LogicWorks 5 Interactive Software [Paperback]

x Capilano Computing (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013145658X | ISBN-13: 978-0131456587 | Publication Date: December 12, 2003

LogicWorks is the schematic drawing and interactive digital simulation package that has set the standard for demonstrating logic design principles and practices while producing professional results. LogicWorks 5 helps the reader understand the concepts of using these tools in a variety of design situations in electrical and computer engineering and computer science. Features a subset of the industry-standard VHDL language and fully mixes high-level language and structural design methods. Displays any values in a simulation using the preformatted HTML. Simplifies the creation of component simulations. For anyone interested in learning more about digital design, electrical engineering and computer technology.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

LogicWorks is the schematic drawing and interactive digital simulation package that has set the standard for demonstrating logic design principles and practices while producing professional results. As circuit designs become more complex, software tools are taking on increasing importance in the system design process. LogicWorks 5 helps teach the concepts of using these tools in a variety of design situations in electrical and computer engineering and computer science.

With LogicWorks 5, installing and using this interactive tool has never been easier. The friendly user interface allows students to be designing and testing circuits in minutes without the need for complex manuals. togicWorks 5 builds on the success of previous versions with new features that expand the scope of the package, especially in the area of high-level-language circuit design.

New Features

• Allows you to define systems and components using a subset of the industry-standard VHdL language and fully mix high-level language and structural design methods.
• Customizable "Input/Output Panel" module allows you to display any values in a simulation using the formatting power of HTML.
• Easily display simulation values for all signals in a circuit, right on the circuit diagram.
• Model Wizard simplifies the creation of component simulations.
• Set timing and delay parameters in real-time units with femtosecond resolution.

Additional Features

• Includes libraries of commonly used logic types, plus allows you to create your own device symbols and models using built-in editing features, with many improvements in LogicWorks 5.
• Create RAM, PROM, and Programmable Logic Array devices with built-in editing tools.
• Create professional-level schematic diagrams with busses, text annotations, title blocks, adjustable sheet sizes, and much more.
• Demonstrate the full range of digital design techniques from simple logic gates and flip-flops to Programmable Logic Arrays and VHDL with complex timing parameters.
• Free program updates via the Internet.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Welcome to LogicWorks^™ and the world of interactive circuit design. As electronic systems have become more complex, operating speeds higher, and custom chip technology more widespread, software tools for engineers have become an essential part of the design process. It is no longer possible for an individual engineer or a corporation to remain competitive while using pencil and paper for design. Powerful computer-aided design (CAD) programs have been commercially developed to meet the increasing demands facing industry. At Capilano Computing Systems Ltd., our flagship product, DesignWorks^™, is used in government, industrial, and academic labs worldwide, providing users with speed, ease of use, and affordability. Many instructors want to give their students hands-on experience with CAD tools used in industry, but the high cost and complexity of most commercial CAD programs limit their use at academic institutions. In light of this situation, we developed LogicWorks, the student version of DesignWorks, to be used by students in lab settings and by instructors as an interactive teaching aid. LogicWorks was created with the following goals in mind:

• to give the student an introduction to the concepts and practicalities of using CAD tools;
• to provide a "virtual workbench" that allows the student to quickly test out circuit design ideas and document results;
• to be intuitive and easy to use, so that time is not wasted on the details of installing and operating the software;
• to provide the features and interfaces necessary to work with current design technologies;
• to provide an upward path to professional design tools used in industry.

The major change in LogicWorks 5 from previous versions is the addition of VHDL simulation. VHDL has become the industry standard method for describing digital systems in a high-level language, and an understanding of it is now essential for any working circuit designer. VHDL is a huge language, and LogicWorks does not attempt to provide a full implementation in this version. Our goal is to present the features that are most commonly used and taught, and to keep the package easy to use and low in cost.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (December 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013145658X
• ISBN-13: 978-0131456587
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Modeling & Simulation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Tool For Learning Logic Design/VHDL, December 11, 2009

By 

D. Comer (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: LogicWorks 5 Interactive Software (Paperback)

This is a book/software combination. The first part of the book is a tutorial on how to used the accompanying software GUI. The second part of the book contains a brief introduction to event- driven simulation concepts and the VHDL language. In hindsight, this is a tool I would have loved to have when I was studying logic design in college. The book and software won't make you a digital designer but will help you apply what you learn and see for yourself how the logic you design performs. As with any simulator, there are compromises with reality and simulation, but this software is fine for introductory courses. There are some errors in the book mainly due to software versioning (slightly out of sync) but not impossible to infer the points being presented.

The chapters are:

Preface
1. Introduction

Part 1 Using LogicWorks 5
2. Getting Started
3. User Interface
4. Tutorial - The Five Minute Schematic and Simulation
5. Tutorial - Schematic Editing
6. Tutorial - Structural Simulation
7. Tutorial - Using VHDL in LogicWorks
8. Tutorial - Creating Device Symbols

Part II The VHDL Language
9. Simulation of Digital Systems Using VHDL
10. Basic Language Concepts
11. Modeling Behavior
12. Modeling Structure
13. Subprograms, Packages, and Libraries
14. Identifiers, Data Types, and Operators

Index

The book is clearly aimed towards a student wanting to learn logic design with VHDL simulation. As an other reviewer mentioned, small projects. The book/software package is a good deal for the price. There are few comparable open source or free projects that I am aware of (see Wikipedia) with functionality similar to LogicWorks 5. LogicWorks 5 is very good in this respect due to it's graphical interface and fairly reliable operation. There are some bugs, some nuances yet all considered this work is good for learning the subject. Plan on graduating to a higher cost package (e.g. Xilinx ISA, etc.) for serious use. Note that Prentice Hall doesn't appear to support this software on the phone number included with the help (at least not from their automated menu. Capilano consulting, the authors of the software/book, are slow or do not answer questions via email. I did have some success in calling them directly.

Finally, I noted that in the documentation, the use of the "VHDL" and "Verilog" (sparse and may have been on the Capilano web site) are both used to describe the simulation environment. Odd, because this simulator is clearly VHDL compatible not Verilog. In summary, plan on learning about logic design and VHDL with this book, prepare to interpret some of the tutorial instructions, and learn introductory digital design simulation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent digital simulation software for Windows, October 4, 2005

By 

B. Hughes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LogicWorks 5 Interactive Software (Paperback)

If you have access to a Windows machine (Windows 2000/XP/NT 4.0) this is excellent software to learn digital concepts and simulate digital circuits. It's also a pretty decent schematic editor for simple circuits although I'd recommend DesignWorks Lite/Pro from Capilano Computing (capilano.com) as a better editor. LogicWorks software was originally developed on and for the Macintosh OS but version 5.0 doesn't support the Macintosh. For that there is LogicWorks 4.5 available directly from Capilano Computing ([...]) which supports MacOS 9 and X but doesn't include VHDL support.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A significant improvement in a good system - - -, September 18, 2004

By 

R. Fryer "Digital Logic is Fun" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LogicWorks 5 Interactive Software (Paperback)

I have used LogicWorks4 in a computer design class with fair results - (very good for small jobs - starts to get shaky with a thousand gates or so).

So far in my testing, LogicWorks5 has improved on most of the features I've tried. I think it also offers an excellent way to get started in VHDL (jury still out until I try it in a class). A bit flaky still with SP1 in a few areas.

Anyway - highly recommended.