Including HDL and synthesis in the EE and CSE digital design curriculum

Abstract

The complexity of digital designs has increased drastically with the advent of the smaller geometry semiconductor process technology. This increase has made enormous demands on the industry, giving rise to Hardware Description Languages (HDL) which responded with its HDL-based design process, methodology, and design tools. HDL not only manages the increased complexity, but it also allows a shorter design cycle. Including HDL and synthesis in digital design curriculums will have its challenges. This paper addresses those challenges and proposes some recommendations.