EELE 367 – Logic Design
Module 5 – Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
•
Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flip-Flops & Latches
Counters
Finite State Machines
State Variable Encoding
Latches
•
•
Latches
–
we’ve learned all of the VHDL syntax necessary to describe sequential storage elements
–
Let’s review where sequential devices come from
SR Latch
- To understand the SR Latch, we must remember the truth table for a NOR Gate
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
AB
00
01
10
11
F
1
0
0
0
2
Latches
•
SR Latch
- when S=0 & R=0, it puts this circuit into a Bi-stable feedback mode where the output is either:
Q=0, Qn=1
Q=1, Qn=0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
AB
00
01
10
11
F
1 (U2)
0
0 (U1)
0
0
0
AB
00
01
10
11
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
F
1 (U1)
0 (U2)
0
0
3
Latches
•
SR Latch
- we can force a known state using S & R:
Set (S=1, R=0)
0
Reset (S=0, R=1)
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
AB
00
01
10
11
F
1 (U1)
0
0 (U2)
0 (U2)
1
0
AB
00
01
10
11
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
F
1 (U2)
0 (U1)
0
0 (U1)
4
Latches
•
SR Latch
- we can write a Truth Table for an SR Latch as follows
SR
0 0
0 1
1 0
1 1
Q
Last Q
0
1
0
Qn .
Last Qn
1
0
0
- Hold
- Reset
- Set
- Don’t Use
- S=1 & R=1 forces a 0 on both outputs. However, when the latch comes out of this state it is
metastable. This means the final state is unknown.
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Latches
•
S’R’ Latch
- we can also use NAND gates to form an inverted SR Latch
S’ R’
0 0
0 1
1 0
1 1
Q
1
1
0
Last Q
Qn .
1
0
1
Last Qn
- Don’t Use
- Set
- Reset
- Hold
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Latches
•
SR Latch w/ Enable
- we then can add an enable line using NAND gates
- remember the Truth Table for a NAND gate
AB
00
01
10
11
F
1
1
1
0
- a 0 on any input forces a 1 on the output
- when C=0, the two EN NAND Gate outputs are 1, which forces “Last Q/Qn”
- when C=1, S & R are passed through INVERTED
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Latches
•
SR Latch w/ Enable
- the truth table then becomes
C
1
1
1
1
0
SR
0 0
0 1
1 0
1 1
x x
Q
Last Q
0
1
1
Last Q
Qn .
Last Qn
1
0
1
Last Qn
- Hold
- Reset
- Set
- Don’t Use
- Hold
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Latches
•
D Latch
- a modification to the SR Latch where R = S’ creates a D-latch
- when C=1, Q <= D
- when C=0, Q <= Last Value
CD
1 0
1 1
0 x
Q
0
1
Last Q
Qn .
1
- track
0
- track
Last Qn - Hold
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Latches
•
VHDL of a D Latch
architecture Dlatch_arch of Dlatch is
begin
LATCH : process (D,C)
begin
if (C=‘1’) then
Q<=D; Qn<=not D;
else
Q<=Q; Qn<=Qn;
end if;
end process;
end architecture;
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Flip Flops
•
D-Flip-Flops
- we can combine D-latches to get an edge triggered storage device (or flop)
- the first D-latch is called the “Master”, the second D-latch the “Slave”
Master
CLK=0, Q<=D “Open”
CLK=1, Q<=Q “Closed”
Slave
CLK=0, Q<=Q “Close”
CLK=1, Q<=D “Open”
- on a rising edge of clock, D is “latched” and held on Q until the next rising edge
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Flip Flops
•
VHDL of a D-Flip-Flop
architecture DFF_arch of DFF is
begin
FLOP : process (CLK)
begin
if (CLK’event and CLK=1) then
Q<=D; Qn<=not D;
else
Q<=Q; Qn<=Qn;
end if;
end process;
end architecture;
-- recognized by all synthesizers as DFF
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Counters
- special name of any clocked sequential circuit whose state diagram is a circle
- there are many types of counters, each suited for particular applications
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Binary Counter
- state machine that produces a straight binary count
- for n-flip-flops, 2n counts can be produced
- the Next State Logic "F" is a combinational SOP/POS circuit
