The book by Barna and Porat is a classical book on VLSI design. The first chapter gives a survey of the state of the art of number systems (including number base conversion and floating point representation). There is a chapter on Boolean algebra with an introduction to simplification using Karnaugh maps of Boolean functions. Implementation with logic gates (NOR or NAND gates) is shown and realizations in different technologies (DTL, TTL, ECL, CMOS) are explicated. No optimization problems (two-level or multilevel synthesis) are addressed. Two chapters concern sequential synthesis that uses state tables. The latches and flip-flops are RS, D, JK, and T devices. Arithmetic circuits (comparators, adders, subtractors, multipliers) are explicated by two-level logic (AND, OR, and Exclusive OR gates). A simple and clear presentation of background on coding (error detection and correction) and on digital analog convertors is given. The last chapter discusses the classical NMOS transistor-level implementation of gates, PLAs, and ROMs.

This book gives, for all of the subjects, a very simple and clear presentation of the background required for logic design. It is very easy to read and should be considered as an introductory book in the field. It does not give information on very recent trends (such as in logic synthesis or in CMOS implementation).