an introduction to VHDL, however I found that "VHDL Starters Guide" was better if you are just starting off. However at any rate this is a good book on VHDL. There is a lot of examples in the book, which makes it easy to understand and use. It does have a focus on sythesis, with such topics of optimizing your code using different tecniques. It also talks about good coding of VHDL. If you know at least some VHDL and are interested in synthesising your designs, this book should be useful for you.

Good and Clear explanation of the main points
I'm a CS student and needed to know more about VHDL for a project. Ilooked at a range of books and found some of them way too deep for me. Thisone seemed clearly written and had lots of neat examples.

What I likedbest was that the books show 3 different ways fo designing circuits. Ilearnt a lot about VHDL design styles from that

There were some mistakesin the code (eg bit-width ofa circuit vaired from 4 to 5 bits in differentparts of the code) but thats about it ... Read more

Product Description

VHDL is a language for describing digital electronic systems. A vital, efficient step in the system design process, VHDL allows for the design and simulation of a hardware system prior to it actually being manufactured.
This new bookprovides a tutorial
introduction to the fundamental modeling features of VHDL and shows how the features are used for the design of digital systems.

Offering the same clear, accessible style as The Designer's Guide to VHDL, The Student's Guide is designed as a main text for introductory VHDL courses, and as a supplementary text for courses that require VHDL-based project work, such as computer architecture, digital design, and digital logic courses. This new condensed text also serves as a quick, self-teaching guide for practicing engineers who need to learn only the basics of VHDL.

* On-line resources include code for case studies.
* Numerous exercises that are coded for difficulty and expected solution time. * Solutions to the level one exercises are included in the book for self-testing.
* An appendix citing the differences between the 1987 standard and the 1993 standard which is described in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Only syntax, use as a reference not as a first text on VHDL
This book can only be used as a reference. It describes the syntax of VHDL but does not really explain its semantics through examples. If you have never used VHDL, this book will not help you that much -- it is not met for a beginner.

Great Intro to the VHDL Language
I am an experienced Verilog HDL user and expert logic designer.I just wanted a book that would explain the basic syntax of VHDL. This book did the job.One topic missing that should have been included was "file I/O".For that glaring omission -> 4 stars!If you are looking for a VHDL book that teaches the language and how to apply it to logic synthesis, test benches, or behavorial modeling ... it ain't here ... syntax guide only people!

let the rating be your judge
A competent text for VHDL language & syntax, but not intended for hardware design. One is expected to have some design background upon using this text. Therefore, the text should have been titled as a "Syntax Guide to VHDL."

Good price, but so little to offer. My advice is to buy the "Designer's Guide to VHDL." I ended up getting this textbook to use as reference after using the student version (I sold the student version back). It is the exact same textbook with extra added feature...kinda like the Toyota Camry DLX version of the Camry platform!

Overall, there are other textbooks better than Ashenden's....ones that have more design-based examples such as a system arbiter or floppy disk controller. Earlier reviews are correct but a bit harsh.

Try VHDL Primer by J. Bhjasker. Bhasker is an IEEE chair of the HDL Interoperability Group and would an authoritative voice in the HDL community.

Good luck and happy reading!

dont listen to others
Don't listen to the other reviews of this book which give it poor ratings.It is an excellent text for it's intended audience, those studying VHDL aspart of their course. If you are in this position this book is exceptionalvalue for money. If you are not and want the complete guide to VHDL thenyou should fork out the extra $'s for The designers guide to VHDL also bythe same author which is the authoritive guide on the subject and is alsopresented in a exceptional manner, not seen in other texts of its nature.

This Book Is Not Good For Students
This book only suitable for someone who has already had the idea of programming VHDL.It mentions only the syntax of single instructions, and lacks example circuits to simulate.The author seems don't know thatstudents are not familiar with VHDL programming structure and need moreexamples to follow.After reading the whole book, I still could notsucceed in compliling my VHDL scripts, and waste my time in reading errormessages on VHDL simulator.Finally, I duscarded the book and bought"VHDL for Programmable Logic" as my textbook, which helps me alotbut mentions little testbench programming. ... Read more

Product Description
A tutorial on VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language). Provides hands-on introduction to learning VHDL as an applied language to be used in the design and testing of digital logic networks. Emphasizes syntax and structure and includes many real-world examples. Paper. DLC: VHDL (hardware description language) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not so good
I have over 10 years of electronics design experience but have never used VHDL (CUPL and ABLE, yes). This book seems like it was written not by a hardware designer, but a by a programmer. Starting with zero knowledge of VHDL, his examples are hard to follow, and coding style is not consistant leading to confusion. I downladed a free tutorial program from Aldec.com and it has helped my understanding of the book GREATLY. In fact, it turns out the author references Aldec's Active-HDL simulator in appendix A.

