A Guide to VHDL (2^nd Ed., 2nd ed. 1993. Softcover reprint of the original 2nd ed. 1993)

A Guide to VHDL, Second Edition is intended for the working engineer who needs to develop, document, simulate, and synthesize a design using the VHDL language. It is for system and chip designers who are working with VHDL CAD tools, and who have some experience programming in Fortran, Pascal, or C and have used a logic simulator.
A Guide to VHDL, Second Edition includes a number of paper exercises and computer lab experiments. If a compiler/simulator is available to the reader, then the lab exercises included in the chapters can be run to reinforce the learning experience. For practical purposes, this book keeps simulator-specific text to a minimum, but does use the Synopsys VHDL Simulator command language in a few cases.
A Guide to VHDL, Second Edition is designed as a primer and its contents are appropriate for an introductory course in VHDL.
The VHDL language was updated in 1992 with some minor improvements. In most cases, the language is upward compatible. Although this book is based primarily on the VHDL 1987 standard, this new second edition indicates the significant changes in the 1992 language to assist the designer in writing upwardly compatible code.

1: VHDL Designs.- 1.1 Library.- 1.2 Package.- 1.3 Entity.- 1.4 Architecture.- 1.5 Configuration.- 2: Primitive Elements 1+1 ?2.- 2.1 Scalars and Array Literals.- 2.2 Names (Identifiers).- 2.3 Object Declarations.- 2.4 Expressions.- 3: Sequential Statements.- 3.1 PROCESS Statement.- 3.2 Variable Assignment Statement.- 3.3 Sequential Signal Assignment Statement.- 3.4 IF Statement.- 3.5 CASE Statement.- 3.6 LOOP Statement.- 3.7 NEXT Statement.- 3.8 EXIT Statement.- 3.9 WAIT Statement.- 3.10 ASSERT Statement.- 3.11 Subprograms.- 4: Advanced Types.- 4.1 Extended Types.- 4.2 Composite Types — Arrays.- 4.3 Composite Types — Records.- 4.4 Alias Declaration.- 4.5 Predefined Types: Text and Lines.- 4.6 Access Types.- 5: Signals & Signal Assignments.- 5.1 Structural Signals in Netlisting.- 5.2 Process Communication.- 5.3 Process/Component Connection — Testbench.- 5.4 Signal Declaration.- 5.5 Entity Signal Port Declarations.- 5.6 Signal Assignment in a Process.- 5.7 Signal Delay.- 5.8 Sequential Signal Assignment Hazards.- 5.9 Simulation Cycle.- 5.10 Simulation and WAIT Statements.- 5.11 Sensitivity List.- 6: Concurrent Statements.- 6.1 The Process.- 6.2 Concurrent Signal Assignments.- 6.3 Conditional Signal Assignments.- 6.4 Selected Signal Assignments.- 6.5 Concurrent Procedure Call.- 6.6 BLOCK Statements.- 7: Structural VHDL.- 7.1 Component Instantiation Using Named Notation.- 7.2 Generate Statement.- 7.3 Hierarchy.- 7.4 Configurations.- 7.5 Generics.- 8: Packages & Libraries.- 8.1 Constant Declarations.- 8.2 Deferred Constants.- 8.3 Subprograms in Packages.- 8.4 Component Declarations.- 8.5 Selected Names.- 8.6 USE Statement.- 8.7 General Notes on Procedures in Packages.- 8.8 Typical Vendor Packages.- 8.9 IEEE Package 1164.- 9: Advanced Topics: Adding Apples & Oranges.-9.1 Overloading.- 9.2 Resolution Functions and Multiple Drivers.- 9.3 Symbolic Attributes.- 10: VHDL & Logic Synthesis.- 10.1 Synthesis-Ready Code.- 10.2 CASE Statement Synthesis.- 10.3 FOR Statement Synthesis.- 10.4 A 4-Bit Adder.- 10.5 Synthesis and the WAIT Statement.- 10.6 State Machines in VHDL.- 10.7 Predefined Attributes for Synthesis.- Reserved Words.- Application Examples.- B.1 Vending Drink Machine — Count Nickels.- B.2 Structural Description of a Design Entity.- B.3 Carry-Look-Ahead Adder.- VHDL Structure & Syntax.- C.1 Design Hierarchy.- Architectures.- Processes.- Subprograms.- Packages.- C.2 Concurrent Statements.- Block Statement.- Component Instantiation Statement.- Concurrent Assertion Statement.- Concurrent Procedure Call.- Concurrent Signal Assignment Statement.- Generate Statement.- Process Statement.- C.3 Sequential Statements.- Assertion Statement.- Case Statement.- Exit Statement.- If Statement.- Loop Statement.- Next Statement.- Null Statement.- Procedure Call Statement.- Return Statement.- Signal Assignment Statement.- Variable Assignment Statement.- Wait Statement.- C.4 Specifications.- Attribute Specification.- Configuration Specification.- C.5 Library & USE Clauses.- LIBRARY Clause.- USE Clause.- C.6 Declarations.- Alias Declaration.- Attribute Declaration.- Component Declaration.- Constant Declaration.- File Declaration.- Signal Declarations.- Subprogram Declaration.- Subprogram Body.- Subtype Declaration.- Type Declaration.- Variable Declaration.- C.7 Library Units.- Architecture Body.- Configuration Declaration.- Entity Declaration.- Package Body.- Package Declaration.- C.8 Predefined Attributes.- Array-Related Attributes.- Signal Attributes.- Type-Related Attributes.- New Attributes in VHDL 92.- C.9 Package STANDARD.- C.10 TEXTIOPackage.