About this previous year paper
ADVANCE DIGITAL DESIGN USING VERILOG (NEC024R)
Section-Wise Solved Answers
SECTION – A (Short Answer Questions)
(10 × 2 = 20 Marks)
(a) Advantages of HDLs
Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) allow designers to describe hardware at different abstraction levels. They support simulation, verification, easy modification, reusability, and synthesis into hardware, reducing design time and errors.
(b) Unary vs Ternary operator
Unary operator: Operates on a single operand (example: ~a, !a).
Ternary operator: Operates on three operands and is a conditional operator (condition ? expr1 : expr2).
(c) Difference between $monitor and $display
$display prints output once when executed, while $monitor continuously prints output whenever any monitored variable changes.
(d) Assignments in always vs initial
initial executes only once at the start of simulation, whereas always executes repeatedly whenever the sensitivity list conditions are met.
(e) Output of given Verilog code
always @(clk) begin a = 0; a <= 1; $display(a); end
The displayed value of a = 0, because the blocking assignment (a = 0) executes immediately, while the non-blocking assignment (a <= 1) updates later.
(f) Difference between == and ===
== checks logical equality and ignores X and Z.
=== checks case equality, including X and Z values.
(g) Difference between task and function
A function returns a value and cannot contain timing controls, while a task does not return a value and can include delays and event controls.
(h) Memory modeling components in Verilog
Memory is modeled using reg arrays, for example:
reg [7:0] mem [0:255];
(i) Feedback model vs Implicit model
Feedback model: Explicit feedback path is defined.
Implicit model: Feedback is inherent through procedural statements.
(j) Benefits of assertion verification
Assertions help detect design errors early, improve debugging efficiency, ensure design correctness, and enhance verification coverage.
SECTION – B (Long Answer Questions)
(Attempt any FIVE – 5 × 10 = 50 Marks)
2(a)(i) Verilog HDL and its capabilities
Verilog HDL is a hardware description language used to model digital systems. It supports behavioral, dataflow, and structural modeling. Its major capabilities include simulation, timing analysis, testbench creation, and synthesis into hardware.
2(a)(ii) Components of a Verilog module
A Verilog module consists of: Module declaration
Port list Declarations (wire, reg)
Continuous or procedural statements
Endmodule
2(b)(i) Data types in Verilog
Verilog data types include:
Net types: wire, tri Register types: reg, integer, time
Vector and scalar types
2(b)(ii) Scalar vs Vector
A scalar holds a single bit (wire a;), while a vector holds multiple bits (wire [7:0] a;). Vectors are used for buses and data words.
2(c)(i) NOR gate primitive
NOR gate outputs logic 1 only when all inputs are 0.
nor (y, a, b);
2(c)(ii) 4:1 MUX gate-level code
module mux4to1(y,a,b,c,d,s0,s1); output y; input a,b,c,d,s0,s1; assign y = (~s1 & ~s0 & a) | (~s1 & s0 & b) | (s1 & ~s0 & c) | (s1 & s0 & d); endmodule
2(d)(i) Inertial and intra-assignment delays
Inertial delay: Ignores short pulses.
Intra-assignment delay: Delay specified within assignment (a = #5 b;).
2(e)(i) Blocking vs Non-blocking assignments
Blocking (=) executes sequentially, while non-blocking (<=) executes concurrently and is mainly used in sequential circuits.
2(e)(ii) JK Flip-Flop (Behavioral Model)
always @(posedge clk) case({j,k}) 2'b00: q<=q; 2'b01: q<=0; 2'b10: q<=1; 2'b11: q<=~q; endcase
2(f)(i) NMOS inverter
NMOS inverter uses NMOS transistor with pull-up load. It is modeled using switch-level primitives.
2(h)(i) Fork-join construct
fork-join allows parallel execution of statements. It is useful for modeling concurrent hardware behavior.
SECTION – C (Very Long Answer Questions)
(Attempt any TWO – 2 × 15 = 30 Marks)
3(i) FSM to detect 1001 sequence (Mealy Machine)
A Mealy machine produces output based on current state and input.
States are designed to track partial sequence detection. Output becomes 1 immediately after detecting 1001.
3(ii) 2-bit priority encoder using casez
always @(*) casez(in) 2'b1?: out=1; 2'b01: out=0; default: out=0; endcase
4(i) BDD and OBDD
BDD is a graph-based representation of Boolean functions. OBDD is an ordered BDD where variable ordering is fixed, improving efficiency.
4(ii) Gray code counter
Gray code changes only one bit at a time, reducing switching noise. It is widely used in encoders and communication systems.
5(i) Full adder using gate-level modeling
assign sum = a ^ b ^ cin; assign cout = (a&b) | (b&cin) | (a&cin);
5(ii) 16:1 MUX using 8:1 MUX
Two 8:1 multiplexers and one 2:1 multiplexer are used. Outputs of 8:1 MUX are connected to the 2:1 MUX.