In the previous tutorial we used a conditional expression with the Wait Until statement. The expression ensured that the process was only triggered when the two counter signals where equal. But what if we wanted the program in a process to take different actions based on different inputs? The If-Then-Elsif-Else statements can be used to…
In the previous tutorial we learned the main differences between signals and variables. We learned that signals have a broader scope than variables, which are only accessible within one process. So how can we use signals for communication between several processes? We have already learned to use wait; to wait infinitely, and wait for to…
In the previous tutorial we learned how to declare a variable in a process. Variables are good for creating algorithms within a process, but they are not accessible to the outside world. If a scope of a variable is only within a single process, how can it interact with any other logic? The solution for…
In the previous tutorial, we learned how to use a For-Loop to iterate over an integer range. But what if we want a more detailed control of the loop than just a fixed integer range? We can use a While-Loop for this. The While-Loop will continue to iterate over the enclosed code as long as…
In the previous tutorial we learned to create an infinite loop by using the loop statement. We also learned how the break out of a loop by using the exit statement. But what if we want the loop to iterate a certain number of times? The For-Loop is the easiest way to accomplish this. The…
In the previous tutorial we learned how to delay time using the wait for statement. We also learned about the process loop. We now know that if we let it, the process “thread” will loop within the process forever. But what if we want to do something just once at the beginning of the process?…
In the previous tutorial we learned that a process can be thought of as a program thread. We also learned that a wait; statement causes the program to pause indefinitely. But is there a way to make a program wait for any other time value than forever? If we remove the wait; altogether and try…
When learning a new programming language, I always like to start by learning how to print. When you master outputting “Hello World!”, you know that you’ve got the environment working. It also shows you the basic skeleton of the language, the bare minimum code required to produce any output. You might be thinking: but VHDL…
Although VHDL and FPGA tools are often very expensive, it is easy to access state-of-the-art software for free if you are a student. There are several simulators, editors, and IDEs for working with VHDL. This article shows you how to install two of the most popular programs used by VHDL engineers. VHDL simulator Siemens EDA’s…
In short, VHDL is a computer language used for designing digital circuits. I use the term “computer language” to distinguish VHDL from other, more common programming languages like Java or C++. But is VHDL a programming language? Yes, it is. It’s a programming language that is of no use when it comes to creating computer…
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