- the speed will be limited by the Setup/Hold and Combinational Delay of "F"
- this gives the maximum number of counts for n-flip flops
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Toggle Flop
- a D-Flip-Flop can product a "Divide-by-2" effect by feeding back Qn to D
- this topology is also called a "Toggle Flop"
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Ripple Counter
- Cascaded Toggle Flops can
be used to form rippled counter
- there is no Next State Logic
- this is slower than a straight
binary counter due to waiting
for the "ripple"
- this is good for low power,
low speed applications
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Synchronous Counter with ENABLE
- an enable can be included in a "Synchronous" binary counter using Toggle Flops
- the enabled is implemented by AND'ing the Q output prior to the next toggle flop
- this gives us the "ripple" effect, but also gives the ability to run synchronously
- a little faster, but still less gates than a straight binary circuit
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Counters
•
Shift Register
- a chain of D-Flip-Flops that
pass data to one another
- this is good for "pipelining"
- also good for Serial-to-Parallel
conversion
- for n-flip-flops, the data is
present at the final state after
n clocks
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Counters
•
Ring Counter
- feeding the output of a
shift register back to the
input creates a "ring counter"
- also called a "One Hot"
- The first flip-flop needs to
reset to 1, while the others
reset to 0
- for n flip-flops, there will
be n counts
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Counters
•
Johnson Counter
- feeding the inverted output of a
shift register back to the
input creates a "Johnson Counter"
- this gives more states with the
same reduced gate count
- all flip-flops can reset to 0
- for n flip-flops, there will
be 2n counts
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) Counter
- all of the counters based off of shift registers give far less states than the 2n counts that are possible
- a LFSR counter is based off of the theory of finite fields
- created by French Mathematician Evariste Galois (1811-1832)
- for each size of shift register, a feedback equation is given which is the sum modulo 2 of a certain
set of output bits
- this equation produces the input to the shift register
- this type of counter can produce 2n-1 counts, nearly the maximum possible
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Counters
•
Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) Counter
- the feedback equations are listed in Table 8.26 of the textbook
- It is defined that bits always shift from Xn-1 to X0 (or Q0 to Qn-1) as we defined the shift
register previously
- they each use XOR gates (sum modulo 2) of particular bits in the register chain
ex)
n
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
:
:
Feedback Equation
X2 = X1  X0
X3 = X1  X0
X4 = X1  X0
X5 = X2  X0
X6 = X1  X0
X7 = X3  X0
X8 = X4  X3  X2  X0
:
:
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Counters
•
Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) Counter
ex)
4-flip-flop LFSR Counter
Feedback Equation = X1  X0 (or Q2  Q3 as we defined it)
#
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
repeat
Q(0:3)
1000
0100
0010
1001
1100
0110
1011
0101
1010
1101
1110
1111
0111
0011
0001
1000
Sin
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
- this is 2n-1 unique counts
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL
- strong type casting in VHDL can make modeling counters difficult (at first glance)
- the reason for this is that the STANDARD and STD_LOGIC Packages do not define
"+", "-", or inequality operators for BIT_VECTOR or STD_LOGIC_VECTOR types
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL
- there are a couple ways that we get around this
1) Use the STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED Package
