4.6 Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and IC Technology

Hardware Description Language (HDL) is used for designing and describing the behavior of electronic circuits. VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) is one of the most commonly used HDLs for designing complex digital systems, such as integrated circuits (ICs), FPGAs, and ASICs.

In this section, we will discuss:

  • VHDL Overview

  • Overflow and Data Representation Using VHDL

  • Designing Combinational and Sequential Logic Using VHDL

  • Pipelining Using VHDL

1. VHDL Overview

VHDL is a hardware description language used to model the behavior and structure of digital systems. It allows the description of both behavioral (high-level logic) and structural (gate-level) designs.

Key features of VHDL:

  • Concurrency: VHDL allows for the description of parallel operations, a key feature of hardware systems.

  • Modularity: VHDL supports the reuse of components by defining entities (interfaces) and architectures (behavioral/structural definitions).

  • Abstraction Levels: VHDL can describe hardware at multiple levels, including:

    • Behavioral Level: Focuses on the functionality and logic of the system.

    • Register Transfer Level (RTL): Describes the flow of data between registers and logic gates.

    • Structural Level: Describes the interconnection of various components or gates.

2. Overflow and Data Representation Using VHDL

Overflow occurs when the result of an arithmetic operation exceeds the range that can be represented with a fixed number of bits. For example, adding two large numbers in a system with limited bits might result in an incorrect value due to overflow.

  • Signed and Unsigned Representation:

    • Unsigned numbers only represent positive integers.

    • Signed numbers can represent both positive and negative values, typically using two's complement representation.

Handling Overflow in VHDL:

  • In VHDL, overflow detection is often done using flags or by comparing the result to the maximum possible value that can be represented with the given number of bits.

  • For example, when adding two 8-bit numbers:

    • The result is a 9-bit number, so if the result doesn't fit into 8 bits, an overflow occurs.

-- Example of overflow detection
architecture Behavioral of OverflowDetection is
    signal A, B, sum: std_logic_vector(7 downto 0);
    signal overflow: std_logic;
begin
    -- Adding two numbers and checking for overflow
    process(A, B)
    begin
        sum <= A + B;
        if (A(7) = '1' and B(7) = '1' and sum(7) = '0') or
           (A(7) = '0' and B(7) = '0' and sum(7) = '1') then
            overflow <= '1';  -- Overflow occurred
        else
            overflow <= '0';  -- No overflow
        end if;
    end process;
end Behavioral;

In this example, an overflow occurs when adding two signed 8-bit numbers and the result does not fit within 8 bits.

3. Design of Combinational and Sequential Logic Using VHDL

Combinational Logic: Combinational circuits perform operations where the output depends only on the current inputs, with no memory of previous inputs.

Example: Designing a 2-input AND gate in VHDL.

architecture Behavioral of AndGate is
    signal A, B, C: std_logic;
begin
    C <= A and B;  -- AND operation
end Behavioral;

Sequential Logic: Sequential circuits depend not only on the current inputs but also on past inputs or states. They often require memory elements like flip-flops.

Example: Designing a D Flip-Flop in VHDL.

architecture Behavioral of DFlipFlop is
    signal D, CLK, Q, Qn: std_logic;
begin
    process(CLK)
    begin
        if rising_edge(CLK) then
            Q <= D;   -- D Flip-Flop behavior
            Qn <= not D;
        end if;
    end process;
end Behavioral;

In this example, the D Flip-Flop stores the value of the input D on the rising edge of the clock CLK, and the output Q changes accordingly.

4. Pipelining Using VHDL

Pipelining is a technique used to increase the throughput of a system by allowing multiple operations to be processed concurrently. It involves breaking down a process into smaller stages and passing intermediate results between these stages. This is commonly used in digital signal processing (DSP) and CPU architectures.

In VHDL, pipelining can be implemented by creating multiple stages of logic, where the output of one stage serves as the input to the next stage.

Example: Pipelined 4-stage adder.

architecture Behavioral of PipelinedAdder is
    signal A, B, sum_stage1, sum_stage2, sum_stage3, sum_stage4: std_logic_vector(7 downto 0);
    signal clk: std_logic;
begin
    -- Stage 1: Addition
    process(clk)
    begin
        if rising_edge(clk) then
            sum_stage1 <= A + B;
        end if;
    end process;

    -- Stage 2: Pass result to next stage
    process(clk)
    begin
        if rising_edge(clk) then
            sum_stage2 <= sum_stage1;
        end if;
    end process;

    -- Stage 3: Pass result to next stage
    process(clk)
    begin
        if rising_edge(clk) then
            sum_stage3 <= sum_stage2;
        end if;
    end process;

    -- Stage 4: Final result
    process(clk)
    begin
        if rising_edge(clk) then
            sum_stage4 <= sum_stage3;
        end if;
    end process;

end Behavioral;

In this example, the addition operation is pipelined across four stages. The clk signal ensures that the results from each stage are passed to the next one on each clock cycle. This allows multiple operations to be in progress at the same time, improving the overall throughput.

Conclusion

  • VHDL is a powerful language for modeling and simulating digital systems, enabling designers to describe both the behavior and structure of a system.

  • Overflow and Data Representation are crucial for ensuring accurate arithmetic operations, especially when dealing with signed and unsigned data types.

  • Combinational Logic designs are simple and depend only on current inputs, while Sequential Logic designs incorporate memory elements and rely on past states.

  • Pipelining in VHDL is a technique that enables faster processing by breaking down tasks into smaller stages and allowing multiple operations to occur simultaneously, improving throughput.

VHDL is essential for designing both combinational and sequential circuits and plays a key role in optimizing the performance of digital systems through techniques such as pipelining.

Previous4.5 Real-Time Operating and Control SystemsNextMCQs

Last updated