Simulation Lab 3 National

Introduction to VHDL Simple VHDL Project Science

Foundation
Funded in part, by a grant from the
National Science Foundation
DUE 1003736 and 1068182

Acknowledgements
Developed by Craig Kief, Alonzo Vera, and Alexandria Haddad, at the Configurable Space Microsystems
Innovations & Applications Center (COSMIAC). Based on original tutorial developed by Bassam Matar,
Engineering Faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Chandler, Arizona. Funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
Introduction
These labs will be using what is known as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The FPGA will be on
a Digilent Nexys 3 board. FPGAs are different than traditional integrated circuits, because interconnects
between the gates are programmable, which means the hardware itself is configurable.
Lab Summary
This lab will be an introduction to design techniques for FPGAs using a hardware descriptive language
(VHDL) design. Xilinx ISE 14.x is the design tool provided by Xilinx for this purpose. Xilinx makes a free
version of this tool called Webpack which would be virtually identical for this purpose. The board is a
Digilent Nexys 3 board with a Xilinix Spartan 6 XC6LX16-CS324 chip. Please avoid putting your fingers
on the chips, as they are extremely electrostatic discharge sensitive.
Lab Goals
Using the Design process discussed in Lab 1, we will:
1. Learn about logic gates, symbols, and their respective truth tables.
2. Implement a small logic circuit using VHDL
Learning Objectives
Understand the basics of digital logic and design. We will accomplish this through the implementation of a
small circuit in an FPGA. The circuit will be designed in such a way that only specific combinations of
switches will turn on a light emitting diode (LED) on the board.
Grading Criteria
Your grade is determined by your instructor.
Time Required
4 - 5 hours
Special Safety Requirements
When working with electronic components, such as the Xilinx FPGA board, there is potential of
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) hazards. Static electricity can damage the FPGA devices used in this lab.
Use appropriate ESD methods to protect the devices. No serious hazards are involved in this laboratory
experiment, but be careful to connect the components with the proper polarity to avoid damage.
Lab Preparation
Review Lab 1 Introduction to Xilinx previous lab.

Print out the laboratory experiment procedure that follows.

Acquire required hardware components/equipment.

Equipment and Materials
Students should work in teams of two or three. Each team of students will need the following supplies:
Supplies Quantity

1. ISE Design Suite (or WebPACK ) software from the Xilinx website, 1
www.xilinx.com, if you dont already have it installed. Your classroom should have
a full working version of Xilinx ISE Design Suite.
2. FPGA kit including download and power cable(s).
3. Free Digilent Adept software (instructions for download and installation are included
at the beginning of this lab):
http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,66,828&Prod=ADEPT2

Additional References
The FPGA reference manual, ISE Design Suite User Guide, Digilent Adept User Guide, and any other
supporting documents that may be of use.
Nexys 3 Reference Manuel:
http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Products/NEXYS3/Nexys3_rm.pdf
ISE Design Suite User Guide :
http://www.xilinx.com/support/index.htm#nav=sd-nav-link-106173&tab=tab-dt
Digilent Adept User Guide:
http://www.digilentinc.com/Data/Software/Adept/Adept%20Users%20Manual.pdf

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Lab Procedure (optional): Download and install Digilent Adept Software
In this lab, you download and install Digilent Adept which allows you to communicate with the Digilent
FPGA boards that we use in lab. If Adept is already installed on your system, you can skip this Lab
Procedure.
Step 1:
Navigate your browser to http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ADEPT2.

Figure 1. Digilent Adept Website

Step 2:
Click the Download button for Adept 2.9.4 System, 32/64-bit Windows (or latest version) and click Save
file when prompted. The installation .exe file will download to your computer.
Step 3:
When the download is complete, run the .exe file and install Adept onto your computer.