- this package defines "+" and "-" functions for STD_LOGIC_VECTOR
- we can use +1 just like normal
- the vector will wrap as suspected (1111 - 0000)
- one catch is that we can't assign to a Port
- we need to create an internal signal of STD_LOGIC_VECTOR for counting
- we then assign to the Port at the end
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL using STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED.ALL;
-- call the package
entity counter is
Port ( Clock : in STD_LOGIC;
Reset : in STD_LOGIC;
Direction : in STD_LOGIC;
Count_Out : out STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (3 downto 0));
end counter;
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL using STD_LOGIC_UNSIGNED
architecture counter_arch of counter is
signal count_temp : std_logic_vector(3 downto 0);
begin
process (Clock, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = '0') then
count_temp <= "0000";
elsif (Clock='1' and Clock'event) then
if (Direction='0') then
count_temp <= count_temp + '1';
else
count_temp <= count_temp - '1';
end if;
end if;
end process;
Count_Out <= count_temp;
-- Notice internal signal
-- count_temp can be used on both LHS and RHS
-- assign to Port after the process
end counter_arch;
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL
2) Use integers for the counter and then convert back to STD_LOGIC_VECTOR
- STD_LOGIC_ARITH is a Package that defines a conversion function
- the function is:
conv_std_logic_vector (ARG, SIZE)
- functions are defined for ARG = integer, unsigned, signed, STD_ULOGIC
- SIZE is the number of bits in the vector to convert to, given as an integer
- we need to keep track of the RANGE and Counter Overflow
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL using STD_LOGIC_ARITH
use IEEE.STD_LOGIC_ARITH.ALL;
-- call the package
entity counter is
Port ( Clock : in STD_LOGIC;
Reset : in STD_LOGIC;
Direction : in STD_LOGIC;
Count_Out : out STD_LOGIC_VECTOR (3 downto 0));
end counter;
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL using STD_LOGIC_ARITH
architecture counter_arch of counter is
signal count_temp : integer range 0 to 15;
begin
process (Clock, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = '0') then
count_temp <= 0;
elsif (Clock='1' and Clock'event) then
if (count_temp = 15) then
count_temp <= 0;
else
count_temp <= count_temp + 1;
end if;
end if;
end process;
Count_Out <= conv_std_logic_vector (count_temp, 4);
-- Notice internal integer specified with Range
-- integer assignment doesn't requires quotes
-- we manually check for overflow
-- convert integer into a 4-bit STD_LOGIC_VECTOR
end counter_arch;
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Counters
•
Counters in VHDL
3) Use UNSIGNED data types #'s
- STD_LOGIC_ARITH also defines "+", "-", and equality for UNSIGNED types
- UNSIGNED is a Data type defined in STD_LOGIC_ARITH
- UNSIGNED is an array of STD_LOGIC
- An UNSIGNED type is the equivalent to a STD_LOGIC_VECTOR type
- the equality operators assume it is unsigned (as opposed to 2's comp SIGNED)
•
Pro's and Cons
- using integers allows a higher level of abstraction and more functionality can be included
- easier to write unsynthesizable code or code that produces unwanted logic
- both are synthesizable when written correctly
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Counters
•
Ring Counters in VHDL
- to mimic the shift register behavior, we need access to the signal value before and after clock'event
- consider the following concurrent signal assignments:
architecture ….
begin
Q0 <= Q3;
Q1 <= Q0;
Q2 <= Q1;
Q3 <= Q2;
end architecture…
- since they are executed concurrently, it is equivalent to Q0=Q1=Q2=Q3, or a simple wire
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Counters
•
Ring Counters in VHDL
- since a process doesn't assign the signal values until it suspends, we can use this to model the
"before and after" behavior of a clock event.
