A first course in digital design using VHDL and programmable logic

Present industry practice has created a high demand for systems designers with knowledge and experience in using programmable logic in the form of CPLDs and FPGAs in addition to hardware description languages. Many universities offer this type of training in advanced digital engineering courses. This paper describes our experience in integrating VHDL and programmable logic devices based on Xilinx Foundation tools and Altera into a first course in logic design. In the main, student reaction to the course was positive. The course seems to have the right blend of being current (using VHDL and FPGAs) and being hands-on (using bread-boarding). We conclude by stating that in our experience, modeling using VHDL and mapping designs to FPGAs can be effectively integrated into a first course in logic design.