To Mr. Yalamanchili's credit, he does clearly state in his book, on page x of the preface, that this is supposed to be a supplementary text.

I would recommend another book if you want to buy a "VHDL for Total Noobs" type that could also serve as a reference later on.

Also, a glossary would have helped greatly.

Good intro to VHDL
Mr Yalamanchili does a great job of introducing the reader to VHDL.The book is long enough to get you to understand the VHDL language, without being so long as to bore you to tears.After reading the book, I feel that I could design most any simple-medium complexity digital circuit in VHDL without much difficulty.My only complaint is the author's poor indenting of his code.This makes it difficult at times to follow the flow of his code.Other than this minor flaw, the book is perfect.

The book lives up well to its title
I know there are many hardware design engineers and students who suffer from"VHDL anxiety" since it tends to seem alot less intuitive than verilog (especially in this age when C has surpassed ada as a common programming language taught at universities). For this reason Yalamanchili's VHDL Starter's Guide represents a nice contribution to the field. There is enough material in the guide to satisfy, say a senior computer-engineering student who is being intorduced for the first time.

My only complaint about the book is its lack of appendices and specification of the entire language. So look somewhere else if this is the purpose for buying a VHDL book. However, as a place to start, it seems quite effective in developing the confidence needed to move on to the more technical aspects of synthesis and simulation.

By the way, the author has written athicker introductory hardcover book on VHDL published by Prentice Hall. The title is different, but it is virtually the same content. Little if anything was changed from that book to this starter guide. So be careful.

Excellent intro to VHDL
This book is exactly what it says it is: a VHDL Staters Guide. It is a great way to get started in VHDL, i'm finding this book clearly written, useful and interesting. This book has an emphisis on SIMULATION of VHDL, instead of SYTHESIS. This means that you don't need any silicon to start learning VHDL. However you will probably want another book on VHDL Systhesis as well, as you might want more in-depth information about sythesis. However this book is a great starting point, and clearly explains the syntax of VHDL and how to use it properly. VHDL is such a huge and powerful area that one 265 page book won't explain everything, but is a great way to begin!

good but lacking
It is a good introduction to the VHDL language and VHDL simulation.I was disapointed with the lack synthesis discussion: how the different VHDL constructs can effect gate count and timing. ... Read more

Product Description
This book uses a "learn by doing" approach to introduce the concepts and techniques of VHDL and FPGA to designers through a series of hands-on experiments. FPGA Prototyping by VHDL Examples provides a collection of clear, easy-to-follow templates for quick code development; a large number of practical examples to illustrate and reinforce the concepts and design techniques; realistic projects that can be implemented and tested on a Xilinx prototyping board; and a thorough exploration of the Xilinx PicoBlaze soft-core microcontroller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

One of the best books to learn VHDL
Very well written book, in a practical style. It's not a recipe book, it actually teaches you VHDL fundamentals by practising with the Digilent Spartan-3 board (or any similar Spartan board).

Author starts with basic combinational circuits (comparators, etc) and then moves into sequential and more advanced topics - Even a picoblaze chapter is included. You learn why the examples have been written in that way, possible caveats and solutions. Then you have some proposed exercises to help you master the topic. All this with a very good style and good attention to the details.

A *must have*.