process (Clock, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = '0') then
Q0<='1'; Q1<='0'; Q2<='0';
elsif (Clock'event and Clock='1') then
Q0<=Q3; Q1<=Q0; Q2<=Q1;
end if;
end process
Q3<='0';
Q3<=Q2;
- notice that the signals DO NOT appear in the sensitivity list. If they did the process would
continually execute and not be synthesized as a flip-flop structure
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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Counters
•
Johnson Counters in VHDL
process (Clock, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = '0') then
Q0<='0';
Q1<='0';
elsif (Clock'event and Clock='1') then
Q0<=not Q3;
Q1<=Q0;
end if;
end process
Q2<='0';
Q3<='0';
Q2<=Q1;
Q3<=Q2;
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Counters
•
Linear Feedback Shift Register Counters in VHDL
process (Clock, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = '0') then
Q0<='0';
Q1<='0';
elsif (Clock'event and Clock='1') then
Q0<=Q3 xor Q2;
Q1<=Q0;
end if;
end process
Q2<='0';
Q3<='0';
Q2<=Q1;
Q3<=Q2;
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Counters
•
Multiple Processes
- we can now use State Machines to control the start/stop/load/reset of counters
- each are independent processes that interact with each other through signals
- a common task for a state machine is:
1) at a certain state, load and enable a counter
2) go to a state and wait until the counter reaches a certain value
3) when it reaches the certain value, disable the counter and continue to the next state
- since the counter runs off of a clock, we know how long it will count between the start and stop
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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State Machines
•
State Machines
- there is a basic structure for a Clocked, Synchronous State Machine
1) State Memory
2) Next State Logic “G”
3) Output Logic “F”
(i.e., flip-flops)
(combinational logic)
(combinational logic) we’ll revisit F later…
- if we keep this structure in mind while designing digital machines in VHDL, then it is a very
straight forward task
- Each of the parts of the State Machine are modeled with individual processes
- let’s start by reviewing the design of a state machine using a manual method
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
37
State Machines
•
State Machines
“Mealy Outputs” – outputs depend on the Current_State and the Inputs
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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State Machines
•
State Machines
“Moore Outputs” – outputs depend on the Current_State only
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State Machines
•
State Machines
- the steps in a state machine design are:
1) Word Description of the Problem
2) State Diagram
3) State/Output Table
4) State Variable Assignment
5) Choose Flip-Flop type
6) Construct F
7) Construct G
8) Logic Diagram
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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State Machines
•
State Machine Example “Sequence Detector”
1) Design a machine by hand that takes in a serial bit stream and looks for the pattern “1011”.
When the pattern is found, a signal called “Found” is asserted
2) State Diagram
Module 5: Sequential Logic Design with VHDL
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State Machines
•
State Machine Example “Sequence Detector”
3) State/Output Table
Current_State
In
Next_State
Out
(Found)
S0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
S0
S1
S2
S0
S0
S3
S0
S0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
S1
S2
S3
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State Machines
•
State Machine Example “Sequence Detector”
4) State Variable Assignment – let’s use binary
Current_State
Q1 Q0
In
0 0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0 1
1 0
1 1
Next_State
Q1* Q0*
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
Out
Found
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5) Choose Flip-Flop Type
- 99% of the time we use D-Flip-Flops
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State Machines
•
State Machine Example “Sequence Detector”
6) Construct Next State Logic “F”
Q1
Q1 Q0
In
00
0
2
0
0
Q1* = Q1’∙Q0∙In’ + Q1∙Q0’∙In
1
In
01
6
1
3
0
1
11
10
4
0
7
0
0
5
0
1
Q0
Q1
Q1 Q0
In
00
0
2
0
0
1
Q0* = Q0’∙In
In
1
01
6
0
3
1
11
10
4
0
7
0
0
5
0
1
Q0
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State Machines
•
State Machine Example “Sequence Detector”
7) Construct Output Logic “G”
Q1
Q1 Q0
In
00
0
Found = Q1∙Q0∙In
2
0
0
1
In
1
01
6
0
3
0
11
10
4
0
7
0
0
5
1
0
Q0
8) Logic Diagram
- for large designs, this becomes impractical
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State Machines in VHDL
•
State Memory
- we use a process that updates the “Current_State” with the “Next_State”
- we describe DFF’s using (CLK’event and CLK=‘1’)
- this will make the assignment on the rising edge of CLK
STATE_MEMORY : process (CLK)
begin
if (CLK’event and CLK='1') then
Current_State <= Next_State;
end if;
end process;
- at this point, we need to discuss State Names
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State Machines in VHDL
•
State Memory using “User-Enumerated Data Types"
- we always want to use descriptive names for our states
- we can use a user-enumerated type for this
type State_Type is (S0, S1, S2, S3);
signal Current_State : State_Type;
signal Next_State
: State_Type;
- this makes our simulations very readable.
