Digital Design

Chapter 1: Introduction
Digital Design, with RTL Design, VHDL, and Verilog, 2nd Edition,
by Frank Vahid, John Wiley and Sons Publishers, 2010.

1.1

Why Study Digital Design?

Look under the hood of computers

S
Solid
lid understanding
d t di -->
> confidence,
fid
iinsight,
i ht
even better programmer when aware of
hardware resource issues

Electronic devices becoming digital

Enabled by shrinking and more capable chips
Enables:
Better devices: Sound recorders, cameras,
cars, cell phones, medical devices,...
New devices: Video g
games, PDAs, ...

Known as embedded systems

Thousands of new devices every year
Designers needed: Potential career direction
Satellites
Portable
music players
1995

DVD
players

Cell phones

1997

1999

Video
recorders
Cameras

2001

2003

Musical
instruments
TVs

2005

2007

Years shown above indicate when digital version began to dominate

(Not the first year that a digital version appeared)

???

1.2

What Does Digital

Digital Mean?
Analog signal

Digital signal

Infinite possible values

Ex: voltage on a wire
created by microphone

Finite possible values

Ex: button pressed on a
keypad

Sound waves
move the
membrane,

which moves
the magnet,
microphone

digital
di
i l
signal

analog
signal
Possible values:
1.00, 1.01, 2.0000009,
... infinite p
possibilities
a

time
i

vaalue

vaalue

which creates
current in the nearby wire

4
3
2
1
0

Possible values:
0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Thatss it
That
it.

time
3

Digital Signals with Only Two Values: Binary

Typically represented as 0 and 1

One binary digit is a bit
Well only consider binary digital signals
Binary
y is popular
p p
because

value

Binary digital signal -- only two

possible
ibl values
l

1
0

time

Transistors, the basic digital electric

component, operate using two voltages
((more
o e in C
Chpt.
pt 2))
Storing/transmitting one of two values is
easier than three or more (e.g., loud beep
or quiet beep, reflection or no reflection)

Digitized version enables

near-perfect save/cpy/tran.
Sample voltage at
particular rate, save
sample using bit encoding
Voltage levels still not kept
perfectly
But we can distinguish 0s
from 1s

time

3
2
i d signal
i l
1 received
0
time
How fix -- higher,
g , lower,, ?

01 10 11 10 11

a2d
1 digitized signal
0
time

1
0
time
Can fixdistinguish 0s/1s, restore

Not a perfect re-creation

re creation
due to a2d and d2a
01 10 11 10 11

Let bit encoding be:

1 V: 01
2 V: 10
3 V: 11
Higher sampling
rate and more bits per
encoding improves re-creation

Volts

original
i i l signal
i l

lengthy tran
nsmission
(e.g, cell phone)

Voltage levels not

saved/copied/transmitted
perfectly

3
2
1
0

lengthy trransmission
(e.g, celll phone)

Analog signal (e.g., audio,

video) may lose quality
Volts
V

Volts

Example of Digitization
Benefit

d2a
3
2
1
0

Digitization Benefit: Can Store on Digital Media

analog signal
on wire

Volts

3
1

samples

wire
microphone

00 01 10 10 11 11 11 01 10 10 00 time

analog-todigital
converter

digitized signal
0001101011111101101000

( )
(a)

0001101011111101101000 read from tape, CD, etc.

wire

3
V
Volts

digital-todi
it l t
analog
converter

Store on CD,, USB drive,,

etc. No deterioration.

analog signal
reproduced from
digitized signal

2
1
0
00 01 10 10 11 11 11 01 10 10 00 time

(b)
speaker

Digitized Audio: Compression Benefit

Digitized audio can be
compressed
e.g., MP3s
A CD can hold about 20
songs uncompressed,
but about 200
compressed

Example compression scheme:

00 means 0000000000
01 means 1111111111
1X means X
0000000000 0000000000 0000001111 1111111111
a

00 00 10000001111 01

Compression also done

on digitized pictures
(jpeg), movies (mpeg),
and more
Digitization has many
other benefits too
7

How Do We Encode Data as Binary for Our Digital

S t ?
System?
analog
phenomena

sensors and
other inputs
electric
di it l
digital
signal
data
A2D
digital
d t
data

Some inputs inherently

digital
Just need encoding in
binary
e.g., multi-button input:
encode red=001
red 001, blue=010
blue 010,
...

digital
data

D2A
electric
signal
actuators and
other outputs

Some inputs inherently

binary
Button: not pressed (0),
pressed (1)

Digital System
digital
data

button

Some inputs analog

Need analog-to-digital
conversion
As done in earlier slide -sample and encode with
bits

red

blue

green

black

0 0 0
red

blue

green

black

0 0 1
red

blue

green

black

0 1 0

air

33
degrees

temperature
sensor

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

How to Encode Text: ASCII, Unicode

ASCII: 7- (or 8-)
bit encoding
di off
each letter,
number or
number,
symbol
Unicode:
Increasingly
popular 16-bit
encoding
Encodes
characters from
various world
languages

