FPGAs have almost entirely replaced the traditional Application Specific Standard Parts (ASSP) such as the 74xx logic chip families because of their superior size, versatility, and speed. For example, FPGAs provide over a million fold increase in gates compared to ASSP parts.
The traditional approach for hands-on exercises has relied on ASSP parts, primarily because of their simplicity and ease of use for the novice. Not only is this approach technically outdated, but it also severely limits the complexity of the designs that can be implemented. By introducing the readers to FPGAs, they are being familiarized with current digital technology and the skills to implement complex, sophisticated designs. However, working with FGPAs comes at a cost of increased complexity, notably the mastering of an HDL language, such as Verilog.
Therefore, this book accomplishes the following: first, it teaches basic digital design concepts and then applies them through exercises; second, it implements these digital designs by teaching the user the syntax of the Verilog language while implementing the exercises. Finally, it employs contemporary digital hardware, such as the FPGA, to build a simple calculator, a basic music player, a frequency and period counter and it ends with a microprocessor being embedded in the fabric of the FGPA to communicate with the PC. In the process, readers learn about digital mathematics and digital-to-analog converter concepts through pulse width modulation.
Kurt Wick, Senior Scientist, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, B.S. 1986, M.A. 1989, University of Minnesota. Together with faculty, he has been developing and teaching the Methods of Experimental Physics lab at the University of Minnesota for the last 28 years. He has always have been interested in the electronics and computer interfacing aspect of the course. About 10 years ago they included FPGAs in the lab course. The reasoning was that, first, the old 74 series chips were rarely being used anymore in the real world; second, just when the digital circuits began to get interesting for students, i.e., as the size and speed of the design increases, the circuits became extremely tedious and difficult to construct on a bread board. What he immediately liked about the FPGAs was that it freed them from these two constraints while still being able to teach the fundamental aspects of digital logic. Students now can expand their knowledge and apply it to more challenging and rewarding designs that are also in sync with current technologies.
