Lecture 2

Introduction to VHDL for Synthesis

ECE 545 Introduction to VHDL

George Mason University

Resources
Volnei A. Pedroni, Circuit Design with VHDL Chapter 1, Introduction Chapter 2, Code Structure Chapter 3.1, Pre-Defined Data Types

Sundar Rajan, Essential VHDL: RTL Synthesis

Done Right Chapter 1, VHDL Fundamentals Chapter 2, Getting Your First Design Done
(see errata at [Link]
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Brief History of VHDL

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VHDL
VHDL is a language for describing digital hardware used by industry worldwide

VHDL is an acronym for VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language

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Genesis of VHDL
State of art circa 1980
Multiple design entry methods and hardware description languages in use No or limited portability of designs between CAD tools from different vendors Objective: shortening the time from a design concept to implementation from 18 months to 6 months

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A Brief History of VHDL

June 1981: Woods Hole Workshop July 1983: contract awarded to develop VHDL Intermetrics IBM Texas Instruments August 1985: VHDL Version 7.2 released December 1987: VHDL became IEEE Standard 1076-1987 and in 1988 an ANSI standard
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Three versions of VHDL

VHDL-87 VHDL-93

VHDL-01

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Verilog

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Verilog
Essentially identical in function to VHDL
No generate statement

Simpler and syntactically different

C-like

Gateway Design Automation Co., 1983 Early de facto standard for ASIC programming Open Verilog International Standard Programming language interface to allow connection to non-Verilog code

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VHDL
Government Developed Ada based

vs.

Verilog

Commercially Developed C based

Strongly Type Cast

Difficult to learn More Powerful
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Mildly Type Cast

Easier to Learn Less Powerful
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Examples
VHDL Example:
process (clk, rstn) begin if (rstn = '0') then q <= '0'; elseif (clk'event and clk = '1') then q <= a + b; end if; end process;

Verilog Example:

always@(posedge clk or negedge rstn) begin if (! rstn) q <= 1'b0; else q <= a + b; end

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Features of VHDL and Verilog

Technology/vendor independent Portable

Reusable

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Other Hardware Description Languages

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Other hardware description languages

ABEL AHDL: Altera Hardware Description Language AHPL: A Hardware Programming Language CDL: Computer Design Language CONLAN: CONsensus LANguage IDL: Interactive Design Language ISPS: Instruction Set Processor Specification TEGAS: TEst Generation And Simulation TI-HDL: Texas Instruments Hardware Description Language ZEUS
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VHDL for Synthesis

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VHDL for Specification

VHDL for Simulation

VHDL for Synthesis

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Levels of design description

Algorithmic level
Register Transfer Level

Level of description most suitable for synthesis

Logic (gate) level

Circuit (transistor) level

Physical (layout) level

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Register Transfer Logic (RTL) Design Description

Combinational Logic

Combinational Logic

Registers

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VHDL Fundamentals

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Naming and Labeling (1)

VHDL is not case sensitive
Example:
Names or labels databus Databus DataBus DATABUS are all equivalent

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Naming and Labeling (2)

General rules of thumb (according to VHDL-87)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. All names should start with an alphabet character (a-z or A-Z) Use only alphabet characters (a-z or A-Z) digits (0-9) and underscore (_) Do not use any punctuation or reserved characters within a name (!, ?, ., &, +, -, etc.) Do not use two or more consecutive underscore characters (__) within a name (e.g., Sel__A is invalid) All names and labels in a given entity and architecture must be unique
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Free Format
VHDL is a free format language No formatting conventions, such as spacing or indentation imposed by VHDL compilers. Space and carriage return treated the same way.
Example:
if (a=b) then

or
if (a=b) then

or
if (a = b) then

are all equivalent

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Readability standards
ESA VHDL Modelling Guidelines published by European Space Research and Technology Center in September 1994
available at the course web page

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Readability standards
Selected issues covered by ESA Guidelines:

Consistent Writing Style Consistent Naming Conventions Consistent Indentation Consistent Commenting Style Recommended File Headers File naming and contents Number of statements/declarations per line Ordering of port and signal declarations Constructs to avoid
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Comments
Comments in VHDL are indicated with a double dash, i.e., --
Comment indicator can be placed anywhere in the line Any text that follows in the same line is treated as a comment Carriage return terminates a comment No method for commenting a block extending over a couple of lines Examples: -- main subcircuit Data_in <= Data_bus; -- reading data from the input FIFO
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Comments
Explain Function of Module to Other Designers Explanatory, Not Just Restatement of Code Locate Close to Code Described
Put near executable code, not just in a header

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Design Entity

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Design Entity
design entity

entity declaration

Design Entity - most basic building block of a design. One entity can have many different architectures.

architecture 1 architecture 2 architecture 3

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Entity Declaration
Entity Declaration describes the interface of the component, i.e. input and output ports.