Encoding Symbol
010 0000 <space>
010 0001
!
010 0010
"
010 0011
#
010 0100
$
010 0101
%
010 0110
&
010 0111
'
010 1000
(
010 1001
)
010 1010
*
010 1011
+
010 1100
,
010 1101
010 1110
.
010 1111
/

Sample ASCII encodings

Encoding
cod g Symbol
Sy bo
100 0001
A
100 0010
B
100 0011
C
100 0100
D
100 0101
E
100 0110
F
100 0111
G
100 1000
H
100 1001
I
100 1010
J
100 1011
K
100 1100
L
100 1101
M

Encoding
cod g Symbol
Sy bo
100 1110
N
100 1111
O
101 0000
P
101 0001
Q
101 0010
R
101 0011
S
101 0100
T
101 0101
U
101 0110
V
101 0111
W
101 1000
X
101 1001
Y
101 1010
Z

Encoding Symbol
110 0001
110 0010
...
111 1001
111 1010

a
b

011 0000
011 0001
011 0010
011 0011
011 0100
011 0101
011 0110
011 0111
011 1000
011 1001

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

y
z

Question:
What does this ASCII bit sequence represent?
1010010 1000101 1010011 1010100
a

REST
9

How to Encode Numbers: Binary Numbers

Each position represents a
quantity;
tit symbol
b l iin position
iti
means how many of that
quantity
Base ten (decimal)

104 103 102 101 100

Ten symbols: 0, 1, 2, ..., 8, and 9

More than 9 -- next position
So each position power of 10

Nothing special about base 10 -used because we have 10 fingers

Base two (binary)

T
Two symbols:
b l 0 and
d1
More than 1 -- next position
So each position power of 2

24

23

22

21

20

Q: How much?
+

=
a

4+ 1= 5
10

Using Digital Data in a Digital System

A temperature sensor
outputs
t t temperature
t
t
in
i
binary
The system
s stem reads the
temperature, outputs
ASCII code:
F for freezing (0-32)
B for boiling (212 or more)
N for normal

A display converts its

ASCII
SC input to the
corresponding letter

temperature sensor
0

"33"

Digital System
if (input <= "00100000") // "32"
output = "1000110"
1000110 // "F"
F
else if (input >= "11010100") // "212"

output = "1000010" // "B"

else
output = "1001110" // "N"
1

display

"N"

11

Converting from Binary to Decimal

Just add weights
12 is just 1*20, or 110.
1102 is 1*22 + 1*21 + 0*20, or 610. We might think of this using
base ten weights: 1*4
1 4 + 1*2
1 2 + 0*1
0 1, or 6
6.
100002 is 1*16 + 0*8 + 0*4 + 0*2 + 0*1, or 1610.
100001112 is 1*128 + 1*4 + 1*2 + 1*1 = 13510. Notice this time
that we didnt bother to write the weights having a 0 bit.
001102 is the same as 1102 above the leading 0s dont change
the value
value.
29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

Useful to know powers of 2:

512 256 128 64 32

Practice counting up by powers of 2:

16 8

512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

12

Converting from Decimal to Binary

Put 1 in
leftmost
place without
sum
exceeding
number
Track sum

Desired decimal
number: 12

Binary
number

Current
sum
0

(a)

16 > 12, too big;

P t 0 in
Put
i 16
16s place
l

(b)

8 <= 12, so put

1 in 8s
8 s place,
current sum is 8

((c))

8+4=12 <= 12, so put

1 in 4s
4 s place,
current sum is 12

12

0 1
16 8

1
4 2

((d))

Reached desired 12,

so put 0s in remaining
places

done
do
e

0 1
16 8

1 0
4 2

0
1

16 8

0 1
16 8

1
a

13

Converting from Decimal to Binary

Example using
a more
compact
notation

Desired decimal
number: 23

Binary
number
1 0

sum: 0 16 8 4 2 1
16
(a) 16
(b) 20
(c) 22
(d) 23
(e)

14

Example: DIP
DIP-Switch
Switch Controlled Channel

Ceiling fan
receiver
should be
set in
f t
factory
to
t
respond to
channel
73
Convert 73
to binary
binary,
set DIP
switch
accordingly

Desired value: 73
a

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1

Q:

(a)

128 64 32 16 8

sum:

64

72

(b)

73

DIP switch
channel receiver
"34" 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

1
0
"73" 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1

InA

if (InA = InB)
Out = 1
else
Ceiling fan Out = 0
module
Out

InB

(c)

15

Base Sixteen: Another Base Used by Designers

164

163

162

161

160

Nice because each position

represents four base-two positions
Compact way to write binary numbers

1000 1010 1111

hex

binary

hex

bina ry

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111

8
9
A
B
C
D
E
F

1000
1001
1010
1011
1100
1101
1110
1111

Known as hexadecimal, or just hex

Q: Write 11110000 in hex

F0

Q: Convert hex A01 to binary

a

1010 0000 0001

16

Decimal to Hex
Easy method: convert to binary first, then binary to hex
Convert 99 base 10 to hex
First convert to binary:

