VHDL and other hardware description languages ( 28 ) :

Hardware description languages are essential tools for handlingthe increasing complexity of the hardware designs.Information on VHDL hardware description language that is usedfor designing logic circuits implemented with FPGA or ASIC technologies.VHDL is a way of describing the desired operation of a logic device. Although it is a standard, vendors all choose different parts to implement and add their own quirks.In VHDL synthesis, we describe a program that would have the same behavior as the circuit we wish to create. This program is used by the synthesis tools to create the configuration file that will configure the specific FPGA or PLD into a correct circuit. The syntax is very similar to Ada.

General

• Design and Reuse Web site   
• Getting a handle on HDLs - Programmable-logic chips and designs are growing more complex. As a result, you?ll sooner or later need to add HDL expertise to your skills if you want to keep hitting those project deadlines. For this Hands-On Project, I learn VHDL, complete a mixed logic and embedded-memory design in an FPGA, and share observations along the way.   
• Interfacing HDLs with conventional programming languages - programming languages that interface with HDL models facilitate hardware/software codesign   

VHDL

• 10 tips for generating reusable VHDL - Your ability to reuse blocks expressed in an HDL is critical to designing systems on chips. Here are some tips you can use to generate VHDL-based blocks that you and others can reuse in subsequent chip designs.   
• HDL basic training: top-down chip design using Verilog and VHDL   
• Using VHDL-AMS to model complex heterogeneous systems, part 1 - HDLs bridge the gap between math-based tools and physics-based tools to help you meet model-development requirements.   
• Using VHDL-AMS to model complex heterogeneous systems, part 2 - You can implement DSP-controller algorithms using the mixed-signal features of the VHDL-AMS modeling language.   
• VHDL and Verilog fundamentals--expressions, operands, and operators - data objects in VHDL and Verilog form expression operands, knowing the operand differences between the two HDLs helps you write more efficient chip-design code   
• VHDL and Verilog fundamentals--design entities, data types, and data objects   
• VHDL emerges as a commercial design tool - despite the initial challenges imposed by VHDL, the language, born of the military, has made the commercial sector sit up and take notice   
• VHDL Synthesis Tutorial  

Verilog

• Simulating mixed-mode designs with Verilog-only models - PLL circuits offer developers of mixed-signal designs a unique challenge. Commonly used as frequency synthesizers, clock multipliers, or clock-recovery devices, PLLs are crucial to many microcontrollers and microprocessors. As more functions enter the digital domain, verification becomes more difficult and requires more sophisticated models. A Verilog-only model can solve most of these problems.   
• The C Programmers Guide to Verilog - Now that hardware is designed in high-level languages, the fields of hardware and software development are beginning to merge. Here's an introduction to hardware design in Verilog for the uninitiated.   
• Verilog FAQ    Rate this link
• Verilog Behavioral Simulator - software for Verilog simulation   
• HDL basic training: top-down chip design using Verilog and VHDL   
• VHDL and Verilog fundamentals--expressions, operands, and operators - data objects in VHDL and Verilog form expression operands, knowing the operand differences between the two HDLs helps you write more efficient chip-design code   
• VHDL and Verilog fundamentals--design entities, data types, and data objects  

Other languages

• CynApps Cynlib - C++ based hardware description language   
• LavaLogic - Java-based synthesis tool   
• SpecC   
• Superlog - superset of Verilog, borrows features from VHDL and C++   
• SystemC - modeling platform that enables, promotes and accelarates system-level co-design and IP exchange   

Organizations

• EDA.ORG - dedicated to the support, open exchange and dissemination of in-development standards from EDA Industry Working Groups   
• European Electronics Chips and Systems Design Initiative (ECSI)   
• Gigascale Silicon Research Center Semantics Project   
• The Free Model Foundation - created to promote the development and free distribution of simulation and analysis models of electronic components   
• VHDL International - organization dedicated for promoting VHDL as a standard description language for electronics systems   

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