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FILENUMBER: 7016 BEGIN_KEYWORDS Text Logic Design FPGAs Van_den_Bout END_KEYWORDS DATE: july 1994 TITLE: Text on Beginning Logic Design Using FPGAs by Van den Bout Text on Beginning Logic Design Using FPGAs by Van den Bout (Contributed by David E. Van den Bout of XESS Corp.) "FPGA Workout: Beginning Exercises with the Intel FLEXlogic FPGA" introduces the principles of digital logic design using the Intel NFX780 FPGA. The philosophy of the book is that practical digi- tal design expertise is acquired by building circuits and observ- ing how they work. Therefore, each chapter presents working ex- amples of logic circuits that the reader can load into an NFX780 FPGA and experiment with: * The Digital Design Process discusses the steps involved in designing a digital circuit and shows how to implement a circuit using TTL chips. * A Simple Prototyping System shows how to build an NFX780-based FPGA protoboard for about $100 using commonly-available parts. A complete parts list (including ordering information for all hardware and software) and schematic is included. * Combinational Logic describes the fundamentals of programmable logic and demonstrates the use of the PLDasm hardware description language in building simple gates and an LED decoder circuit. * Modular Designs and Hierarchy discusses the advantages of step-wise refinement and encapsulation in the design process and shows how PLDasm supports these concepts. * Flip-Flops introduces sequential logic by building several types of level-sensitive and edge-triggered flip-flop circuits. * Counters introduces state machine design by showing how flip-flops can be combined to build resetable up and down counters. * State Machine Design gives a complete example of creating a state machine to control a drink machine dispenser. * Memories discusses how random-access memories are organized and shows how to build a small 4x4 memory using flip-flops and logic gates. * The GNOME Microcomputer introduces the architecture and instruction set for a simple, 4-bit microcomputer. * The GNOME Controller demonstrates the design of the control logic which sequences the execution of instructions. * The GNOME Datapath explains the design of the ALU, flags, and registers which perform the actual operations on data. * GNOME Improvement describes several improvements for the basic GNOME microcomputer. Each chapter ends with a list of follow-on projects that further extend the concepts. While some theory of digital logic design is presented, the overall tone of the text is more practical. It can be understood by someone with a knowledge of binary arithmet- ic and elementary logic operations. The book gives complete documentation for building an FPGA-based prototyping board, but a ready-made prototyping board is also available. The nfXboard is a small circuit board that can be mounted in a larger protoboard or used stand-alone. It has a socket for a single NFX780 FPGA, an LED digit for displaying results, an interface cable for loading new circuits through the PC printer port, and an additional interface for connecting mul- tiple nfXboards to create multiple-FPGA systems. The nfXboard is compatible with all the experiments shown in the FPGA Workout. The following products will be available on August 1, 1994: * "FPGA Workout: Beginning Exercises with the Intel FLEXlogic FPGA". Softcover, 240 pp., 120 illustrations, and index. ISBN 0-9642187-0-4. Price: $19.95 * The FPGA Workout text PLUS an nfXboard containing the following: + 4.2'' x 1.9'' circuit board + socket for the NFX780 PLCC package + 26-pin header for interface to the PC printer port + 4' interface cable from the 26-pin header to the PC printer port + additional 26-pin header for cascading multiple nfXboards + 7-segment LED display + 5V regulator + 9V battery clip (optional) + on-board oscillator (optional) Price: $99.95 * The FPGA Workout PLUS an nfXboard PLUS an NFX780-15 FPGA Price: $149.95 For more information or to request an order form, call 800-549- XESS or send e-mail to devb@vnet.net.

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