VHDL with CDROM [Textbook Binding]

Douglas Perry (Author), Douglas L. Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 1998

VHDL is the IEEE standard hardware description language, used by electronics designers to model and simulate complex digital circuits. Where previous editions have focused on the language itself, this text adds material on applications.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The complete user's guide to VHDL. VHDL is firmly entrenched as the universal communication medium for computer-aided design. In this comprehensive guide, updated and expanded to reflect the very latest design and synthesis methodology, expert Doug Perry guides you through the complex process of creating a VHDL design: simulating and synthesizing; placing and routing; using VITAL simulation to verify the final result. Whether you're a VHDL veteran or just getting acquainted with the language, this sourcebook will have you writing and verifying concise, efficient VHDL descriptions of hardware designs in surprisingly little time. And a detailed example walks you through a small CPU design from the VHDL capture to VITAL simulation, honing your knowledge in preparation for your own high-level design flow. A handy desktop reference as well a a hadns-on guide, VHDL also contains: a listing of the IEEE 1164 STD-LOGIC package used throughout the book; useful tables and figures; instructions for reading the Bachus-Naur format (NFF) descriptions found in the VHDL Language Reference Manual.

About the Author

Douglas L. Perry is Founder and VP of Customer Solutions at Bridges2Silicon a new startup HDL hardware debugging company. Prior positions include Director of Strategic Marketing with Exemplar Logic, Inc. Mr. Perry has been active in the CAE field for almost two decades and is also the author of the first three editions of VHDL Programming by Example. He earned his B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering at South Dakota State University and also did graduate studies at the University of Santa Clara. He lives in San Ramon, California. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 500 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 3rd edition (May 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070494363
• ISBN-13: 978-0070494367
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,933,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Competent enough, January 8, 2004

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: VHDL : Programming By Example (Hardcover)

As another software deveoper coming to VHDL, I was reasonably satisfied with this book. It gives a strong description of the basic language features, including the ones usually skipped in intro texts. It skips the baby steps of logic design, and shows examples of most language constructs, including overloading.

I never thought I'd say it, but this VHDL book is actually a bit weak on the hardware side. It's description of processes and events seems incomplete, and the discussion of timing-related features is scant.

The description of synthesis is too brief to cover many of the common variations you'll come across. If you have scars from a few optimizing compilers, though, you'll be able to pick up what you need from your tools, co-workers, and experience. Place-and-route is worth understanding. Taking real control of it, though, is usually something done cautiously and within the context of specific tools and chip characteristics. A few chapters of the book focus on specific tools - naturally, not the ones I use. I found those missable.

On the whole, I find this book helpful. Perhaps other books are better, but lots of books are lots worse.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, poor proofing, August 26, 2002

By 

Michael Johnson (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VHDL : Programming By Example (Hardcover)

As an experienced C programmer I found this a useful introduction to VHDL but was worried by a number of obvious typos and missing/mislabelled diagrams - if I can catch the easy ones (starting with the cover and chapter 1!) with no knowledge of the subject what are the important ones I didn't get? At the very least the publishers need to put up an errata site unless there is one I couldn't find.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars too many bugs/typos, but explains basic ideas, January 10, 2007

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: VHDL : Programming By Example (Hardcover)

Perry's 4th edition seems a little hastily put out on the market. Many inconsistencies between the text and the contents of the enclosed CD. But if you are willing to tolerate this, then the book is actually ok. It teaches VHDL with many examples of source code. You should be able to ascertain that VHDL is a pretty simple language. From a theoretical computing viewpoint, there is nothing too abstruse in VHDL.

What you do have to be careful about is if you actually want to use the example code that's either in the text or on the CD. Here, you should go carefully through it, because of possible bugs. Which does afford the advantage that it forces you to understand the code. An inadvertant pedagogic property of the book!