Entity name

Port names

Port type Semicolon

ENTITY nand_gate IS PORT( a : IN STD_LOGIC; b : IN STD_LOGIC; z : OUT STD_LOGIC ); END nand_gate;

No Semicolon

Reserved words

Port modes (data flow directions)

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Entity declaration simplified syntax

ENTITY entity_name IS PORT ( port_name : signal_mode signal_type; port_name : signal_mode signal_type; . port_name : signal_mode signal_type); END entity_name;

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Architecture
Describes an implementation of a design entity. Architecture example:

ARCHITECTURE model OF nand_gate IS BEGIN z <= a NAND b; END model;

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Architecture simplified syntax

ARCHITECTURE architecture_name OF entity_name IS [ declarations ] BEGIN code END architecture_name;

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Entity Declaration & Architecture

nand_gate.vhd
LIBRARY ieee; USE ieee.std_logic_1164.all; ENTITY nand_gate IS PORT( a : IN STD_LOGIC; b : IN STD_LOGIC; z : OUT STD_LOGIC); END nand_gate; ARCHITECTURE model OF nand_gate IS BEGIN z <= a NAND b; END model;

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Mode In
Port signal Entity

Driver resides outside the entity

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Mode out
Entity
Port signal

z
Cant read out within an entity

Driver resides inside the entity

c <= z

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Mode out with signal

Entity
Port signal

Signal X can be read inside the entity

Driver resides inside the entity

z <= x c <= x

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Mode inout
Port signal Entity

Signal can be read inside the entity

Driver may reside both inside and outside of the entity

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Mode buffer
Entity
Port signal

z c
Driver resides inside the entity

Port signal Z can be read inside the entity

c <= z

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Port Modes
The Port Mode of the interface describes the direction in which data travels with respect to the component

In: Data comes in this port and can only be read within the entity. It can appear only on the right side of a signal or variable assignment.
Out: The value of an output port can only be updated within the entity. It cannot be read. It can only appear on the left side of a signal assignment. Inout: The value of a bi-directional port can be read and updated within the entity model. It can appear on both sides of a signal assignment. Buffer: Used for a signal that is an output from an entity. The value of the signal can be used inside the entity, which means that in an assignment statement the signal can appear on the left and right sides of the <= operator
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Libraries

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Library declarations
Library declaration Use all definitions from the package std_logic_1164
LIBRARY ieee; USE ieee.std_logic_1164.all;

ENTITY nand_gate IS PORT( a : IN STD_LOGIC; b : IN STD_LOGIC; z : OUT STD_LOGIC); END nand_gate; ARCHITECTURE model OF nand_gate IS BEGIN z <= a NAND b; END model;

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Library declarations - syntax

LIBRARY library_name; USE library_name.package_name.package_parts;

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Fundamental parts of a library

LIBRARY PACKAGE 1 TYPES CONSTANTS FUNCTIONS PROCEDURES COMPONENTS PACKAGE 2 TYPES CONSTANTS FUNCTIONS PROCEDURES COMPONENTS

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Libraries
ieee
Specifies multi-level logic system, including STD_LOGIC, and STD_LOGIC_VECTOR data types

Need to be explicitly declared

std
Specifies pre-defined data types (BIT, BOOLEAN, INTEGER, REAL, SIGNED, UNSIGNED, etc.), arithmetic operations, basic type conversion functions, basic text i/o functions, etc.

Visible by default

work
Current designs after compilation
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STD_LOGIC Demystified

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STD_LOGIC
LIBRARY ieee; USE ieee.std_logic_1164.all; ENTITY nand_gate IS PORT( a : IN STD_LOGIC; b : IN STD_LOGIC; z : OUT STD_LOGIC); END nand_gate; ARCHITECTURE model OF nand_gate IS BEGIN z <= a NAND b; END model;

What is STD_LOGIC you ask?

