VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS as alternative hardware description languages for efficient modeling of multidiscipline systems

Abstract

Abstract-This paper focuses on commonalities and differences between the two mixed-signal hardware description languages VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS in the case of modeling heterogeneous or multi-discipline systems. The paper has two objectives. The first one consists of modeling the structure and the behavior of an airbag system using both the VHDL-AMS and the Verilog-AMS languages. Such a system encompasses several time abstractions (i.e. discrete-time and continuous-time), several disciplines, or energy domains (i.e., electrical, thermal, optical, mechanical, and chemical), and several continuous-time description formalisms (i.e., conservative-law and signal-flow descriptions). The second objective is to discuss the results of the proposed modeling process in terms of the descriptive capabilities of the VHDL-AMS and Verilog-AMS languages and of the generated simulation results. The tools used are Advance-MS from Mentor Graphics for VHDL-AMS and AMS Simulator from Cadence Design Systems for Verilog-AMS. The paper shows that both languages offer effective means to describe and simulate multi-discipline systems, although using different descriptive approaches. It also highlights current tool limitations since full language definitions are not yet supported.

VHDL-AMS Simulation Framework for Molecular-FET Device-to-Circuit Modeling and Design

“…In [27][28][29] complex mixed-signal electronics and telecommunication systems have been designed using VHDL-AMS as an effective simulation language. In [30,31] VHDL-AMS is suggested to model complex electronic systems with a varying hierarchical depth and interacting inside the automotive environment.…”

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