This course provides a thorough introduction to the VHDL language.
The emphasis is on:
▪ Writing efficient hardware designs
▪ Performing high-level HDL simulations
▪ Employing structural, register transfer level (RTL), and behavioral coding styles
▪ Targeting Xilinx devices specifically and FPGA devices in general
▪ Utilizing best coding practices
What’s New for 2023.1
▪ All labs have been updated to the latest software versions
Level: FPGA 1
3 days ILT/28
Course Part Number: LANG-VHDL
Who Should Attend?: Engineers who want to use VHDL effectively for modeling, design, and synthesis of digital designs
Prerequisites
▪ Basic digital design concepts
▪ Flip-flops and logic gates
▪ Basic understanding of synchronous designs
Software Tools
▪ Vivado Design Suite 2023.1
Hardware
▪ Architecture: N/A*
▪ Demo board: Zynq™ UltraScale+™ MPSoC ZCU104 board*
* This course does not focus on any particular architecture. Check with
your local Authorized Training Provider for the specifics of the in-class
lab board or other customizations.
After completing this comprehensive training, you will have the
necessary skills to:
▪ Implement the VHDL portion of coding for synthesis
▪ Identify the differences between behavioral and structural coding styles
▪ Distinguish coding for synthesis versus coding for simulation
▪ Use scalar and composite data types to represent information
▪ Use concurrent and sequential control structure to regulate information flow
▪ Implement common VHDL constructs (finite state machines [FSMs], RAM/ROM data structures)
▪ Simulate a basic VHDL design
▪ Write a VHDL testbench and identify simulation-only constructs
▪ Identify and implement coding best practices
▪ Optimize VHDL code to target specific silicon resources within AMD FPGAs and adaptive SoCs
▪ Create and manage designs within the Vivado Design Suite environment
Course Outline 2023.1
Day 1
▪ Introduction to VHDL
Discusses the history of the VHDL language and provides an overview of the different features of VHDL. {Lecture}
▪ VHDL Design Units
Provides an overview of typical VHDL code, covering design units such as libraries, packages, entities, architectures, and
configuration. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ VHDL Objects, Keywords, Identifiers
Discusses the data objects that are available in the VHDL language as well as keywords and identifiers. {Lecture}
▪ Scalar Data Types
Covers both intrinsic and commonly used data types. {Lecture}
▪ Composite Data Types
Covers composite data types (arrays and records). {Lecture}
▪ VHDL Operators
Reviews all VHDL operator types. {Lecture}
▪ Concurrency in VHDL
Describes concurrent statements and how signals help in achieving concurrency. {Lecture}
▪ Concurrent Assignments
Covers both conditional and unconditional assignments. {Lecture,Lab}
▪ Processes and Variables
Introduces sequential programming techniques for a concurrent language. Variables are also discussed. {Lecture, Demo, Lab}
Day 2
▪ Control Structures in VHDL: if/else, case
Describes conditional statements such as if/else and case statements. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ Sequential Looping Statements
Introduces the concept of looping in both the simulation and synthesis environments. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ Delays in VHDL: wait Statement
Covers the wait statement and how it controls the execution of the process statement. {Lecture}
▪ Introduction to the VHDL Testbench
Introduces the concept of the VHDL testbench to verify the functionality of a design. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ VHDL Assert Statements
Describes the concept of VHDL assertions. {Lecture}
▪ VHDL Attributes
Describes attributes, both predefined and user defined. {Lecture}
▪ Vivado Simulator Good Coding Practices (VHDL)
Discusses the simulation tool and its typical capabilities. {Lecture}
▪ VHDL Subprograms
Covers the use of subprograms in verification and RTL code to model functional blocks. {Lecture}
▪ VHDL Functions
Describes functions, which are integral to reusable and maintainable code. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ VHDL Procedures
Describes procedures, common constructs that are also important for reusing and maintaining code. {Lecture}
Day 3
▪ VHDL Libraries and Packages
Demonstrates how libraries and packages are declared and used. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ Interacting with Simulation
Describes how to interact with a simulation via text I/O. {Lecture}
▪ Finite State Machine Overview
Provides an overview of finite state machines, one of the more commonly used circuits. {Lecture}
▪ Mealy Finite State Machine
Describes how to implement a Mealy state machine in which the output is dependent on both the current state and the inputs.
{Lecture}
▪ Moore Finite State Machine
Demonstrates how to implement a Moore state machine in which the output is dependent on the current state only. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ FSM Coding Guidelines
Describes the guidelines and recommendations for using one or more procedural blocks when coding a finite state machine.
{Lecture}
▪ Writing a Good Testbench
Explores how time-agnostic, self-checking testbenches can be written and applied. {Lecture, Lab}
▪ Targeting AMD FPGAs and Adaptive SoCs
Focuses on implementation and chip-level optimization specific to AMD devices. {Lecture, Lab}
PDF Version Designing with VHDL
