PLD Advisor

 

Welcome to PLD Advisor!

A "PLD" -- short for Programmable Logic Device -- is a generic term referring to a broad category of digital devices that function as "programmable silicon." The hardware designer specifies a system using either a schematic  or a hardware design language (HDL) description, and the CAD (computer-aided design) tools produce a configuration file that can be downloaded into the PLD. Once configured, the PLD becomes a single-chip implementation of your design.

PLD Advisor leads you through a step-by-step procedure to create an appropriate "design flow," or sequence of activities to go from conceptual design to hardware implementation. All design flows are similar in that they include design entry, functional verification (simulation), hardware mapping, and device configuration. The design flows differ in the specific details, however, depending on your specific PLD and design entry method (schematic or HDL). Thus, PLD Advisor walks you through a decision tree process to arrive at a specific design flow to meet your needs.

As of December, 1999, PLD Advisor knows about the following:

  1. GAL, CPLD, and FPGA programmable logic devices,
  2. ispEXPERT Starter Kit for programming GALs,
  3. Design Direct VISTA for programming CPLDs,
  4. Foundation Series for programming FPGAs,
  5. VeriLogger and Silos III Verilog HDL simulators, and
  6. ROM Master II (GAL programmer), Vantis ISP board (CPLD evaluation board), and XS40 board (FPGA evaluation board)

Tips for using PLD Advisor:

Take note of detailed information available during the decision tree process. You may wish to refer back to that information as you get closer to doing your own designs.
The design flow diagrams are hyperlinked to complete start-to-finish examples. Each block in the diagram links to a video clip in AVI format. Simply click on the block to play the video clip.
Some of the video clips are common to different design flows. Look at the image boundary color to see if you have already watched that clip.
Do a right mouse click in the Media Viewer to access the playback controls (pause, stop, rewind, etc.).
Move the horizontal slider in Media Viewer to quickly seek through the video.

Begin PLD Advisor...

 

PLD Advisor was created by:
Dr. Ed Doering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
5500 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999
812/877-8157    Ed.Doering@Rose-Hulman.Edu

Copyright © 1999 by Ed Doering. All rights reserved. No part of this web may be reproduced or redistributed without permission of the author.

Page last updated December 21, 1999. Feedback goes to Ed.Doering@Rose-Hulman.Edu.