Preface

What are the two main goals of the book?
The two main goals of the book are to:

  1. Teach the fundamental concepts in classical manual digital design.
  2. Illustrate the way digital circuits are made today with CAD tools.

What does CAD stand for?
CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design.

Technology

What does the book discuss?
The book discusses modern digital circuit implementation techniques.

What technology for implementing digital circuits does the book focus on?
The technology for implementing digital circuits that the book focuses on is Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs).

What does PLD stand for?
PLD stands for Programmable Logic Device.

What are the four reasons that the book focuses on PLDs?
The four reasons that the book focuses on PLDs are because:

  1. They're widely used.
  2. They're suitable for making almost all digital circuits.
  3. They're more likely to be encountered in your career than any other technology.
  4. They're implemented by end-user programming.

What are the two most popular types of PLDs?
The two most popular types of PLDs are:

  1. Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs).
  2. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

What does CPLD stand for?
CPLD stands for Complex Programmable Logic Device.

What does FPGA stand for?
FPGA stands for Field-Programmable Gate Array.

Why does the book focus on using a hardware description language?
The book focuses on using a hardware description language because it's the most efficient design method in practice.

Which hardware description language does the book describe?
The hardware description language that the book describes is the IEEE Standard Verilog HDL language.

Scope of the Book

What are the topics of each chapter in the book?
The topics of each chapter in the book are:

  • Chapter 1 - General introduction to designing digital systems, steps in the design process, how CAD tools can be used to automated required tasks, and the representation of digital information.
  • Chapter 2 - Logic circuits, Boolean algebra, logic circuit synthesis and optimization, logic gates, and a first glimpse of Verilog.
  • Chapter 3 - Circuits that perform arithmetic operations, numbers, and manipulating numbers using logic circuits.
  • Chapter 4 - Combinational circuits, the encoder, the decoder, and the multiplexer.
  • Chapter 5 - Storage elements and the use of flip-flops to realize regular structures like shift registers and counters.
  • Chapter 6 - Synchronous sequential circuits (finite state machines).
  • Chapter 7 - Practical issues that arise in the design of real systems.
  • Chapter 8 - Advanced techniques for optimized implementation of logic functions, algorithmic techniques for optimization, cubical representation, and binary decision diagrams.
  • Chapter 9 - Asynchronous sequential circuits, the consequences of propagation delays, and race conditions.
  • Chapter 10 - The complete CAD flow that the designer experiences when designing, implementing, and testing a digital circuit.
  • Chapter 11 - Testing.
  • Appendix A - A complete summary of Verilog features.
  • Appendix B - The electronic aspects of digital circuits.

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Verilog

Where can you go to see all of the Verilog code examples?
To see all of the Verilog code examples, go to https://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~brown/Verilog_3e.

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