Hardware designers have been searching for a book such as this. Much knowledge is concentrated in its pages. Setting aside its somewhat high price, the presentation is excellent.

After a brief introductory chapter (better than those found in data manuals), readers are introduced to the architecture of the 3000 family of XILINX devices. Although the same topics are covered in the XILINX data manuals, the presentation here is far more readable, and information that can otherwise be found only in design manuals is also included. The natural follow-up chapter discusses the ATT3000 development system, which does not differ from the XILINX system. (This opinion is based on the presentation of the ATT system in this chapter and my experience with XILINX software.) Next are two complete chapters on design phases. A third, related chapter is on design verification and testing; while design entry and implementation are straightforward, testing has many faces, some of which are discussed in this chapter. The chapter on the entry phase presents schematic capture and manual entry, while the second design chapter focuses on standard implementation tools.

I would like to see a more extensive treatment of timing analysis and the effect of using macros, that is, ready-made functional blocks like counters, whose constituents do not have fixed places in the design. Intricate problems can arise in such designs. For example, a counter may not function if the clock is not drawn from available clock lines (there may be serious reasons against using them) and one flip-flop state change arrives at the next flip-flop input before the clock.

The next chapter explains how to connect a field programmable gate array (FPGA) in a hardware configuration. The information can be found in XILINX data books, but the presentation here is more human-oriented. The design editor, which helps the designer control the assembly of a useful module out of versatile logic blocks and interconnect lines, is discussed next. The final chapter gives some of the author’s thoughts about future trends in this field. Four appendices give useful information about terms used, references, a vendor list, and solutions to end-of-chapter exercises.

People considering using XILINX or equivalent parts in their design should consider this book as an introduction. Even some 4000 series information is included. Those wishing to learn whether FPGAs will be useful for their activities will also find relevant information here. The book may prove useful for courses at the beginning and intermediate levels.