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STD_LOGIC type demystified

Value
X
0 1 Z W L H -

Meaning
Forcing (Strong driven) Unknown
Forcing (Strong driven) 0 Forcing (Strong driven) 1 High Impedance Weak (Weakly driven) Unknown Weak (Weakly driven) 0. Models a pull down. Weak (Weakly driven) 1. Models a pull up. Don't Care

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More on STD_LOGIC Meanings (1)

1
X 0

X
Contention on the bus

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More on STD_LOGIC Meanings (2)

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More on STD_LOGIC Meanings (3)

VDD VDD H 0

1 L

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More on STD_LOGIC Meanings (4)

-
Do not care. Can be assigned to outputs for the case of invalid inputs(may produce significant improvement in resource utilization after synthesis). Use with caution 1 = - give FALSE

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Resolving logic levels

X X 0 1 Z W L H X X X X X X X X 0 X 0 X 0 0 0 0 X 1 X X 1 1 1 1 1 X Z X 0 1 Z W L H X W X 0 1 W W W W X L X 0 1 L W L W X H X 0 1 H W W H X X X X X X X X X

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Modeling Wires and Buses

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Signals
SIGNAL a : STD_LOGIC;

a
1

wire

SIGNAL b : STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(7 DOWNTO 0);

b
8

bus

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Standard Logic Vectors

SIGNAL a: STD_LOGIC; SIGNAL b: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(3 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL c: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(3 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL d: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(7 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL e: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(15 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL f: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(8 DOWNTO 0); . a <= 1; b <= 0000; -- Binary base assumed by default c <= B0000; -- Binary base explicitly specified d <= 0110_0111; -- You can use _ to increase readability e <= XAF67; -- Hexadecimal base f <= O723; -- Octal base
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Vectors and Concatenation

SIGNAL a: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(3 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL b: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(3 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL c, d, e: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(7 DOWNTO 0); a <= 0000; b <= 1111; c <= a & b; d <= 0 & 0001111;

-- c = 00001111 -- d <= 00001111

e <= 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1; -- e <= 00001111
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VHDL Design Styles

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VHDL Design Styles

VHDL Design Styles

dataflow
Concurrent statements

structural
Components and interconnects

behavioral
Sequential statements Registers State machines Test benches

Subset most suitable for synthesis

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xor3 Example

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Entity xor3
ENTITY xor3 PORT( A : IN B : IN C : IN Result ); end xor3;
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IS STD_LOGIC; STD_LOGIC; STD_LOGIC; : OUT STD_LOGIC

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Dataflow Architecture (xor3 gate)

ARCHITECTURE dataflow OF xor3 IS SIGNAL U1_out: STD_LOGIC; BEGIN U1_out <=A XOR B; Result <=U1_out XOR C; END dataflow;
U1_out

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Dataflow Description
Describes how data moves through the system and the various processing steps. Data Flow uses series of concurrent statements to realize logic. Concurrent statements are evaluated at the same time; thus, order of these statements doesnt matter. Data Flow is most useful style when series of Boolean equations can represent a logic.

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Structural Architecture (xor3 gate)

ARCHITECTURE structural OF xor3 IS SIGNAL U1_OUT: STD_LOGIC;

COMPONENT xor2 IS PORT( I1 : IN STD_LOGIC; I2 : IN STD_LOGIC; Y : OUT STD_LOGIC ); END COMPONENT;

BEGIN U1: xor2 PORT MAP (I1 => A, I2 => B, Y => U1_OUT); U2: xor2 PORT MAP (I1 => U1_OUT, I2 => C, Y => Result); END structural;
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I1 I2 XOR2
A B XOR3 Result

U1_OUT

A B

C XOR3

RESULT

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Component and Instantiation (1)

Named association connectivity (recommended)
COMPONENT xor2 IS PORT( I1 : IN STD_LOGIC; I2 : IN STD_LOGIC; Y : OUT STD_LOGIC ); END COMPONENT; U1: xor2 PORT MAP (I1 => A, I2 => B, Y => U1_OUT);

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Component and Instantiation (2)

Positional association connectivity (not recommended)
COMPONENT xor2 IS PORT( I1 : IN STD_LOGIC; I2 : IN STD_LOGIC; Y : OUT STD_LOGIC ); END COMPONENT;

U1: xor2 PORT MAP (A, B, U1_OUT);

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Structural Description
Structural design is the simplest to understand. This style is the closest to schematic capture and utilizes simple building blocks to compose logic functions. Components are interconnected in a hierarchical manner. Structural descriptions may connect simple gates or complex, abstract components. Structural style is useful when expressing a design that is naturally composed of sub-blocks.
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Behavioral Architecture (xor3 gate)

ARCHITECTURE behavioral OF xor3 IS BEGIN xor3_behave: PROCESS (A,B,C) BEGIN IF ((A XOR B XOR C) = '1') THEN Result <= '1'; ELSE Result <= '0'; END IF; END PROCESS xor3_behave; END behavioral;
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Behavioral Description
It accurately models what happens on the inputs and outputs of the black box (no matter what is inside and how it works). This style uses PROCESS statements in VHDL.