•
State Memory using “Pre-Defined Data Types"
- we haven’t encoded the variables though, we can either leave it to the synthesizer or manually do it
subtype State_Type is BIT_VECTOR (1 downto 0);
constant S0 : State_Type := “00”;
constant S1 : State_Type := “01”;
constant S2 : State_Type := “10”;
constant S3 : State_Type := “11”;
signal Current_State
signal Next_State
: State_Type;
: State_Type;
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State Machines in VHDL
•
State Memory with “Synchronous RESET”
STATE_MEMORY : process (CLK)
begin
if (CLK’event and CLK='1') then
if (Reset = ‘1’) then
Current_State <= S0;
else
Current_State <= Next_State;
end if;
-- name of “reset” state to go to
end if;
end process;
- this design will only observe RESET on the positive edge of clock (i.e., synchronous)
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State Machines in VHDL
•
State Memory with “Asynchronous RESET”
STATE_MEMORY : process (CLK, Reset)
begin
if (Reset = ‘1’) then
Current_State <= S0;
-- name of “reset” state to go to
elsif (CLK’event and CLK='1') then
Current_State <= Next_State;
end if;
end process;
- this design is sensitive to both RESET and the positive edge of clock (i.e., asynchronous)
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Next State Logic “F”
- we use another process to construct “F”
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Next State Logic “F”
- the process will be combinational logic
NEXT_STATE_LOGIC : process (In, Current_State)
begin
case (Current_State) is
when S0 => if
elsif
when S1 => if
elsif
when S2 => if
elsif
when S3 => if
elsif
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
Next_State <= S0;
Next_State <= S1; end if;
Next_State <= S2;
Next_State <= S0; end if;
Next_State <= S0;
Next_State <= S3; end if;
Next_State <= S0;
Next_State <= S0; end if;
end case;
end process;
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Output Logic “G”
- we use another process to construct “G”
- the expressions in the sensitivity list dictate Mealy/Moore type outputs
- for now, let’s use combinational logic for G (we’ll go sequential later)
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Output Logic “G”
- Mealy type outputs
OUTPUT_LOGIC : process (In, Current_State)
begin
case (Current_State) is
when S0 => if
elsif
when S1 => if
elsif
when S2 => if
elsif
when S3 => if
elsif
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
Found <= 0;
Found <= 0; end if;
Found <= 0;
Found <= 0; end if;
Found <= 0;
Found <= 0; end if;
Found <= 0;
Found <= 1; end if;
end case;
end process;
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Output Logic “G”
- Moore type outputs
OUTPUT_LOGIC : process (Current_State)
begin
case (Current_State) is
when S0 => Found <= 0;
when S1 => Found <= 0;
when S2 => Found <= 0;
when S3 => Found <= 1;
end case;
end process;
- this is just an example, it doesn’t really work for this machine
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Example
- Let’s design a 2-bit Up/Down Gray Code Counter using User-Enumerated State Encoding
- In=0, Count Up
- In=1, Count Down
- this will be a Moore Type Machine
- no Reset
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Example
- let’s collect our thoughts using a State/Output Table
Current_State
In
Next_State
Out
CNT0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
CNT1
CNT3
CNT2
CNT0
CNT3
CNT1
CNT0
CNT2
00
CNT1
CNT2
CNT3
01
11
10
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Example
architecture CNT_arch of CNT is
type State_Type is (CNT0, CNT1, CNT2, CNT3);
signal Current_State, Next_State : State_Type;
begin
STATE_MEMORY : process (CLK)
begin
if (CLK’event and CLK='1') then
Current_State <= Next_State;
end if;
end process;
NEXT_STATE_LOGIC : process (In, Current_State)
begin
case (Current_State) is
when CNT0 => if
elsif
when CNT1 => if
elsif
when CNT2 => if
elsif
when CNT3 => if
elsif
end case;
end process;
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
(In=‘0’) then
(In=‘1’) then
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
Next_State
<= CNT1;
<= CNT3; end if;
<= CNT2;
<= CNT0; end if;
<= CNT3;
<= CNT1; end if;
<= CNT0;