0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
128 64 32 16 8

1
a

Then binary to hex:

(Quick check: 6*16 + 3*1 = 96+3 = 99)

17

Hex Example: RFID Tag

Batteryless tag powered by radio field
Transmits unique identification number
Example: 32 bit id
8-bit province number
number, 8-bit country number,
number 16-bit animal number
Tag contents are in binary
But programmers use hex when writing/reading

(b)
Province #

(c) Province: 7
(a)

(d)
(e)
RFID
tag

(f)

00000111
07

City #

Animal #

City: 160

Animal: 513

10100000

00000010 00000001

A0

02 01

Tag ID in hex: 07A00201

18

Converting To/From Binary by Hand: Summary

Decimal
1

26 10

16

Binary
1
0
1

To binary
T decimal
To
d i l
1

16

16

16+8
= 24

24

24+2
= 26

--

To hex To octal
16 + 8 + 2
= 26 10
1 1010
= 1A16

11 010
= 32 8

19

Divide-By-2
Divide
By 2 Method Common in Automatic Conversion
Repeatedly divide decimal number by 2, place remainder
i currentt binary
in
bi
digit
di it ((starting
t ti ffrom 1
1s column)
l
)
1. Divide decimal number by 2
Insert remainder into the binary number
Continue since quotient (6) is greater than 0

Decimal
6
2 12
12
0

Binary
0
1
(current value: 0)

2. Divide quotient by 2
Insert remainder into the binary number
Continue since quotient (3) is greater than 0

3
2 6
6
0

0 0
2 1
(current value: 0)

3. Divide quotient by 2
Insert remainder into the binary number
Continue since quotient (1) is greater than 0

1
2 3
2
1

1 0 0
4 2 1
(current value: 4)

4. Divide quotient by 2
Insert remainder into the binary number
Quotient is 0,
0 done

0
2 1
0
1

1 1 0 0
8 4 2 1
((current value: 12))

Note:
Works ffor
any base
Njust
divide by
N instead
20

Bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes, and More

Byte: 8 bits
Common metric prefixes:
kilo (thousand, or 103), mega (million, or 106), giga (billion, or 109),
and tera (trillion
(trillion, or 1012),
) e.g.,
e g kilobyte
kilobyte, or KByte

BUT, metric prefixes also commonly used inaccurately

216 = 65536 commonly written as 64
64 Kbyte
Kbyte
Typical when describing memory sizes

Also watch out for KB for kilobyte

y vs. Kb for kilobit

21

Implementing Digital Systems: Programming

1.3

Microprocessors Vs. Designing Digital Circuits

Desired motion-at-night
g detector

Programmed Custom designed

microprocessor
digital circuit

Microprocessors a
common choice to
implement a digital
system

I0
I1
I2
I3
I4
I5
I6
I7

P0
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
P6
P7

Easy
y to p
program
g
Cheap (as low as
$1)
Readily available

void main()
1
a
{
0
while (1) {
1
b
P0 = I0 && !I1;
0
// F = a and !b,
1
F
}
0
}
6:00

7:057:06

9:009:01

time

22

Digital Design: When Microprocessors Arent Good

E
Enough
h

With microprocessors so easy,

cheap and available
cheap,
available, why
design a digital circuit?
Microprocessor may be too
slow
Or too big, power hungry, or
costly

Wing
g controller computation
p
task:
50 ms on microprocessor
5 ms as custom digital circuit
If must execute 100 times per second:
100 * 50 ms = 5000 ms = 5 seconds
100 * 5 ms = 500 ms = 0.5 seconds
Mi
Microprocessor
ttoo slow,
l
circuit
i it OK.
OK

23

Digital Design: When Microprocessors Arent Good

E
Enough
h

Commonly, designers partition

a system among a
microprocessor and custom
digital circuits

Image
g Sensor

(a)
Memory

Image Sensor

Sample digital camera task execution times (in

seconds) on a microprocessor versus a digital
circuit:
Task

Microprocessor

Custom
Digital Circuit

Read

0.1

Compress

0.5

Store

0.8

Microprocessor

Q: How long for each

implementation option?

(Read,
Compress,
and Store)

Read
circuit

5+8+1
=14
14 sec
Compress
circuit

(b)
Store
circuit

Memory

Image Sensor

(c)
Memory

.1+.5+.8
=1.4 sec

Read
circuit

Compress
circuit

Microprocessor
(Store)

.1+.5+1
1+ 5+1
=1.6 sec
Good
compromise
24

Chapter Summary
Digital systems surround us
Inside computers
Inside many other electronic devices (embedded systems)

Digital ssystems
stems use
se 0s and 1s
Encoding analog signals to digital can provide many benefits
e.g., audio
audiohigher-quality
higher quality storage/transmission, compression, etc.

Encoding integers as 0s and 1s: Binary numbers

Microprocessors
p
((themselves digital)
g ) can implement
p
many
y
digital systems easily and inexpensively
But often not good enoughneed custom digital circuits

25