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Lab Procedure 1: FPGA Overview from Lab 1 and 2
Lab 1 Review: Xilinx Design Process overview:
Step 1: Design Entry
Two design methods:
1. HDL (Verilog or VHDL)
or
2. Schematic drawings.
For the simulation part of our class, we will use the
schematic method and VHDL.
Step 2: Design Synthesis
Translate VHDL and schematic files into an
industry standard format EDIF file.
Step 3: Design Implementation
Translate Map, Place and Route. This process will
generate a configuration file (.BIT) for FPGA
Figure 2. VHDL Design Process
programming.
Step 4: Xilinx Device Programming
Download JED file into FPGA
Lab 2 Review: Nexys 3 overview:
NOTE: We used the Digilent Nexys-3 Xilinx
Spartan 6 XC6LX16-CS324 board.
Your board may be a different version
or from a different vendor. However,
most of the components are similar. If
you have a different board, review your
boards documentation.
The Nexys-3 is a powerful digital system
design platform built around a Xilinx Spartan 6
FPGA. The advantage of this board is that it is
programmed and powered through a USB port.
A list of the key features and their location on
the board are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Nexys 3, Spartan 6 FPGA

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User I/O
The Nexys-3 board includes several input and output devices, and data ports allowing many implementation
designs without the need for any other components. We will focus on the following inputs [slide switches,
push buttons, and reset button] and outputs [LEDs, and 7-segment display].
The five pushbuttons and eight slide switches are provided for circuit inputs. There is also a reset button.
Pushbuttons normally generate a low output when at rest, driven high when the pushbutton is pressed. Slide
switches generate constant high or low inputs depending on their position. Pushbutton and slide switch
inputs use a series resistor for protection against short circuits (a short circuit would occur if an FPGA pin
assigned to a pushbutton or slide switch was inadvertently defined as an output). Figure 4 shows the pin
assignments for each of the aforementioned inputs/outputs. Please refer the reference manual for any
additional information.

Figure 4. FPGA Button, Switch, Anode and Cathode Schematic

Original image from the Nexys3 Board Reference Manual

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Lab Procedure 2: Logic Gates
There are two design sections for this lab. The first is the VHDL program design, which involves writing the
code telling the hardware what we want it to do. We are implementing the circuit. The second step is the
testbench simulation. As its name implies, this is the testing of our code using a simulation program
provided with ISE Design Suite. We will driving the inputs and observe the outputs to verify the design
works as expected. We are using ISE Design Suite 14.x. ISE has the capability of implementing a variety
of different design methodologies including: Schematic Capture, Finite State Machines, and Hardware
Descriptive Language (VHDL or Verilog). ISE also provides its own simulation tool to test your designs
before programming them on the FPGA.
Step 1: Basic Logic Gate Overview
In everyday activities, people use a number system with the digits zero through nine, for a total of ten digits,
thus, base ten. In the digital world a number system called binary (base two) is used. There are only two
digits, Zero (0) and One (1). In hardware, Zero is represented as a low voltage, and one as a high voltage.
In digital logic design, logic gates are used extensively. There are three fundamental logic gates, consisting
of the following: AND, OR, NOT (also known as invert). They all work in similar but unique ways. Figure
5 shows the truth table for each type of gate and what the output will be with various inputs.

Figure 5. Basic Logic Gates: Truth Tables and Symbols

The AND gate is used to find if both input values are high (one). If the statement is true the gate will output
a one and if false (one input being low) it will output a low (zero). An OR gate is used to see if either of the
inputs are high and then will output a high if true and a low if false. The NOT gate is used to directly invert
the input. If the input is high then the output will be low and vice versa. In normal digital logic, a high is a
positive voltage and the low is ground.

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Step 2: Implement a Basic Gate in VHDL
We will implement the circuit shown in Figure 6. The Boolean expression for this circuit is Y=(NOT(A)
AND B) OR (C AND D).We will use the following process: 1. Analyze the VHDL, 2. Verify inputs and
outputs with test bench waveform, and 3. Program FPGA with circuit design.

Figure 6. Y=(NOT(A) AND B) OR (C AND D)

1. Open Xilinx ISE Design Tool Project

Navigator.

Your system might have slightly different

Start Menu options.