Best book ever written on FPGA...Hands Down!
I have spent many years amassing a collection of every book on FPGA on the market! Ok, maybe that's pushing it...However, compared to what most books lack in practical examples, this one I find is a complete GEM! From the beginning to the end it keeps you going with interesting, real world examples of what can be done with a Digilent Spartan Starter Kit. The author, Prof. P. Chu does an excellent job at progressivelly building your understanding of FPGA logic design, through a series of chapters that gradually take you to the more advanced stages of design in easily comprehensible lessons that require more elevated skills as one approaches the end chapters. The beauty of this book is that it uses the lessons learned prior to take you to the next level. I've used Prof. Chu's samples and interfaced them with a PIC and ARM9 development boards respectivelly, just to spice in some more fun and excitement. I may be considering launching a free site for the microcontroller sample code interfacing to his functional FPGA examples with his prior consent! There are lessons on dealing with numbers, such as the illusive negative integers and floats represented in binary logic. These are not borring discussions. They are well explained and straight to the point, complete with test benches and some of them can even be ran in the Xilinx simulator. The muxing example for LEDs should be the starting point of all experiments. It's that useful! The chapter on circular buffers is alone worth the price of the book! The memory interfacing and the VGA interfacing are priceless chapters as well! Try looking at a Xilinx sample for memory interfacing! PHEW... I cannot rave enough about the amount of work he has put into this...This is not a lazy approach to book writing! It's methodical, complete, well illustrated and there are samples included and they all work as described in the book! If you are new to FPGA, this book may be the top stepping stone you're after! It should be on everybody's book shelf who deals with FPGA logic design and I'm considering buying another one, just in case I loose the first one...Yes, it's that good! Brilliant work Prof. Chu, please keep em' going! It's people like yourself that make VHDL learning fun and exciting again!

Clearing the Fog of FPGAs
Great book - It states teaching VHDL is not its goal; the goal is FPGA programming in a general way to be transportable across various FPGAs while apologizing for the need to use a specific hardware board for the examples. The board is the Xilinx Spartan-3 evaluation board which is readily available for ~$200.It starts with an easy logic structure and ends with a complex pico-Blaze soft-core embedded processor project. It has memory controllers, LCD and PS/2 keyboard controllers in between.Each example has the full VHDL code and many compare alternate HDL coding approaches. Thus, while VHDL syntax is not covered directly, if you want the construct of a multiplexer or a serial port, or more complex functions, the examples serve as an excellent starting point and will continue to provide solid building blocks for future projects.If you are having difficulty sorting out the starting point in the fog of VHDL, ISE tools, RTL, footprints, and all else related to FPGAs using this book in conjunction with the Xilinx Spartan-3 evaluation board will point you in the right direction. Within a matter of a few days to a couple of weeks you will understand the key elements, the order they are applied and be able to demonstrate them in actual hardware. To become an expert is a long path, finding the trail head is always a good start.Once you are comfortable with the FPGA coding process "Circuit Design with VHDL" by Volnei A. Pedroni is an excellent reference book on VHDL for future projects.

Great introduction book
I wish I had such a book before, when I putted my first steps in learning VHDL.
If you wish to learn VHDL syntax get "The Designer's Guide to VHDL" by Peter J. Ashenden (great reference book).

This book is strongly connected to Xilinx Spartan-3 development board andexplains on examples how to designs with it.

Great book for beginners, has good flow, structures well knowledge.

Finally, a hands on introduction to fpga development
I have been looking for a book like this for 2 years now. It is the first book I know of that is actually written about a current development board. The author does a great job of teaching you many of the basic concepts you need to get going. I hope that people at Xilinx stand up and take notice of what the author has done. If you ask me, Xilinx's marketing or technical support department should have written this book. If you want to get involved with fpga development, then buy this book and the development board. I'm recommending this book to several other software engineers as well as some of my students. Well done Prof Chu! ... Read more

Product Description
An up-to-the-minute introduction to VHDL focusing on the features you need to get results.Includes extensive practical examples so you can start writing VHDL model immediately. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Unsynthesizable
This is the WORST VHDL book there is.Don't buy this book if you plan to synthesize your code.The book looks good, but many examples are just plain wrong.This book is flamed in the industry.

Buy Ashenden's Designer's Guide to VHDL if you need a good reference.

I appreciate Mr. Bhasker's book.
I am a graduate student doing my Major in digital VLSI design. I strongly urge people to read the book written by Mr. Jayaram Bhasker on VHDL.I feel that there are no prerequisites for reading this. The main highlight of the book is the simplicity with whichits written. The author has really taken pains to make students understanddifficult ideas with ease.The other most striking feature are ample signal wave diagrams which YOU DONT FIND IN ANY OTHER BOOKS. My favorite chapter is the tutorial in Chapter2 and the last chapter on STATE MACHINES.

I have gone through some other books but they never give fully written code examples. Mr. Bhasker has given complete code examples which you can synthesize easily and get the satisfaction of practically writing the code in a short time and observe the wave forms.

