The Computer Hardware Description Languages' conference originated under IEEE/ACM sponsorship and since 1981 has been organized by IFIP Working Group 10.2 (now WG 10.5). Its general topic has had a significant history with over 100 HDLs published in the 1970s. Since the mid-1980s, HDLs have become commonplace in system design and VLSI. This can be attributed to many factors including the advancing complexity of digital electronics, leading to more sophisticated modelling, simulation and verification tools; the migration of VLSI design to high-level synthesis based on HDLs; advances in microelectronics CAD towards support of system-level design; and the increasing prevalence of generic and programmable components, of software-hardware and mixed digital-analogue hybrid designs. Presently, we are in a consolidation phase, in which languages and standards are increasingly being used, while the scope is being broadened to additional application areas (such as analogue, microwave or system-level design).
This book should be of interest to engineers dealing with Hardware Design and Electronic Design Automation; manufacturers of computer systems and telecommunication equipment; and also to students and lecturers in electrical and computer engineering and computer science departments.