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2. The ISE Project Navigator window opens,
with the Tip of the Day displayed. Click OK
to close the Tip of the Day.

3. Start a new project by selecting File New

Project from the menu. The New Project
Wizard starts.
a. Type LAB3 in the Name text box.

b. Select a location on your

computer to save your project
files by clicking the ellipsis ()
button to the right of the
Location text box.
c. Under Top-level source type,
select HDL.
d. Click Next.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.

NOTE: File names must start with a letter. Use underscores ( _ ) for readability. Do not use hyphens (-);
although the file name will work, the entity name will not. More on this later.

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4. Select Spartan-6 SP601 Evaluation
Platform from the Evaluation
Development Board drop down menu.

The Product Category, Family, Device,

Package, and Speed should all
automatically populate (top half of the
screen). You will need to set some
options in the lower half of the dialog
box.

Select VHDL from the Preferred

Language drop down menu.

The Project Settings should resemble the

figure to the right.
5. Click Next.

NOTE: The options specified are for the Spartan 6 LX FPGA. Your board might be different than the board
used for these instructions. Chip specifications are printed on the FPGA chip in the middle of the
board. The board information is also listed on the box it came in.

6. Verify the file type and name are correct

in the Project Summary then click Finish
to complete the New Project creation
process.

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NOTE: You will add them to the project. Copy the source files into the LAB3 project folder that ISE
created. There are three files for this project: Tut1Source.vhd (the source file, tut1_tb.vhd (the
testbench) and tut1.ucf (the pin assignments). When naming testbenches, it is common practice to
add the _tb to the file name.

NOTE: For this project, we have already created

the source files for you. There are three
main files associated with this tutorial.
The project files are in the lab3.zip file.
If you dont have the zip file you can
download it from the COSMIAC
website
(http://cosmiac.org/Projects_FPGA.html
).

We will be adding the files from the

lab3.zip file to our new project.
7. Using Windows Explorer, extract or move
these three files to your project folder.

8. Select Project Add Source from the

menu or Right-click in the Hierarchy pane
and select Add Source from the shortcut
menu. The Add Source dialog box opens.
9. Select the three files that were extracted to
the project directory earlier. Click the Open
button. The Adding Source Files dialog
box opens.

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10. Click the OK button to complete the add
files process.
NOTE: All three project files display with a
green checkmark to the left of the file
name. This lets us know that ISE
understands the design association of
each of the files.

11. The files are added to the LAB3 project.

Clicking the Implementation or Simulation
options displays the files that were just
added.
NOTE: It is important to understand the file
Hierarchy pane. The files display in a
tree structure similar to the file and
directory structure on a computer.

When Implementation is selected the

UCF file should be below the design file
it is associated with.
This image shows that at the top level is
the project, then the chip type. Under the
chip is the VHDL file and the associated
UCF file.

Similarly, when Simulation is selected,

the UUT should be under the associated
testbench file.

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Step 2: VHDL Overview
One key to successful VHDL design is file naming. In the beginning, most of your projects will only
consist of one design file. That quickly changes. It is very common to see large VHDL FPGA projects with
tens or hundreds of design and test files. To organize this well, use intelligent naming conventions. For
example, if you have an adder module it makes sense to name your VHDL file something similar, such as
adder.vhd.

Lets review the VHDL code. This will provide some understanding of syntax and flow of the code. Some
things to keep in mind:
e. VHDL is designed for parallel operations. As such, multiple processes can be contained in a single
design file. Operations within a process are acted upon sequentially (similar to a programming
language). Processes within a design file are operated upon concurrently. This provides the ability
for parallel operations.
f. VHDL is portable.
g. VHDL allows modeling and simulation of a system before expensive hardware is created.
h. VHDL is NOT case sensitive, i.e. CLK is the same as clk, which is the same as Clk.
i. Semicolons are used to end VHDL statements; very much like in C or C++.
j. Comments, proceeded by two hyphens (--), are good, should be used often, and will be helpful to
your replacement in case you die.
k. Assignment operators are different in VHDL than in other languages (Pedroni 47):
<= is used to assign a value to a signal
:= assigns a value to a variable
=> assigns values to individual vector elements or OTHERS

Task A: Review the VHDL Code

1. Ensure you are in the
Implementation pane and
Double-click the tut1
behavioral (Tut1Source.vhd)
file name. The
Tut1Source.vhd file opens in
the Workspace.

