Programming FPGAs: Getting Started with Verilog

by Simon Monk

Take your creations to the next level with FPGAs and Verilog

This fun guide shows how to get started with FPGA technology using the popular Mojo, Papilio One, and Elbert 2 boards. Written by electronics guru Simon Monk, Programming Getting Started with Verilog features clear explanations, easy-to-follow examples, and downloadable sample programs. You’ll get start-to-finish assembly and programming instructions for numerous projects, including an LED decoder, a timer, a tone generator—even a memory-mapped video display! The book serves both as a hobbyists’ guide and as an introduction for professional developers.

• Explore the basics of digital electronics and digital logic• Examine the features of the Mojo, Papilio One, and Elbert 2 boards• Set up your computer and dive in to Verilog programming• Work with the ISE Design Suite and user constraints files• Understand and apply modular Verilog programming methods• Generate electrical pulses through your board’s GPIO ports• Control servomotors and create your own sounds• Attach a VGA TV or computer monitor and generate video• All source code and finished bit files available for download

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2016

Reviews

[Anthony Rudzki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a pretty good book on FPGAs, Verilog and actually doing something with an FPGA. All that being said, the book does hot the highlights. Verilog is explained, but is not given the depth that an instructional text would give it. You can learn Verilog with this book, but expect to supplement it with a verilog specific book. The author uses 3 development boards to show the differences with making sample code work on each. Great idea, but it would have been more useful to focus on one board and explain in detail what you would need to change if you use a different board. Instead, pages are wasted describing the changes needed because one board had a 12 MHz clock, one a 25MHz and one a 50MHz clock. Not a big deal, just pages wasted (in my opinion). The book is good, don't get me wrong, but you will probably need to also get another book if you want to get into the nitty gritty of verilog and FPGAs.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read, but is very much a "getting started" guide. It touches on a lot of topics in a quick and shallow way. It provides sample projects, with configuration files to run the projects on three separate boards. Unfortunately, that means a disproportionate amount of time in the book is spent on explaining how the boards differ from each other and how to modify the code from one board to the next.

I understand the reasoning behind creating a book like this, but I have gotten more out of other books. To me this one had too much overlap with the "getting started" guides that come with the various development boards already.

[Hao · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a simple illustration of how to program FPGA board. I wish there were more examples and detailed programming guidance. 3 stars.