VHDL(5)                                               VHDL subset of ASIM/LIP6/CAO-VLSI lab.                                               VHDL(5)

NAME

       ALLIANCE VHDL Subset

ORIGIN

       This  software  belongs  to  the  ALLIANCE CAD SYSTEM developed by the ASIM team at LIP6 laboratory of Universite Pierre et Marie CURIE, in
       Paris, France.

       Web : http://asim.lip6.fr/recherche/alliance/
       E-mail : alliance-users@asim.lip6.fr

DESCRIPTION

       The ALLIANCE VHDL subset is dedicated to digital synchronous circuits design.  The same subset is used for:
              logic simulation (asimut)
              logic synthesis (boom, boog, loon)
              functionnal abstraction (yagle)
              formal proof (proof)

       The ALLIANCE VHDL subset is fully compatible with the IEEE VHDL standard Ref.  1076 (1987). That means that a VHDL  description  using  the
       ALLIANCE subset can be simulated with any full-VHDL commercial compiler-simulator.

       Here follows the main restrictions of the ALLIANCE subset.

       The VHDL description of a circuit is made of two seperate parts: the external view and the internal view.

       The  external view defines the name of the circuit and its interface. The interface of a circuit is a list of ports. Each port is specified
       by its name, its mode, its type, its constraint for an array and, its kind.

       The mode of a port depends only on the manner the port is used inside the circuit (in the internal view of the circuit). If the value of  a
       port  is  to be read in the view of the description, the port must be declared with the mode in. If the value of a port is to be written by
       the internal view, the port must be declared with the mode out. If both above conditions are satisfied the port must be declared  with  the
       mode inout.

       Only structural and behavioural data flow are supported as internal view.

       In  order to allow automatic translation from structural VHDL to other netlist formats (EDIF, ALLIANCE, COMPASS, ...) it is not possible to
       mix behavioural and structural description. Of course, a circuit, a subcircuit or a cell can have two different descriptions:
              a structural view may be defined in a file with a .vst extension (see vst(5)).
              a behavioural data flow description may be defined in a file with a .vbe extension (see vbe(5)).

       A typical VHDL model will be made of a hierarcical structural description (a hierarchy of structural files) and,  for  each  leaf  cell,  a
       behavioural description.

       In  a  behavioural description, only concurrent statements (except process) are supported. Up to now, sequential statements are not allowed
       by the ALLIANCE VHDL compiler.

       Timing information can be specified in behavioural descriptions using After clauses. However, those delays are currently only used for sim-
       ulation. After clauses are supported but not used for synthesis and formal proof.

       A predefined set of types has been defined (other user defined types are not supported):

       bit            the predefined standard bit type ('0' or '1')

       bit_vector     array of bit

       mux_bit        a resolved subtype of bit using the mux resolution function. This function checks that only one driver is actually connected
                      to a signal. The effective value of the signal is the value of the active driver. If all drivers are disconnected, the value
                      of the signal is '1' (pull up). A signal of type mux_bit must be declared with the kind bus.

       mux_vector     array of mux_bit

       wor_bit        a  resolved  subtype  of  bit  using  the  wor resolution function. This function allows a signal be driven by more than one
                      driver. All active drivers have to drive the same value. The effective value of the signal is the value of  active  drivers.
                      If  all  drivers  are disconnected, the value of the signal is '1' (pull up). A signal of type wor_bit must be declared with
                      the kind bus.

       wor_vector     array of wor_bit

       reg_bit        a resolved subtype of bit using the reg resolution function. This function checks that only one driver is actually connected
                      to  a signal. The effective value of the signal is the value of the active driver. A signal of type reg_bit must be declared
                      with the kind register (which makes the signal keep its previous value when all drivers are disconnected).

       reg_vector     array of reg_bit

       In the next ALLIANCE release the VHDL subset will be largely extended (sequential statements, user defined types) .

SEE ALSO

       vst(5), vbe(5), asimut(1), boom(1), loon(1), boog(1), proof(1)

BUG REPORT

       This tool is under development at the ASIM department of the LIP6 laboratory.
       We need your feedback to improve documentation and tools.

ASIM
/LIP6                                                         October 1, 1997                                                          VHDL(5)