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Task B: Run the Test Bench
2. Select the Simulation pane
and Double-click the
testbench testbench_arch
(Tut1_tb.vhd) file name. The
Tut1_tb.vhd file opens in the
Workspace.
3. Select the testbench file and
double-click on the Simulate
Behavioral Model.
4. The simulator will start and
the Elaborating status will
display. Once the simulation
is complete the ISim
application window will open.
5. Click the Zoom to Full View
button , then click Zoom
In to better view the
simulation.
6. By clicking into the waveform
the yellow marker will appear.
By scrolling back and forth,
you can see what
combinations of inputs cause a
high on the output.
7. Close the ISim Window and
return to the ISE Design
Window.

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Task C: Review the UCF (User Constraints File)
8. In the sources pane, choose
Implementation.
9. Double-click the tut1.ucf file in the
Processes pane to review the UCF code.

NOTE: The VHD file is used to describe the behavior of the hardware. The third file used in this project is
the tut1.ucf file. The UCF stands for user constraint file. The UCF file ties the VHDL code inputs
and outputs to the boards inputs and outputs, using pin assignments. There are many more things
that a UCF file can be used for but they are beyond the scope of this tutorial.
The first line ties input A to pin T10 on the FPGA board, which is the Pin assignment for switch 0 on
the FPGA board (see Figure 4). NET identifies a signal input or output. LOC identifies a pin
number on the FPGA and the green text is comments.

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Step 3: Program to the FPGA board
As mentioned earlier, there are four distinct stages to any FPGA project: Design, Synthesis,
Implementation, and Programming. The design portion of this project is now finished. Now we can move
on to the Synthesize, Implementation, and Programming stages. We will use the Generate Programming file
option to go through all three stages at once.
Task A: Synthesize, Implement, Map, Place and Route, Generate Bitstream (.bit)
1. Insert the small end of the USB cable into the Adept
USB Port on the FPGA board. Insert the USB end into
your computer.
2. Turn on the FPGA board.
NOTE: The display may alternately flash PASS and 128 if
the boards ROM hasnt been overwritten from the
factory.
3. In the Processes Panel, double-click Generate
Programming File.

As the program is going through the compile process

the compiling the process status icon spins and
displays the current process that is running.

The Console Panel also displays textually what is

happening.

4. Once the process has stopped running, and there are no

errors or warnings, there will be three green
checkmarks next to the Synthesize, Implement Design,
and Generate Programming File processes.

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NOTE: If you have errors or warnings you will need to find and fix the errors. You may or may not need to
fix warnings. Click the Errors (and/or Warnings) Panel tab to display a list of all errors (and/or
warnings) (1).

Clicking the hyperlink (2) of a particular Error (or Warning) will take you to the file and line (3) of
the Error (or Warning). Note in the example the semicolon is missing at the end of line 37.

Clicking the hyperlink word Error (4) (or Warning) will display context sensitive information about
the particular error/warning.

After fixing any errors, re-generate the programming file. To re-generate the programming file,
right-click on Generate Programming File and select Rerun All.

Task B: Implement design to FPGA board

Finally, we will start the Digilent Adept program. Adept is the software provided by Digilent that allows
us to communicate through the JTAG chain to the programming pins on the FPGA. Because the FPGAs we

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are working with use a single USB cable for power and PC connection we need to use Digilent Adept to
transfer the .bit code to the board.

1. Open Digilent Adept by selecting

Start All Programs Digilent
Adept Adept.
NOTE: Your system might have
slightly different Start Menu
options.

