Digital Design and Computer Architecture: ARM Edition
Digital Design and Computer Architecture: ARM Edition covers the fundamentals of digital logic design and reinforces logic concepts through the design of an ARM microprocessor. Combining an engaging and humorous writing style with an updated and hands-on approach to digital design, this book takes the reader from the fundamentals of digital logic to the actual design of an ARM processor. By the end of this book, readers will be able to build their own microprocessor and will have a top-to-bottom understanding of how it works.
Beginning with digital logic gates and progressing to the design of combinational and sequential circuits, this book uses these fundamental building blocks as the basis for designing an ARM processor. SystemVerilog and VHDL are integrated throughout the text in examples illustrating the methods and techniques for CAD-based circuit design. The companion website includes a chapter on I/O systems with practical examples that show how to use the Raspberry Pi computer to communicate with peripheral devices such as LCDs, Bluetooth radios, and motors.
This book will be a valuable resource for students taking a course that combines digital logic and computer architecture or students taking a two-quarter sequence in digital logic and computer organization/architecture.
- Covers the fundamentals of digital logic design and reinforces logic concepts through the design of an ARM microprocessor.
- Features side-by-side examples of the two most prominent Hardware Description Languages (HDLs)―SystemVerilog and VHDL―which illustrate and compare the ways each can be used in the design of digital systems.
- Includes examples throughout the text that enhance the reader’s understanding and retention of key concepts and techniques.
- The Companion website includes a chapter on I/O systems with practical examples that show how to use the Raspberry Pi computer to communicate with peripheral devices such as LCDs, Bluetooth radios, and motors.
- The Companion website also includes appendices covering practical digital design issues and C programming as well as links to CAD tools, lecture slides, laboratory projects, and solutions to exercises.
Why Read This Book
You will get a hands-on, top-to-bottom treatment that takes you from gates and binary arithmetic to a working ARM-style microprocessor, so you understand both the theory and practical RTL implementation. The book weaves clear explanations with SystemVerilog and VHDL examples and real design trade-offs, making it ideal if you want to move from embedded firmware toward hardware design or deepen your CPU-level understanding.
Who Will Benefit
Upper-level undergraduate or graduate students, embedded systems and firmware engineers, and hardware designers who want a practical, RTL-centered path to understanding and building an ARM-style processor.
Level: Intermediate — Prerequisites: Basic algebra and binary/hex familiarity; some programming experience (C or similar) is helpful; no prior HDL experience required but helpful to have basic digital logic exposure.
Key Takeaways
- Design combinational and sequential digital circuits from first principles.
- Model and simulate hardware using SystemVerilog and VHDL at the RTL level.
- Construct a complete single-cycle and pipelined ARM-style datapath and control unit.
- Analyze and resolve pipeline hazards, stalls, and forwarding to improve performance.
- Integrate processor, memory, and basic I/O, and understand exception/interrupt handling.
- Translate architectural decisions into hardware trade-offs for area, timing, and complexity.
Topics Covered
- Introduction to Digital Design and Number Systems
- Logic Gates, Boolean Algebra, and Combinational Circuits
- Arithmetic Circuits and ALU Design
- Introduction to Hardware Description Languages (SystemVerilog & VHDL)
- Sequential Logic: Latches, Flip-Flops, and Registers
- Finite State Machines and Control Design
- Datapath-Controller Partitioning and Microarchitecture
- ARM Instruction Set Overview and ISA Implementation
- Single-Cycle ARM-Style Processor Design
- Pipelined Processor Design, Hazards, and Forwarding
- Memory Systems, Caches, and Virtual Memory Basics
- Exceptions, Interrupts, and Processor Control
- Putting It Together: Synthesis, Verification, and FPGA Prototyping
- Appendices: HDL Reference, Timing, and Design Methodology
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
Compared with Patterson & Hennessy's Computer Organization titles, this book emphasizes RTL-driven, hands-on processor design with SystemVerilog/VHDL and a bottom-up construction of an ARM-style CPU rather than broad ISAs and system-level performance analysis.