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Testbenches

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Testbench Block Diagram

Testbench

Processes Generating

Design Under Test (DUT)

Stimuli

Observed Outputs

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Testbench Defined
Testbench applies stimuli (drives the inputs) to the Design Under Test (DUT) and (optionally) verifies expected outputs. The results can be viewed in a waveform window or written to a file. Since Testbench is written in VHDL, it is not restricted to a single simulation tool (portability). The same Testbench can be easily adapted to test different implementations (i.e. different architectures) of the same design.
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Testbench Anatomy
ENTITY tb IS --TB entity has no ports END tb;

ARCHITECTURE arch_tb OF tb IS
--Local signals and constants COMPONENT TestComp --All Design Under Test component declarations PORT ( ); END COMPONENT; ----------------------------------------------------BEGIN testSequence: PROCESS -- Input stimuli END PROCESS; DUT:TestComp PORT MAP( ); END arch_tb; -- Instantiations of DUTs

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Testbench for XOR3 (1)

LIBRARY ieee; USE ieee.std_logic_1164.all;

ENTITY xor3_tb IS END xor3_tb;

ARCHITECTURE xor3_tb_architecture OF xor3_tb IS -- Component declaration of the tested unit COMPONENT xor3 PORT( A : IN STD_LOGIC; B : IN STD_LOGIC; C : IN STD_LOGIC; Result : OUT STD_LOGIC ); END COMPONENT; -- Stimulus signals - signals mapped to the input and inout ports of tested entity SIGNAL test_vector: STD_LOGIC_VECTOR(2 DOWNTO 0); SIGNAL test_result : STD_LOGIC;

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Testbench for XOR3 (2)

BEGIN UUT : xor3 PORT MAP ( A => test_vector(0), B => test_vector(1), C => test_vector(2), Result => test_result); ); Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_vector <= "000"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "001"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "010"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "011"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "100"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "101"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "110"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector <= "111"; WAIT FOR 10 ns; END PROCESS; END xor3_tb_architecture;

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What is a PROCESS?
A process is a sequence of instructions referred to as sequential statements. The keyword PROCESS
A process can be given a unique name using an optional LABEL This is followed by the keyword PROCESS
Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_vector<=00; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=01; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=10; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=11; WAIT FOR 10 ns; END PROCESS;

The keyword BEGIN is used to indicate the start of the process

All statements within the process are executed SEQUENTIALLY. Hence, order of statements is important. A process must end with the keywords END PROCESS.

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Execution of statements in a PROCESS

Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_vector<=00; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=01; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=10; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=11; WAIT FOR 10 ns; END PROCESS; Program control is passed to the first statement after BEGIN
Order of execution

The execution of statements continues sequentially till the last statement in the process. After execution of the last statement, the control is again passed to the beginning of the process.

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PROCESS with a WAIT Statement

The last statement in the PROCESS is a WAIT instead of WAIT FOR 10 ns. This will cause the PROCESS to suspend indefinitely when the WAIT statement is executed. This form of WAIT can be used in a process included in a testbench when all possible combinations of inputs have been tested or a non-periodical signal has to be generated. Program execution stops here Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_vector<=00; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=01; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=10; WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=11; WAIT; END PROCESS;
Order of execution

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WAIT FOR vs. WAIT

WAIT FOR: waveform will keep repeating itself forever
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3

WAIT : waveform will keep its state after the last wait instruction.

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Loop Statement
Loop Statement
FOR i IN range LOOP statements END LOOP;

Repeats a Section of VHDL Code

Example: process every element in an array in the same way

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Loop Statement Example (1)

Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_vector<="000"; FOR i IN 0 TO 7 LOOP WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_vector<=test_vector+001"; END LOOP; END PROCESS;

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Loop Statement Example (2)

Testing: PROCESS BEGIN test_ab<="00"; test_sel<="00"; FOR i IN 0 TO 3 LOOP FOR j IN 0 TO 3 LOOP WAIT FOR 10 ns; test_ab<=test_ab+"01"; END LOOP; test_sel<=test_sel+"01"; END LOOP; END PROCESS;

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