This book is an excellent study material for people interested in learning VHDL .

- Sameer Kadam

Nicely Organized for a "Kick Start Learning."
This book nicely starts with the simple code writing and progresses to more complex topics in VHDL.The good thing is the author explained almost every topic with good clarity and has well connected different topics.I hope the next edition comes with more examples on test bench. A very keen information about the different types of modelling also helps to have a good attacking style for a sound digital designing. I would recommend this book to any beginner and there is no doubt this book is well fragmented with techniques about VHDL coding almost in every page.

Good Conceptual Guide, but get a Syntax book
I am a student who has used this book as the required text for an inroductory VHDL course.It is extremely helpful in understanding VHDL processes and modeling techniques, but the author has a tendency to throw around jargon that a true beginner (as I was) may find hard to follow, and his rather poorly explained syntactical models can be difficult to understand.I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to truly understand VHDL from the ground up, but if this really is your first exposure to VHDL, I'd also strongly recommend some sort of a reference book on VHDL syntax.

This book is much more than a "Primer".
I have taught VHDL and Verilog for a number of years and find this book to be one of the best "basics" book on the market.OneMUST read it slowly in order to absorb all the details given.Although I like the book, it comes up short in gluing subjects together--something I insist on in a book and in the classroom. More examples would be helpful and a little overview-flowcharting would help. ... Read more

Product Description
This text offers a comprehensive treatment of VHDL and its applications to the design and simulation of real, industry-standard circuits. It focuses on the use of VHDL rather than solely on the language, showing why and how certain types of circuits are inferred from the language constructs and how any of the four simulation categories can be implemented. It makes a rigorous distinction between VHDL for synthesis and VHDL for simulation. The VHDL codes in all design examples are complete, and circuit diagrams, physical synthesis in FPGAs, simulation results, and explanatory comments are included with the designs. The text reviews fundamental concepts of digital electronics and design and includes a series of appendixes that offer tutorials on important design tools including ISE, Quartus II, and ModelSim, as well as descriptions of programmable logic devices in which the designs are implemented, the DE2 development board, standard VHDL packages, and other features. All four VHDL editions (87, 93, 2002, and 2008) are covered.

This expanded second edition is the first textbook on VHDL to include a detailed analysis of circuit simulation with VHDL testbenches in all four categories (nonautomated, fully automated, functional, and timing simulations), accompanied by complete practical examples. Chapters 1–9 have been updated, with new design examples and new details on such topics as data types and code statements. Chapter 10 is entirely new and deals exclusively with simulation. Chapters 11–17 are also entirely new, presenting extended and advanced designs with theoretical and practical coverage of serial data communications circuits, video circuits, and other topics. There are many more illustrations, and the exercises have been updated and their number more than doubled. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the main applications of VHDL is the synthesis ofelectronic circuits.Circuit Synthesis with VHDL is anintroduction to the use of VHDL logic (RTL) synthesis tools in circuitdesign. The modeling styles proposed are independent of specificmarket tools and focus on constructs widely recognized assynthesizable by synthesis tools. A statement of the prerequisites for synthesis is followed by a shortintroduction to the VHDL concepts used in synthesis.CircuitSynthesis with VHDL presents two possible approaches tosynthesis: the first starts with VHDL features and derives hardwarecounterparts; the second starts from a given hardware component andderives several description styles. The book also describes how tointroduce the synthesis design cycle into existing designmethodologies and the standard synthesis environment. Circuit Synthesis with VHDL concludes with a case studyproviding a realistic example of the design flow from behavioraldescription down to the synthesized level. Circuit Synthesis with VHDL is essential reading for allstudents, researchers, design engineers and managers working with VHDLin a synthesis environment. ... Read more

Product Description
KEY BENEFIT: Previous books on this subject have concentrated just on the VHDL hardware description language without really teaching the design, process.This new reference really shows how to design with VHDL in a synthesis context. KEY TOPICS: Unlike the other books, it teaches the VHDL language in detail and gives numerous examples of VHDL models used in different aspects of the design process; describes design at three different levels of abstraction: algorithmic, data flow, and gate level; illustrates the design of combinational and sequential logic at these three levels; and illustrates various forms of control unit design.For practicing engineers involved in digital design and those interested in the development of methods for computer aided design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

poorly organized book
This was the required text, for a very limited time of course, for my vhdl course.The book is horrible.It is poorly organized, with very few examples, and contains paragraph after paragraph of verbage.Everyone Iknew at that class relied primary on other texts.This book seems to beintended for "advanced" vhdl users, since they're the only oneswho could possibly understand the writing and the hardware devices that aremodeled in the examples.then again, if you're a real pro, would you havethe time and patience to read this book given its inferior quality. ... Read more

Product Description
The Student's Guide to VHDL is a condensed edition of The Designer's Guide to VHDL, the most widely used textbook on VHDL for digital system modeling. The Student's Guide is targeted as a supplemental reference book for computer organization and digital design courses.

