Название: Computer Architecture Tutorial Using an FPGA: ARM & Verilog Introductions
Автор: Robert Dunne
Издательство: Gaul Communications
Год: 2020
Страниц: 403
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf, epub
Размер: 10.1 MB

Learn computer architecture and get practical “hands on” experience using an FPGA while studying at home. A working model of a 32-bit ARM processor is gradually built from basic principals of computer architecture. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) provide flexible digital electronics platforms that can be organized as a CPU, a neural net, or almost any other digital circuit. They are the digital equivalent of shape-shifters in science fiction.

Computer Architecture Tutorial Using an FPGA: ARM & Verilog Introductions presents computer “building blocks,” and how they are connected to form a computing system. Registers, instruction sets, word size, memory configuration, addressing modes, and data types are factors contributing to a computer’s architecture. The Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL) is a tool that can be used to describe digital electronics components and test their interconnections as they are formed into a computing system.

By working through the examples in this book and experimenting with the “building blocks,” the reader will receive a “hands on” introduction to the following:
- Computer Architecture in general
- The ARM CPU in particular
- The Verilog Hardware Description Language
- Field Programmable Gate Arrays
- Digital circuits such as decoders and multiplexers
- Assembly language programming

The FPGA is first introduced graphically through operational models of individual logic gates and structures like buses and decoders. Next, the Verilog coding begins with simple circuit examples and culminates with a CPU that runs ARM machine code. Programs can even be entered in symbolic assembly language which is compiled into 100% ARM machine code by macros, tasks, and functions written in the Verilog language. This CPU imitation can be run at full speed, stepped through with breakpoints, or paused within the fetch, decode, and execute cycle.

Over 150 illustrations accompany detailed descriptions for setting up the FPGA and walking through each of the nearly 100 Verilog examples. All source code examples can be downloaded from GitHub and use the Intel® Quartus® Prime software along with a Terasic DE10-Lite FPGA development board. The DE10-Lite is available for purchase for less than $100 at many Internet sites, and the Intel® Quartus® Prime Lite Edition is available as a free download from Intel. Other FPGA boards and other Verilog software can be used, but slight modifications to the examples may be necessary.

Audience for This Book:
The goal of this book is to introduce students and computer enthusiasts to basic computer architecture, the increasingly popular FPGA technology, and the Verilog Hardware Description Language. The intended audience is the following:
- Someone desiring an introduction to CPU architecture in general and the ARM processor in particular
- Someone wanting to get "hands-on" experience using the Verilog Hardware Description Language
- Someone wanting to learn both at the same time, where Verilog provides a platform for "building" an ARM CPU, and the ARM instruction format provides a set of practical examples to learn Verilog