<= CNT2; end if;
OUTPUT_LOGIC : process (Current_State)
begin
case (Current_State) is
when CNT0 => Out <= “00”;
when CNT1 => Out <= “01”;
when CNT2 => Out <= “11”;
when CNT3 => Out <= “10”;
end case;
end process;
end architecture;
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State Machines in VHDL
•
Example
- in the lab, we may want to observe the states on the LEDs
- in this case we want to explicitly encode the STATE variables
architecture CNT_arch of CNT is
subtype State_Type is BIT_VECTOR (1 dowto 0);
constant CNT0 : State_Type := “00”;
constant CNT1 : State_Type := “01”;
constant CNT2 : State_Type := “10”;
constant CNT3 : State_Type := “11”;
signal Current_State, Next_State : State_Type;
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State Encoding
•
State Variable Encoding
- we can decide how we encode our state variables
- there are advantages/disadvantages to different techniques
•
Binary Encoding
- straight encoding of states
S0 = “00”
S1 = “01”
S2 = “10”
S3 = “11”
- for n states, there are log(n)/log(2) flip-flops needed
- this gives the Least # of Flip-Flops
- Good for “Area” constrained designs
- Drawbacks:
- multiple bits switch at the same time = Increased Noise & Power
- the Next State Logic “F” is multi-level = Increased Power and Reduced Speed
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State Encoding
•
Gray-Code Encoding
- encoding using a gray code where only one bits switches at a time
S0 = “00”
S1 = “01”
S2 = “11”
S3 = “10”
- for n states, there are log(n)/log(2) flip-flops needed
- this gives low Power and Noise due to only one bit switching
- Good for “Power/Noise” constrained designs
- Drawbacks:
- the Next State Logic “F” is multi-level = Increased Power and Reduced Speed
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State Encoding
•
One-Hot Encoding
- encoding one flip-flop for each state
S0 = “0001”
S1 = “0010”
S2 = “0100”
S3 = “1000”
- for n states, there are n flip-flops needed
- the combination logic for F is one level (i.e., a Decoder)
- Good for Speed
- Especially good for FPGA due to “Programmable Logic Block”
- Drawbacks:
- takes more area
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State Encoding
•
State Encoding Trade-Offs
- We typically trade off Speed, Area, and Power
One-Hot
speed
area
power
Binary
Gray
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Pipelined Outputs
•
Pipelined Outputs
- Having combinational logic drive outputs can lead to:
- multiple delay paths through the logic
- potential for glitches
- Both reduce the speed at which the system clock can be ran
- A good design practice is to pipeline the outputs (i.e., use DFF’s as the output driver)
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Pipelined Outputs
•
Pipelined Outputs
- This gives a smaller Data Uncertainty window on the output
- The only consideration is that the output is not present until one clock cycle later
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Pipelined Outputs
•
Pipelined Outputs
- we use a 4th process for this stage of the State Machine
PIPELINED_OUTPUTS : process (CLK)
begin
if (CLK’event and CLK='1') then
Out <= Next_Out;
end if;
end process;
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Asynchronous Inputs
•
Asynchronous Inputs
- Real world inputs are not phase-locked to the clock
- this means an input can change within the Setup/Hold window of the clock
- this can send the Machine into an incorrect state
- we always want to “synchronize” inputs so that this doesn’t happen
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Asynchronous Inputs
•
Asynchronous Inputs
- We use D-Flip-Flops to take in the input
- with one D-Flip-Flop, the input can still occur within the Setup/Hold window
- the output of the first DFF may be metastable for a moment of time (trecovery)
- a second DFF is used to latch in the metastable input after it has had time to settle
- the output of the second flip-flop is now stable and synchronized as long as:
Tclk > trecovery + tcomb + tsetup
- where tcomb is the delay of any combinational logic in the input path
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