Since publication of the first edition of The Student's Guide, the IEEE VHDL and related standards have been revised. The Designer's Guide has been revised to reflect the changes, so it is appropriate that The Student's Guide also be revised.
In The Student's Guide to VHDL, 2nd Edition, we have included a design case study illustrating an FPGA-based design flow. The aim is to show how VHDL modeling fits into a design flow, starting from high-level design and proceeding through detailed design and verification, synthesis, FPGA place and route, and final timing verification. Inclusion of the case study helps to better serve the educational market. Currently, most college courses do not formally address the details of design flow. Students may be given informal guidance on how to proceed with lab projects. In many cases, it is left to students to work it out for themselves. The case study in The Student's Guide provides a reference design flow that can be adapted to a variety of lab projects. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a practical and useful guide to VHDL synthesis. The purpose ofthis book is to explain the transformations that occur during thesynthesis process from a VHDL model to anetlist. Constructs that are supported for synthesis are clearlyexplained with many examples with their synthesized netlists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very informative
It is a well written book , covering all aspects of VHDL.
This would be a must buy for students who would like
to start a career in VLSI, and also to those designers
who are not so familier with synthesis aspects of VHDL

concise & practical
In the modeling of digital logic with VHDL, sometimes you're wondering what difference between signals and variables in your code, what the literals of integer type really means in hardware, and why the signed andunsigned types are so convenient to use in many situations. Don't worry. J.Bhasker tells you what you want to know by good examples.

It's usefulboth for beginners and practicing engineers. ... Read more

Product Description

This handy reference gives readers a thorough grounding in the basic concepts and language of VHDL, and encourages them to apply what they have learned using realistic examples. Concepts are followed by examples and tutorials. Adds appendices to support material: Includes a tutorial for a popular VHDL simulator; a handy reference to common VHDL packages; and a detailed template for a VHDL model illustrating the relative ordering of program constructs. Emphasizes development of readers’ intuition and structured thinking about VHDL models without spending excessive time on advanced language features. Provides simulation and laboratory exercises that enable readers to quickly come up to speed in building useful, non-trivial models of digital systems. Provides tutorial descriptions and presentation of programming mechanics unique to CAD tools and environments. Includes examples, extensive use of timing diagrams, event lists and many tutorials for independent student study. Provides sample problems, many of which include worked solutions. Includes viewgraph masters and the VHDL source for all text examples.  A useful reference for computer professionals who need to brush up on their VHDL knowledge.

Customer Reviews (3)

VHDL: A Starter's Guide
I needed to learn VHDL for a project I had been assigned so I bought this book.Having downloaded a few cores from the Internet, I was hoping this book would teach me how to utilize them.I was disappointed that the topic of "component" was buried in a few sentences.Most topics are way too sparse - the index is way too sparse.The organization of the book is not as good as it could be.

To my delight (or dismay after paying the price for this book because they're free) you can download better free VHDL tutorials from the Internet.In fact, these are what I use instead of this book.

Not for FPGA Design
This book is not helpful for synthesis at all. Do not purchase it if you will be doing anything related to FPGA or CPLD design. It may be helpful if you're doing simulation only.

straightforward language to learn
VHDL is a rather specialised programming language. It has subroutines, loops, if statements and other characteristics of general purpose procedural languages. But this book goes on to show that VHDL has very specific attributes that let you (hopefully easily) model circuits.

These circuits might be combinatorial or sequential. For the latter, the book also goes into how this segues naturally into the idea of a finite state machine. A key concept in circuit design, and one that you need to master. To aid you, the book explains how you can build a behavioural model of a FSM. The theory of FSMs is not really expounded to any depth. An emphasis in this book is on using VHDL to model.

