EE 231
Lab 3: Basic Combinational Circuits using a Programmable Logic Device

Prelab 3

Your assignment this week is to use a programmable logic device (PLD) to implement a fairly complicated combinational system. The system will be a four-input, three-output circuit which will add two (unsigned) two-bit binary numbers. A truth table is started for you in Figure 1. You will implement this logic with an Altera EPM7064LC44-15. This is a 44 pin PLD that we will use in many of our labs. It can be programmed and erased many times and costs about $5. The MAX+plus II software will be used to program and test it.

Figure 1: Truth table to add two (unsigned) two-bit binary numbers.

A sample AHDL (Altera Hardware Description Language) program, Figure 3, implements the majority circuit from last week's lab . The truth table is shown in Figure 2. The canonical sum of products (SOP) expression for the majority circuit is M = ABC' + AB'C + A'BC + ABC. Note that we did not reduce the equation. The Max+plus II software does this automatically.

Figure 2: Truth table for a three bit majority circuit.

        SUBDESIGN lab3sam
        % Design to implement a three-input majority circuit %
        (
        A,B,C    :INPUT;	% Input Variables  %
        M        :OUTPUT;	% Output Variables %
        )
        % Define the logical equations of the circuit %
        BEGIN
            M=(!A &  B &  C) #
              ( A & !B &  C) #
              ( A &  B & !C) #
              ( A &  B &  C);
        END;

Figure 3: AHDL program for a three input majority circuit.

The following will help you program your Altera logic array chip. There is alot of on-line help. There are many ways to do each part; the information below is one way that should get you going. See what you can discover and what others in the class have found. Copy N:\EE231\lab3\LAB3SAM.TDF and LAB3SAM.SCF to your lab 3 subdirectory on U:\EE231\lab3\.

1. Double click on the MAX+plus II icon to bring up the MAX+plus II program.
2. From the File menu choose project and choose name. Change to your U:\EE231\lab3 subdirectory. Enter lab3sam to select the sample files.
3. From the File menu choose open, select Text Editor files then lab3sam.tdf and OK to open a text editor window. The sample program should appear in the text editor window. Choose File, Project, Save and Check. After it saves with no errors, choose Assign Device from the Assign menu. Make sure Device Family is set to Max7000 and that Show Only Fastest Speed Grade is not checked. Select the exact name written on your chip from the list of chips given ( e.g., EPM7064LC44-15). Now click the start button on the compiler window. After this compiles with no errors we will check this design with a simulation.
4. To simulate and check the operations first get a waveform window: choose open from the File menu, select Waveform Editor file and .scf extension, select lab3sam.scf and OK. Click the small magnifying glass (from the menu on the left side of the Altera window) a few times to zoom out to the full picture. Some input waveforms are already drawn. To observe the output choose Simulator from the MAX+plusII menu, and start it. Verify that the output is what you expect.

Now repeat these steps to program your adder circuit . The details are described below. First, close all the windows in Altera, but leave the Altera program running.

1. From the File menu choose project and choose name. Enter a name such as lab3a. This name will be given to the many files created by the program, and should also be the name of your SUBDESIGN.
2. From the File menu choose new, select Text Editor file and OK to open a text editor window. Choose File, Save As, and save with the same name as the project name (with a .tdf extension in your U:\EE231\lab3 subdirectory). Enter your program. Choose File, Project, Save and Check. After it saves with no errors, assign the proper device. Select start in the Compiler window. After the program compiles with no errors verify your design with a simulation.
3. To simulate and verify the program, first get a waveform window. Choose new from the File menu, select Waveform Editor file and .scf extension and OK. Choose File, Save As, and save with the same name as the project name (with a .scf extension). Choose Enter Node Names from SNF ( Node menu). In the dialog box turn off the All option under type and turn on Input and Output. Choose List. Select the variables you want on the simulation and move them to the Select box with (=>) button. Choose OK. Choose End Time from the File menu, and increase the End Time to 16 us. You now should have a diagram with input and outputs versus time, with time extending out to 16 us. The inputs are all 0, and the outputs are not determined. Click the small magnifying glass several times to zoom out to the full picture.
4. There are two ways to enter simulation waveforms. You can draw the input waveform with the mouse, or you can use the Edit menu. To make B₁ high for the second half of the time, set the cursor on B₁ near the center (at 8 us), press and hold the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the end, and release. Now click on the 1 menu option of the left-hand menu. A quick way to get the alternating highs and lows on A₀ is as follows. First, click on the Option menu. If there is a check mark by the Snap to Grid option, click on it to remove the check mark. Next, click and highlight A₀ near the left edge, then from the Edit menu, choose Overwrite and Count Value. (You can also reach this menu by clicking on the C in the left-hand menu.) Change the Count Every option to 1 us and click on OK. Repeat for A₁, changing the Count Every to 2 us (or changing the Increment By to 2). After creating a simulation waveform which tests all possible values of the inputs, save this file. Choose Simulator from the MAX+plusII menu, and start it. Verify that the output is what you expected. Print out your simulator output.
5. Program the chip. Go over to the programming station in the southeast corner of the lab, and follow the instructions there to program your chip.
6. Wire your chip. Use the text editor to look at the report file (e.g., lab3a.rpt) to see the pin connections to use. Do not print out the report file -- it is very long. You may highlight the chip outline showing the pinouts, and print that out (File, Print, Selected Area). Connect all pins as shown. Note that the adapter connects Pins 10, 22, 30 and 42 to the ground bus, and connects pins 3, 15, 23 and 35 to the V_CC bus, so you do not have to wire these pins individually. Any other pins labelled GND or VCC must be wired to the appropriate supply voltage. Use the logic analyzer and stimulus generator to verify that your logic array is working. You can have the stimulus generator generate the same waveforms you use in your Altera simulation.

You will use as stimulus generator the same counter you used before (in Lab 2). Choose the appropriate outputs, Q_i 's from the counter, to use as the four binary inputs ( B₁₀A₁₀ ) to the altera chip. To have all possible input combinations make the following connections: Q1 to A₀, Q2 to A₁, Q3 to B₀, Q4 to B₁, and Q5 to the Reset input. Don't forget to connect the Clock input. The sequence needed (0000, 0001, ... , 1111) can be seen by using a low frequency clock signal from the protoboard clock and the LEDs of the protoboard.

To start your stimulus running, connect the stimulus to the inputs of your Altera chip. Connect the logic analyzer to the inputs and outputs of your Altera chip. Use the logic analyzer to look at your inputs and outputs and print the waveforms. The logic analyzer file should look very much like the stimulus file you generated in Altera.