2. Choose Nexys3 from the Connect

Product drop down menu.
NOTE: If you do not see Nexys3 as an
option, check the USB
connection to ensure the board
is connected to the computer.
3. Click the Browse button. The
Open dialog box displays.

4. Navigate to the folder of the

Full_Adder project and select the
full_adder.bit file.
5. Click the Open button. The file is
displayed in the dropdown list
next to the FPGA icon.

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6. Click the Program button. The bit
file is programmed to the FPGA
board. The green status bar at the
bottom of the Adept screen
displays the status as the chip is
programmed.
7. The program gets downloaded to
the FPGA board.

8. Test the FPGA by sliding the SW(0) (A) SW(1) (B) SW(2) (C) SW(3) (D) LD0 (Y)
programmed switches ON (up T10 T9 V9 M8 U16
toward the middle of the board) 0 0 0 0 Off
and OFF (down toward the edge
0 0 0 1 Off
of the board). The LED0 should
light according to the truth table. 0 0 1 0 Off
0 0 1 1 On
0 1 0 0 On
0 1 0 1 On
0 1 1 0 On
0 1 1 1 On
1 0 0 0 Off
1 0 0 1 Off
1 0 1 0 Off
1 0 1 1 On
1 1 0 0 Off
1 1 0 1 Off
1 1 1 0 Off
1 1 1 1 On

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VHDL Code
-- VHDL files contain three parts: library declarations, entity and behavior.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- The library describes what each function will do.
library IEEE;
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_1164.ALL;
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_ARITH.ALL;
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED.ALL;

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Entity describes the inputs and outputs. This is the declaration of the
-- module's inputs and outputs for part 1 of tutorial 2
entity tut1 is port (
A: in std_logic;
B: in std_logic;
C: in std_logic;
D: in std_logic;
Y: out std_logic

);
end tut1;

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Behavior is the working portion of the project; defines the module's behavior
Architecture behavioral of tut1 is
begin
process (A,B,C,D) begin

Y <= (NOT(A) AND B) OR (C AND D);

end process;
end behavioral;

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VHDL Testbench
-- This is a VHDL testbench. It is used to stimulate the inputs to
-- file we are testing. A good design practice is to create a testbench
-- for each component you are developing. Test each component separately
-- before combining them.

LIBRARY IEEE;
USE IEEE.std_logic_1164.all;
USE IEEE.std_logic_arith.all;
USE IEEE.std_logic_unsigned.all;
USE IEEE.STD_LOGIC_TEXTIO.ALL;
USE STD.TEXTIO.ALL;

ENTITY testbench IS
END testbench;

ARCHITECTURE testbench_arch OF testbench IS

COMPONENT tut1
PORT (
A : in std_logic;
B : in std_logic;
C : in std_logic;
D : in std_logic;
Y : out std_logic
);
END COMPONENT;

-- develop signals to stimulate

SIGNAL A : std_logic := '0';
SIGNAL B : std_logic := '0';
SIGNAL C : std_logic := '0';
SIGNAL D : std_logic := '0';
SIGNAL Y : std_logic := '0';

-- UUT means unit under test

BEGIN
UUT : tut1

-- map signals on right to entitys on the left

PORT MAP (
A => A,
B => B,
C => C,

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D => D,
Y => Y
);

signal_A: process
begin
A <= NOT A;
wait for 1 ns;
end process;

signal_B: process
begin
B <= NOT B;
wait for 2 ns;
end process;

signal_C: process
begin
C <= NOT C;
wait for 4 ns;
end process;

signal_D: process
begin
D <= NOT D;
wait for 8 ns;
end process;

END testbench_arch;

User Constraints File (UCF)

# The pin assignments in this file are for the
# Nexys 3, Spartan 6 C6LS16-CS324. If you are
# using a different board, change the LOC = pin
# assignment as appropriate

NET "A" LOC = "T10"; #SW0

NET "B" LOC = "T9"; #SW1
NET "C" LOC = "V9"; #SW2
NET "D" LOC = "M8"; #SW3
NET "Y" LOC = "U16"; #LED0

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