You should note that VHDL is not an object oriented language. Though a minor aspect, that of being able to overload a subprogram name, seems to borrow from those languages. ... Read more

Product Description
Digital Electronics with VHDL provides the fundamentals of digital circuitry; it is designed to be easy to read and to provide all of the information necessary for the motivated reader to understand this new subject matter.The subject matter is introduced using the fixed-function ICs and evolves into CPLDs (Complex Programming Logic Devices) programmed with VHD (VHSIC Hardware Description Language). Basic logic gates are used to perform arithmetic operations; then the book proceeds through sequential logic and memory circuits to interface to modern PCs.For those self-learners needing to understand digital electronics with VHDL programming and the utilization of CPLDs. These include programmers, system analysts, and electronic technicians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

bad
this is worse book i ever received on amozone the book was wet bended and very bad shape for a used book.

Great
I received this item in a timely manner. All the cd-roms were still with the item. This was the best price by far for this product. ... Read more

Product Description
VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies, Second Edition is afollow-up book to the first edition of the same book and to VHDLAnswers to Frequently Asked Questions, first and secondeditions. This book was originally written as a teaching tool for aVHDL training course. The author began writing the book because hecould not find a practical and easy-to-read book that gave in-depthcoverage of both the language and coding methodologies. This newedition provides practical information on reusable softwaremethodologies for the design of bus functional models for testbenches.It also provides guidelines in the use of VHDL for synthesis. All VHDLcode described in the book is on a companion CD, which also includesthe GNU toolsite with EMACS language-sensitive editor (with VHDL,Verilog, and other language templates), and TSHELL tools that emulatea Unix shell. Model Technology graciously included an evaluationversion of ModelSim, a recognized industry standard VHDL/Verilogcompiler and simulator that supports easy viewing of the models underanalysis, along with many debug features. In addition, Synplicity iskindly making available an evaluation version of Synplify, avery efficient, user-friendly and easy-to-use FPGA synthesis tool.Synplify provides a user with both the RTL and gate-level viewsof the synthesized model, and a performance report of the design.Optimization mechanisms are provided in the tool. VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies, Second Edition is intendedfor professional engineers as well as students. It is organized inthirteen chapters, each covering a separate aspect of the language,with complete examples. It provides a practical approach to learningVHDL. Combining methodologies and coding styles, along with VHDLrules, leads the reader in the right direction from the beginning.CD INCLUDED VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies, Second Edition includes aCD that contains+ All code included in the book + GNU EMACS language-sensitive editor with VHDL, Verilog, andtemplates for other languages+ GNU TSHELL tools that emulate Unixshell+ Thirty-day evaluation of ModelSim VHDL compiler/simulatorfrom Model Technology+ Twenty-day evaluation of SynplifyVHDL/Verilog FPGA synthesizer from Synplicity+ VHDL templatedemonstrating the language syntax+ VHDL '87 and VHDL '93 formalsyntax in HTML format. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Very Difficult to Read
As the title said, this book has a lot of good examples on how to write VHDL code with good coding styles. Most of the good coding style tips in the book make sense and I use it in my work. However, I don't think this is a good book to learn VHDL. The syntax is explained in the same style as the VHDL Language Reference Manual, which is very dry. For example: the author explained the syntax of for loop like this: loop_statement ::= [loop_label][iteraction_scheme] loop sequence_of_statements end loop [loop_label]. I learned some VHDL constructs from this book but they are not very clear. After finished reading the book, I still feel something missing and I need to refer to other VHDL books to fill up the gap. The author also spent only a few pages on synthesis and the index is poorly organized. With all of these and combined with its ridiculous price, I would recommend to borrow the book from library if you want some tips on good coding styles. But I won't recommend to buy it if you want to learn basic VHDL, because the book is no good for that purpose.

No other book needed
This is the best of 4 books I purchased on the subject of VHDL, by a factor of 10.The price took me by surprise but it was readily available through the third party link.Buy this one and you won't need any of the others.If I would have purchased this one a year ago it would have saved me much grief.

A good reference book you will consult again and again
This is a very good reference book for checking coding styles and syntax for VHDL. There are several books that teach the basics of how to write VHDL code, but this book shows you best practices for doing a good design in your projects. This book is a must have for anyone who wants to become a proficient VHDL designer who can produce quality designs.

