December 30, 2024

Verilog - Books

There are lots of online resources. You can find them by searching, and I have collected some links that I have found (elsewhere). I like books! Right now I have several, another is on order, and I am always on the lookout for something even better.

My only interest in Verilog is in using it to develop designs that I can run on an FPGA. So my primary interest is in synthesis, though I certainly also use simulation for testing and writing "testbenches". I am annoyed with books that fail to clarify what features of Verilog can be used in synthesis and which cannot. Many books seem to have gotten lost in an "ivory tower" view of Verilog that only uses it for modeling and simulation. Many books shove synthesis under the rug and talk mostly about simulation (i.e. "modeling"). If you are new to this, be aware that when you are aiming to get a design working on a real device, only a subset of the language can be used for synthesis. Not only that only certain style and idioms can actually be synthesized. It is a poor book that does not make this clear right up front.

Russell Merrick - 2023 - "Getting Started with FPGAs"

I do not have this book. It is recommended by many. 320 pages. I put it up front because if I knew what I know now, it would probably be my first purchase.

It covers both Verilog and VHDL, which I find curious. Much if not all of the content can be found on nandland.com, so you can explore the authors style there before shelling out $37. At least two things favor it highly. It is 20 years more up to date than the other books in my list -- and it focuses on FPGA designs.

He works with Lattice devices, in particular his own "GO" board. The GO board costs $70 and has a Lattice ICE40 HX1K FPGA on board. (This device has 1280 logic cells, hence the "1K" in the name) Frankly this is a great deal for someone wanting to get started.

M.M. Mano and M.D. Ciletti - 2008 - Digital Design (fourth edition)

Although there is no mention of Verilog in the title, this book definitely is a good introduction to Verilog. They realize that modern digital design uses design languages (HDL) and this book uses Verilog. Later editions use both Verilog and VHDL, but reportedly the VHDL is an afterthought with bugs.

What I like is that the presentation of Verilog puts synthesis first, then discusses adding testbenches for simulation -- exactly how a person would or should do things in the "real world". They are careful to explain the issues involved with writing code that can be synthesized.

Thomas and Moorby - 2002 - "The Verilog Hardware Description Language"

This is my favorite book because it does explicitly talk about synthesis and right up front.

J. Bhasker - 2005 - "A Verilog HDL Primer"

This only talks about simulation and modeling. However there is a companion book that talks about synthesis.

J. Bhasker - 1998 - "Verilog HDL Synthesis"

This is a 215 page paperback, and you can still find used copies if you dig around. It is pretty old, but earns my respect by focusing on synthesis.

Samir Palnitkar - 2003 - Verilog HDL

A good book, but it is not clear that it offers anything that the two already mentioned do not offer. The cover states "guide to digital design and synthesis." At least synthesis is mentioned, but it is relegated to chapter 14. There is no clear separation of synthesis and simulation in the bulk of the book, which is a shame. It is surprising too, since the author claims to work in the real world (participated in designing the Sun UltraSPARC).

Xilinx vivado synthesis manual

It is 302 pages and available online. If you, like me, are using Vivado, you should without question look at this.
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Tom's Computer Info / [email protected]