Hong

Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

5. Programmable Logic Device

l What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?
l an IC that contains large numbers of gates, flip-flops and registers
that are interconnected on the chip
l can be configured by the user to perform a logic function
l many of the connections are fusible links that can be broken

PLD / page 1

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Logic Device

l Problems of using standard ICs in logic design:
l require hundreds or thousands of these ICs
l require a considerable amount of circuit board space
l require a great deal of time and cost in inserting, soldering,
and testing
l require to keep a significant inventory of ICs
PLD / page 2

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Advantages of using PLDs

l Advantages of reducing the no. of ICs using PLD:
l
l
l
l
l
l

less board space

fewer printed circuit boards
smaller enclosures
lower power requirements (i.e., smaller power supplies)
faster and less costly assembly processes
higher reliability (fewer ICs and circuit connections => easier
troubleshooting)
l availability of design software

PLD / page 3

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Logic Device

l Basic Ideas of PLD
l A PLD consists of an array of AND gates and an array of OR gates
l Each input feeds both a non-inverting buffer and an inverting buffer to
produce the true and inverted forms of each variable. (i.e. the input lines
to the AND-gate array)
l The AND outputs are called the product lines
l Each product line is connected to one of the inputs of each OR gate
l Three fundamental types of standard PLDs: PROM, PAL, and PLA
PLD / page 4

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Internal Structures of PLD

A

2-to-4 decoder
A

AND array

AB

AB

AB

AB

AB

AB

AB

AB

Fuse
Input lines

Product
lines

If blown, OR
input is logic 0.

OR
array
O1

O2

O3

O4

Sum of product outputs

Example of a programmable logic device

PLD / page 5

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Internal Structures of PROM

Inputs
D

A
OR array
(programmable)
0

Simplified
symbology for PLDs

1
2
3

No

4
5

= hard-wired
(can't change)
= intact fuse
and no
= no connection
A

6
7
8

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
AND array
(hard-wired)

outputs

PLD / page 6

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

PROM
l

The PROM
l The input lines to the AND array are hard-wired and the output lines to the OR
array are programmable
l Each AND gate generates one of the possible AND products

Example : Program output of the function given in the truth table

D
0
0
0

C
0
0
0

B
0
0
1

A
0
1
0

O3
1
1
1

0 0 1 1 1
0 1 1 1 1
1 0 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1

O3 = 0 for other
combination of D,C,B,A
(Fuses are blown to program output according to the

truth table.)

PLD / page 7

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

PROM
l

How many output functions and how many inputs for each function can be
programmed in a 512 x 4 ROM?
[N.B. 512 = 29 ]

PROM is suitable for those applications where every possible input

combination is required to generate the output functions; e.g., code
converters and data storage tables.

PLD / page 8

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Array Logic (PAL)

D

OR array
(hard-wired)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

AND array
(programmable)

PLD / page 9

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

PAL
l Programmable Array Logic (PAL)
l The input lines to the AND array are programmable and the
output lines to the OR array are hard-wired
l Simplify the logic function before putting design into PLA.

PLD / page 10

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

PAL

AND array
(programmable)

OR array
(hard-wired)
0

AB

CD

ABC

A BCD

ABCD

10

11

12

BD

13

CD

14

15

PLD / page 11

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Logic Array (PLA)

PLD / page 12

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Logic Array (PLA)

l

Programmable Logic Array (PLA)

l Both input lines to the AND array and output lines to the OR array are
programmable
l The IC also includes a programmable output polarity feature that permits the
designer the option of inverting any of the outputs

Exercise : program the PLA with following outputs:

O3=AB+CD
O1=ABCD+ABCD

O2=ABC
O0=A+BD+CD

PLD / page 13

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programmable Logic Devices

Input lines

PROM
hard-wired

PAL
prog.

PLA
prog.

Output lines

prog.

hard-wired

prog.

Versatility

low

moderate

high

Difficulty in
low
manufacturing,
programming and
testing

moderate

high

PLD / page 14

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Generic Array Logic (GAL)

l An innovation of the PAL was the generic array logic device,
or GAL, invented by Lattice Semiconductor.
l This device has the same logical properties as the PAL but
can be erased and reprogrammed.
l The GAL is very useful in the prototyping stage of a design,
when any bugs in the logic can be corrected by
reprogramming.

PLD / page 15

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Generic Array Logic (GAL)

PLD / page 16

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Output Structure in PLD/GAL

l

Output logic marcrocells of 16V8R

PLD / page 17

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Output Structure in PLD/GAL

l The macrocell can be individually configured to bypass the
flip-flop.
l The output can either be programmed to be registered (with
flip-flop) or combinational (flip-flop bypassed).
l The PLD can be programmed as sequential or combinational
logic.

PLD / page 18

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Terms
CPLD
l PAL and GAL are available only in small sizes, equivalent to a few hundred
logic gates. For bigger logic circuits, complex PLD (CPLD) can be used.
These contain the equivalent of several PAL linked by programmable
interconnections, all in one integrated circuit. CPLDs can replace thousands,
or even hundreds of thousands, of logic gates.
FPGA
l FPGA uses a grid of logic gates, similar to that of an ordinary gate array, but
the programming of connection is done by the customer, not by the
manufacturer.

PLD / page 19

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Programming PLD
l Equipment to design and build circuits using PLDs
l
l
l
l
l

personal computer
PLD development software
programming fixture
software to drive the programming fixture
PLD

l JEDEC - a standard format for transferring programming data

for PLDs (independent of PLD manufacturers or software)

PLD / page 20

Hong
Hong Kong
Kong Institute
Institute of
of Vocational
Vocational Education
Education
Engineering
Engineering Dept
Dept

Digital
Digital Electronics
Electronics &
& Microcontroller
Microcontroller

Development Software
l
l
l
l

l
l

Allow users to enter their design in some convenient way

Automatically create a JEDEC file
Original software - PALASM (PAL assembler)
Powerful development software tools are referred as compiler. They can
accept more abstract representation of same design and translate it into
hardware details necessary to program the PLD.
e.g. CUPL, ABEL
Some high-level compiler include schematic capture option allowing entry
operation by drawing a logic circuit diagram
Logic compiler also allow to enter the design in the form of truth table or state
table. Some even accept timing diagram as input.

PLD / page 21