What a book!
This book has just become my number one book to recommend to the students of the VHDL classes that I teach.It is very well written and the book is loaded with VHDL examples demonstrating the various constructs, statements and issues. In example 5.5.1.2, the author does the best job I have ever seen of explaining the difficult subject of "Projected Output". The subjects are frequently associated to the specifications found in the Language Reference Manual. When there is a linking issue between two or more design elements, the linking is clearly demonstrated with examples.The only negative is that the author spends far too much time and book space describing ways to "Enhance Readibility" or documenting your design--which is always a personal preference. But still, a five star book.

Excelent Book
An indispensable book.He gets your mind thinking in VHDL coding.Not only in what you write, but how you write it for structure, consistancy and readability. Full of coding examples and test benches for almost every aspect of VHDL including the source code on CD.Ben's ideas for coding styles really gives a consistant look to all my code.Coding he gets into the nuts and bolts of VHDL.Types, arrays, functions, aggregates, cases, generics, packages, concurrent, sequential, parameters formal and actual ..., the rationals explain why and examples examples examples.This book sits with me at all times. ... Read more

Product Description
New edition includes a number of paper exercises and computer lab experiments. Designed as a primer and its contents are appropriate for an introductory course in VHDL. DLC: VHDL (Computer hardware description language) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A guide to get started in VHDL
As the author, I wrote this book as an introduction for
someone who wanted to learn to use this design language. It is
not particulary suitable as a reference guide, but instead
is organized to help you grasp the fundamental relationships
and organization of the VHDL language. Even for experienced
programmers some of the concepts are a bit hard at first.
We try also to include the motivations and uses for various
features. There are a number of simple examples included.
I hope you enjoy and use this book.
stan mazor

A good book on fundamentals
I just borrowed the book from the library and I am reading through it to understand VHDL. It is good for my background: I know more than ten programming languages, know digital logic design, and is familiar with Verilog. I had read a few other VHDL books, but was kind of confused by their writing styles.

I like this book because it tells the rationals behind the VHDL design. It is focused on the design of the language itself. The other books I read tried to cover many things like microprocessor design or DSP design, but didn't clarify why VHDL uses concepts like entity, architecture, process, etc. For a professional, it is fast to learn VHDL from this book.

But this book is possibly not a good book for a student because of its focus. It lacks detail (not a good reference book) and doesn't have many examples.

Great book to start on VHDL......and beyond
If you want to build a solid foundation in VHDL, this is the book to buy. I absolutely loved it.

Not useful as a desktop reference
My major complaint against this book is that it is not useful as a reference. The index of only six pages is hopelessly devoid of useful information. Nearly all keywords listed in the index merely point to a table of keywords, with no explanation or further reference. Not in the index: "<=" (which has two meanings), "explicit literal", "aggregate", and "assignment statement", for example. Index often references wrong page. Typos ("discreet", "scaler") abound. ... Read more

Product Description
VHDL Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, SecondEdition is a follow up to the author's books VHDL Answers toFrequently Asked Questions (ISBN 0-7923-9791-6) and VHDL CodingStyles and Methodologies (ISBN 0-7923-9598-0). This book addresses:misinterpretations in the use of the language; methods for writingerror-free, and simulation-efficient, code for testbench designs andfor synthesis; and general principles and guidelines for designverification. This second edition includes the following additions tothe first edition: a new chapter on design for reuse that definescoding and design techniques that are impermeable to new technologiesand are malleable to new requirements; more questions and answersincluding discussions on applications of guarded signals and sharedvariables; more models including the design of a reusable priorityencoder, and a switch; more packages including an enhancement of imagepackage to convert values to text strings in binary, hexadecimal, anddecimal formats, and the complex package that defines complex numbersand overloaded operators. The book differs from other VHDL books in many respects. This book + emphasizes real VHDL, rather than philosophicalor introductory types of information+ emphasizes application ofVHDL for synthesis+ uses complete examples to demonstrateproblems and solutions+ provides a disk that includes all thebook examples and other useful VHDL reference material+ uses easyto remember symbology notation to emphasize language rules, good andpoor methodology and coding styles+ identifies obsolete VHDLconstructs that must be avoided+ identifiessynthesizable/non-synthesizable structures+ uses a question andanswer format to clarify and emphasize the concerns of VHDL users. VHDL Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Second Edition isintended for those who are seeking an enhanced proficiency in VHDL. ... Read more